The Inside Assyria Discussion Forum #5
=> Hitchens again....
| Hitchens again.... |
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Posted by
pancho
(Moderator)
- Thursday, February 23 2012, 15:06:20 (UTC) from *** - ***  Mexico -  Windows XP -   MozillaWebsite: Website title: |
Listening to him in yet another debate I was struck by something that he seems to be hinting at though so far I haven't heard him actually come out and say, in plain language....and that is that whatever the benefits of any religion, whether in morals, laws, art, culture, humanity, sanitation, music you name it...that the very fact that religions are all about Gods knowing more than we do and telling us the right way to do these things and believe these things and, more, that the words and thoughts and commands and expectations of these Gods must always come to us THROUGH human beans who claim to be "elected" by Gods and in contact with Gods and privy to the word of Gods and must therefore be obeyed AS IF it was the God actually addressing US...that therein lies the greatest danger of all in ANY religion...regardless of how "good" it might turn out to be or what benefits it otherwise confers on us... ...because to have such "faith" is to surrender what is MOST human about our species...which is the great gift of Reason. The issue is not "what is the best from of slavery"....even mild and pleasant slavery...but rather how do we learn to best use our reason, with all its limitations, in our life-long search for our own, personal, humanity...with the added challenge of living in an increasingly crowded social system. It is our Reason, and not our docility and "train-ability" which makes us human...the issue is NOT how do I get all questions answered for me by someone superior to me, but how do I discover the best answers for myself, while being a part of the Human Race. Religion is bad BECAUSE it is religion...just as slavery is bad regardless of how kind and generous your master may be or how well-off it makes you BECAUSE it is slavery. That alone is enough to condemn it. --------------------- |
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