Veav
Posts: 150
Joined: 8/1/2005 Status: offline
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*clears throat* I'm not religious myself, just as a preface, but I don't consider religions to be founded on an irrational basis. They have some elements I personally find a tad bizarre, but to look at the infamous foundation of the big C... bearing in mind these are general guidelines, not hard and fast rules... "I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. You shall have no other gods before me. You shall not make for yourself a graven image..." If a meme doesn't reproduce, how is it supposed to stay alive? Makes sense to me. Second stanza - I can grok forbidding the worship of graven images. Having faith in icons or symbols is bad, having faith in an ideal is good. "You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain..." Never take the name of god in a vain oath. Not just lying in the name of religion, of course, but also taking the name of religion to meet your own ends and needs; depending on the translation it reads either way, and either way is sound. "Remember the Sabbath day and keep it holy." This one sounds off, I've got nothing... I'll let someone else field this commandment if they like. "Honor your father and your mother..." Doesn't say you have to love them; just says you should honor them, and I'll buy that. They supported you for X years, and regardless of their effectiveness as parents that's still worth something. "You shall not kill." Sounds like a pretty good idea to me. Other translations have it as "shall not murder", which gives the semantic out to debates over motivation and principle, but killing people in general is bad. "Neither shall you commit adultery." Marriage doesn't have to be a sacred covenant to be respected. See also: the rest of this thread. "Neither shall you steal." Again, sounds like a good idea to me. I take pride in earning what I own... mostly... *eyes his hard drives and moves on* (It's still a good idea, I'm just poor. Never claimed to be perfect.) "Neither shall you bear false witness against your neighbor." Don't lie? We're getting really irrational here, folks! "Neither shall you covet your neighbor's wife." Marriage doesn't have to be yours to be respected. See also: the rest of this thread. "And you shall not desire... anything that is your neighbor's." Jealousy and envy aren't necessarily sins, they're just unproductive. Desire should come from an unfulfilled need of yours, and be sought out accordingly, not because the grass is greener on the other side. The only one of these foundations I have trouble with is the one regarding the Sabbath, and I'd say a ninety percent signal-to-noise ratio is pretty damn good all things considered. Some religions have destructive foundations, and those I have a problem with - anyone with a better understanding want to bring up the Middle East? But let's take a step back. Religions are not based in "irrational bullshit", they're based on ideas, and many on some very good ideas about how to be a productive and healthy member of society instead of being a disrespectful prick. Don't get hung up on what followers have built with the faith. *waves a skull and crossbones from atop the thread's mast* Yar, me mateys.
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Yes, I am Gordon Freeman. Accept this, and move on with your life.
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