Religion is a form of social mental illness - a type of social neurosis. It would be listed in the DSM (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders) if they removed the ban on social norms. When capitalism is put on the diagnostic "couch" we can easily see the psychosis involved. Religion too should be shown up for its harmful and delusional behaviour.
When you are over twenty-five and your brain has fully developed and you still believe in something for which there is no evidence, there are three possible reasons. One, you are a fool, two, you have a mental capacity considerably below normal or three, you have a mental illness, that is you have stopped thinking for yourself because you have been indoctrinated. We teach children to believe in something without evidence, by having faith in what elders tell them, so that we can teach them that everything being told them is not true. It's part of teaching critical thinking skills. It's a sad state of affairs when adults still think like children and have unquestioning faith. Faith is not a virtue. It should be considered a tool to develop critical thinking skills for children. When adults persist in faith-based thinking then we all suffer in society.
There is a psychological phenomena known as normalcy. We tend to think that what happened yesterday will continue into the future. People generally don't realize that religion is a social construct. It was developed in a time of ignorance about the natural world. People generally don't realize that this institution, like capitalism, can be de-constructed and re-designed. Nothing stays the same. Why should we be limited by anachronistic institutions. In a healthy society social norms should be questioned. Slavery and apartheid would still be with us if this weren't the case. Religion is still with us today because of indoctrination and a taboo about questioning social norms. So how can we call ourselves, as a society, enlightened? There is always room for continuous improvement. But it starts with recognizing there is a problem.
One of my proudest accomplishments and contributions is to have raised three children in a way that encouraged critical thinking. This wasn't easy in a system that perpetuates religious madness. Although we expound secularism in Canada we still endorse religions in all their nefarious forms. Our politics and educational system is filled with religious undercurrents, a vestige of our ignorant past. Our present government, for example, has established an agency to encourage religious tolerance. It has a freedom of religion mandate. Bet where is the freedom from religion mandate?
Why doesn't our school system make the Origin of Species mandatory reading. Because it's a dangerous idea to the establishment. Before November 24, 1859 when this idea was first published by Darwin you might be excused for believing in religion. At that time it appeared rational, without any other explanation as to how we got here. Indeed, most people then believed whole heartedly in a creationist god. After 1859 if you were aware of the idea and evidence of evolution you would probably be irrational to believe in a religious explanation. Because now a viable alternative explanation to religion existed. An explanation based on evidence ususally trumps wishful or magical thinking. Why isn't a more rational idea of our world not widely taught.
At one time our school system served, by commission, to indoctrinate children with religion. This was the case even in our public school system, a supposed secular school. I remember in grade 7 being given free copies of the New Testament. Our school system today, by omission, serves as indoctrinating students by simply not teaching everyone about a basic truth in nature, namely evolution.
Don Quixote is not a satire of politics but rather a satire on religion.
Religious people suffer from a form of mental illness somewhat like Jesus Freaks on the streets handing out their mental thoughts.
Health Canada just release the abortion pill, days before an election call. Coincidence, I don't think so. Why has France allowed it for 25 years and Canada just now allows it? The tide is turning or has turned. Politicians will now do anything for re-election.
Churches still are exempt from taxes. Why? You might think that they could at least put solar panels on their roofs.
Monday, 3 August 2015
Friday, 6 March 2015
Religion is the New Race.
Religion is the new race. In the past we more identified by what country or part of the world our parents came from. Now the majority of us are more likely to identify ourselves by which form of magical thinking we engage in or were indoctrinated in by our parents. Instead of valuing the secular culture from which many of our western governmental principles and modern day achievements are derived from we are subservient to religion or our child-like way of thinking.
Religion appeals to our reptilian brains or ancient way of thinking. By not recognizing that all religions are forms of magical thinking based on unverifiable beliefs we are doomed to give this way of thinking credibility and thus the ability to wreak havoc in the world.
Faith is not a virtue, it is the opposite. Faith is thinking with your “gut” instead of your brain. Until a critical tipping point of people understand this the world will continue to be a very regressive and dangerous place to live in. When we continue to elect and respect leaders who claim that they are religious we will get the immature world of “The Lord of the Flies”.
Why aren’t we laughing at religious ideas when expressed by adults instead of esteeming those who espouse such nonsense? When someone who is over 25 years old with a fully developed brain and self-identifies as a Muslim, Christian or Jew for example, we should realize that these people are telling us something very profound about themselves. They are telling us that they are retarded. They are demonstrating that although they look like adults they are really mentally still children. I worked with a devout Catholic who said she would not allow her children to read Harry Potter because it promoted magic. The irony was almost too much to bear. Children raising children - a reflection of the world today. Let's all grow up already.
"Science, as physicist Steven Weinberg has emphasized, does not make it impossible to believe in God, but rather makes it possible to not believe in God. Without science, everything is a miracle. With science, there remains the possibility that nothing is. Religious belief in this case becomes less and less necessary, and also less and less relevant" …. from Lawrence Krauss’s “A Universe from Nothing” .
"It is a fundamental tenet of science that we can never prove something to be true; we can only prove it to be false. This is a very important idea, one that is the basis of all scientific progress. Once we find an example in which a theory that may have worked correctly for millennia no longer agrees with observation, we then know that it must be supplemented - with either new data or a new theory. There is no arguing." - from Lawrence Krauss's "Fear of Physics.
