Understanding Religion's Relationship To Human Social Systems

[First Draft]  Today, in an anti-Bible social media group, someone posted this meme: In reply, a religious person (in this case, someone in a faction of Judaism) objected to the meme's use of the term "atheist".  However, their underlying objection wasn't really about semantics.  As a member of a fundamentally "fundamentalist" religion,  they prefer to use words as 'polemics' against hated cultural, ideological, and personal enemies.   This helps them regulate their own "us vs them" identity politics.  For that, they need a label for each-and-every people-group they call "the enemy". Their culture has already locked onto using "atheist" as the black-and-white identifier for one of their most hated people-groups.   To legitimize that particular use of the term "atheist", they obligate themselves (and attempt to obligate everyone else) to define that word as an expression of "willful rejection of (any and al...

  I agree with everything Dan says here; but with caveats. Historically, until recently, "male" and "female" were always a reference to simple sexual anatomy. "Sex" was interchangeable with "gender". These did not ***used to be*** different concepts. However, they BECAME difference concepts, as people become more FREE to be more HONEST about how they thought and felt. Ironically, it was conservative sex-specific stereotypes (including aesthetics, personality traits, and social roles) which caused "gender dysphoria" in the first place. This was due to the fact that religious conservatives were always 100% wrong (factually wrong) about what they called "the intelligent design" of "the natural order" for men and women. People, broadly, were always more complex and unique than that. They just didn't feel free to talk candidly about it. Just as importantly, divergence from those stereotypes was NEVER a result of (no...

[This is a first draft.  I'll finish it by week's end]    Sex work should be legalized and regulated. That work is going to happen anyways. We may as well make it into a safe industry. Many other countries have. In doing go, they lowered the rate of disease, substance abuse, physical abuse, and trafficking. They also lowered the rate of severe depression. They also created a taxable system which generates substantial income; thus adding to the economic health and stability of those societies.  With all those benefits combined,  they lowered their countries mortality rates, and raised their averages for quality of life. By normalizing sex work, we can also help cure our society's archaic and dysfunctional 'moralizing' about "unapproved" sex. As our society becomes more rational and mature about human sexual liberties, we'll see less extreme (and less common) "religious fundamentalism". Why? Because that type of religiosity thrives in societ...

  Jason Steiner Orange man bad?   Cate Stone  IDK if you've realized this but we are cha-cha sliding into a fascist oligarchy with impressive speed, and that was happening before the orange man. Regardless of what you might think, a lot of us are concerned about the political BS from  *both* sides. Because neither of them are actually representing the PEOPLE of the United States. They are now catering only to the super wealthy, and I guarantee you're not one of them.   Jason Steiner    Turn off the news, stop parroting all the talking points ,  and you'll be okay! It's all going to be all right!    10 Cate Stone   I don't watch the news, lmao. You sound exceptionally ignorant, my guy.   Jason Steiner    Thanks. Your opinion does matter here on Facebook .   James Apperson   So if someone in the internet says a thing you agree with, they're thinking for themselves, but if they say something you disagree with, ...