17th November 2011
“In the long run, nothing can withstand reason and experience, and the contradiction religion offers to both is palpable.”
Sigmund Freud1856 – 1939
“In the long run, nothing can withstand reason and experience, and the contradiction religion offers to both is palpable.”
Sigmund Freud1856 – 1939
November 17th, 2011 at 3:40
I live in the cult/church run state of Utah and it never sises to amaze me just how strong the idiot factor can be here… However when you look under the surface and meet and know the folks, you discover are different levels of lost fools. You have a lot of the adults suffering from and show the wounds of their childhood indoctrination that is had to recover from. Then there are the ones that just go through the motions and practice “do as we say not as we do” However, I feel most sorry for the ones that never are able to escape the cult and run around basically ruining all the lives they infect.
November 17th, 2011 at 4:07
hi little pals. i just saw a movie called ”red state.”
it contains a pretty accurate potrayal of a religious cult, and i thought
you guys might like to take a look. be aware…..it is graphically violent,.
and depressing…….but the acting and writing are great.
today’s quote is sooooooo right, too.
November 17th, 2011 at 10:55
“In the long run, nothing can withstand reason and experience” … I would suggest that religion has had quite a long run and unfortunately despite contradicting reason and experience, seems to be withstanding it quite successfully.
November 17th, 2011 at 16:49
But I’d say religion is losing ground in many ways, so perhaps reason and logic just needs to get a little more momentum, like the recent billboards.
http://freethoughtblogs.com/pharyngula/2011/11/13/unveiling-the-new-american-atheists-billboard/
Some people live such sheltered lives of religious indoctrination that they need a public sign that not all people beleive. That Jeebus might be a myth like the rest…
November 17th, 2011 at 17:08
While religion is losing ground in some places, it seems to be holding on and even gaining ground in others.
Something I heard this morning on Morning Joe (MSNBC – Unpaid endorsement, LOL) scared the crap out of me (which was good, as I’ve been a bit on the tight side lately…) More or less quoting, the central assumption of diplomacy is that all governments are rational actors. Think about the baseline false premise of that statement! All governments are made up of human beings, whom we know to be rationalizing actors, not rational ones. If all the inputs into a system are based upon rationalizations, how can we possibly expect the outputs to be rational?
Could that simple fact be why religion has held on for so long in the face of all evidence to the contrary?
November 17th, 2011 at 17:14
John, thanks for your assesment of Utah. I’ve always suspected as much, and it’s gratifying to hear that it’s kinda obvious to outside (non-Mormon) observers. How do you feel about the possibility of a President Romney? What about Huntsman? Not that Huntsman has a chance with his poll numbers so low. But I’m interested in him as a moderate and an inactive Mormon (from what I understand). We could use a guy who gave up on religious nonsense.
November 17th, 2011 at 17:14
scarlett at 1055………….
…………………………………
scarlett, you’re correct , of course. religions have been
holding their own against reason and experience
(( read scientific method )) for centuries. buit i think
this is one of those debates you might classify as
“depends who’s asking-depends who’s answering .”
is light composed of paricles or is it composed of
waves ? the physicists tell us it can be BOTH. in
other words, if you ask a particle question about
light, you get a particle answer. if you ask a wave
question about light, you get a wave answer. i
sometimes think this sort of debate goes on with the
atheists and the religionistas. each belief is centered
around certain bodies of information……and from that
information each group draws its conclusions, AND
its emotional reactions. but, lotsa the time, it winds
up with the convinced convincing the convinced on
their OWN side……….I.E. no relevant exchange of
ideas.
MOST of the folks who visit this site , are, for
lotsa reasons, pretty solidly convinced that gods
simply dont exist……………and are willing to
share and declare with anybody……and DO !!!
however, at least in my experience, i find the
religionistas WILL share, but if you dont buy
their stories , you are either
shown pity
written off as a crackpot
or sometimes killed……by them or God !! Yikes !!
personally, i’m sure the world would be better off
without religion, and, i guess that as long as i’m
able, i’m going to promote that idea……whether
it is “withstood” or not.