Religion appeals to our reptilian brains or ancient way of thinking. By not recognizing that all religions are forms of magical thinking based on unverifiable beliefs we are doomed to give this way of thinking credibility and thus the ability to wreak havoc in the world.
Faith is not a virtue, it is the opposite. Faith is thinking with your “gut” instead of your brain. Until a critical tipping point of people understand this the world will continue to be a very regressive and dangerous place to live in. When we continue to elect and respect leaders who claim that they are religious we will get the immature world of “The Lord of the Flies”.
Why aren’t we laughing at religious ideas when expressed by adults instead of esteeming those who espouse such nonsense? When someone who is over 25 years old with a fully developed brain and self-identifies as a Muslim, Christian or Jew for example, we should realize that these people are telling us something very profound about themselves. They are telling us that they are retarded. They are demonstrating that although they look like adults they are really mentally still children. I worked with a devout Catholic who said she would not allow her children to read Harry Potter because it promoted magic. The irony was almost too much to bear. Children raising children - a reflection of the world today. Let's all grow up already.
"Science, as physicist Steven Weinberg has emphasized, does not make it impossible to believe in God, but rather makes it possible to not believe in God. Without science, everything is a miracle. With science, there remains the possibility that nothing is. Religious belief in this case becomes less and less necessary, and also less and less relevant" …. from Lawrence Krauss’s “A Universe from Nothing” .
"It is a fundamental tenet of science that we can never prove something to be true; we can only prove it to be false. This is a very important idea, one that is the basis of all scientific progress. Once we find an example in which a theory that may have worked correctly for millennia no longer agrees with observation, we then know that it must be supplemented - with either new data or a new theory. There is no arguing." - from Lawrence Krauss's "Fear of Physics.
Monday, 19 January 2015
Polytheism vs Monotheism
After reading this great Guardian article by Suzanne Moore about trust it occurred to me how the virtues of trust and loyalty are compromised in multi-cultural societies.
http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/jan/14/charlie-hebdo-add-faithophobia-to-my-crimes
In terms of loyalty one should remember that all religions in their development had to be disloyal to the one they believed in previously. So the virtue of loyalty has been sacrificed.
Living in a multi-cultural society with differing monotheistic faiths must certainly puts the virtue of trust in harm's way as well.
Believing in something without evidence is problematic but to be pragmatic about it it would seem that to believe in many Gods like the Romans and Greeks did would be preferable for a society that claims to believe in just one God and tolerates the rest.
Consider for example whether polytheism or monotheism is better. Doing so it reminds me just how silly all religions really are but it makes for a good thought experiment. Believing in many Gods is as useless as believing in only one God. That's given. However, believing in one God in today's multi-cultural society is probably much worst than believing in many Gods. This is because of what cognitive dissonance brings to the equation.
When we think that faith is a virtue and believe in one God it creates a situation where one may tolerate another's religious faith but one won't trust that believer. There is a cognitive dissonance created where trust in the other person is lacking because the other person doesn't have the same faith as you do, as much as one might claim there is trust. People confuse tolerance for trust. In a diverse society with multi-monotheist faiths trust must be at a deficit. Consider Islamic adherence in Europe and North America. They're in a minority in a society that claims they tolerate them. Indeed they may tolerate them but they won't trust them. They must constantly feel threatened.
Faith is not a virtue but that's not obvious to most. Believing in nonsense must sacrifice the virtues of trust and loyalty. No wonder our society today is under threat. If we must have religion bring back polytheism.
http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/jan/14/charlie-hebdo-add-faithophobia-to-my-crimes
In terms of loyalty one should remember that all religions in their development had to be disloyal to the one they believed in previously. So the virtue of loyalty has been sacrificed.
Living in a multi-cultural society with differing monotheistic faiths must certainly puts the virtue of trust in harm's way as well.
Believing in something without evidence is problematic but to be pragmatic about it it would seem that to believe in many Gods like the Romans and Greeks did would be preferable for a society that claims to believe in just one God and tolerates the rest.
Consider for example whether polytheism or monotheism is better. Doing so it reminds me just how silly all religions really are but it makes for a good thought experiment. Believing in many Gods is as useless as believing in only one God. That's given. However, believing in one God in today's multi-cultural society is probably much worst than believing in many Gods. This is because of what cognitive dissonance brings to the equation.
When we think that faith is a virtue and believe in one God it creates a situation where one may tolerate another's religious faith but one won't trust that believer. There is a cognitive dissonance created where trust in the other person is lacking because the other person doesn't have the same faith as you do, as much as one might claim there is trust. People confuse tolerance for trust. In a diverse society with multi-monotheist faiths trust must be at a deficit. Consider Islamic adherence in Europe and North America. They're in a minority in a society that claims they tolerate them. Indeed they may tolerate them but they won't trust them. They must constantly feel threatened.
Faith is not a virtue but that's not obvious to most. Believing in nonsense must sacrifice the virtues of trust and loyalty. No wonder our society today is under threat. If we must have religion bring back polytheism.
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