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Zonie63 -> RE: Benevolent's Taxonomy of Atheism (3/22/2012 1:31:11 PM)
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quote:
ORIGINAL: BenevolentM
Nietzsche predicted the death of God at least in the minds of the people. Perhaps the belief in God could not survive the rise of fossil fuels and availability of cheap energy. There is a strong correlation between prosperity and disbelief in God. There is a determined systematic effort to suppress the capacity for abstract reasoning in man, a dumbing down of people. Why would a correlation exist between prosperity and disbelief in God? The reason seems clear. Prosperity enhances your capacity to see the world in concrete terms. This makes the atheist conjecture seem reasonable.
I think one of the reasons there was a reaction against religion is because religion, historically, has been far too restrictive and tyrannical in its approach. It's natural for people to resist that. People don't like to be restricted, told what to do, or how to live. In fact, the word "religion" itself comes from a root meaning "to bind" or "restrict."
People might have had to put up with it while they were serfs or virtual prisoners in their own country, but once the age of exploration had begun, there were different, other places they could go - outside of the tiny jurisdiction of their particular church. They may not reject religion entirely, although they might try a new religion or a variation not acceptable to the tyrannical religious authorities. That's why many people (including my own ancestors) left Europe to come to America, for the sake of religious freedom.
It had nothing to do with the discovery of fossil fuels, but it had everything to do with religions actively driving away its own adherents. For similar reasons, nobody likes serfdom or feudalism anymore. People have a tendency to revolt against those things. Any religion which has to use force to keep its adherents is obviously going against the will of their own "God," since religion acknowledges the existence of freewill.
If "God" isn't going to take away my freewill, where does any human being get off overriding the will of "God"? No human being has the right to be "God's" representative on Earth either, nor does anyone have the right to exact punishments on "God's" behalf. In matters of religion and spirituality, no human being has the right to tell me what's what. No human being has any more spiritual authority than any other human being. No one is "enlightened," either.
We should assume that anything that any human being says about "God" is, at best, a guess (if not an intentional lie) , so the reaction against religion is simply a matter of common sense. (How is it possible for any human being to know the unknowable?)
Even if one believes in a Creator or some spiritual force in the universe, then people might also focus on that, rejecting Scriptures or any other words of human beings who are obviously unworthy and unqualified to represent an all-powerful supernatural deity. People can clearly see this, and, as a result, they say "Fuck you" to religion or any other form of unjustified restrictions on their lives.
It shouldn't be that difficult to figure out, even for an "enlightened" religionist.
Another thing that should be mentioned is that religion doesn't really do anything for us anymore. Perhaps in centuries past, it might have been useful as an organizing influence in society, but not so much anymore.
At best, religion can serve as a Sunday social club and a quasi-charitable institution, but that's about the limit of their usefulness to society at large.
There's also no reward for worshiping "God," only a perceived absence of punishment which is not the same thing as a reward. I did not ask for this life, so I feel no moral obligation to show gratitude or worship of a "God" for giving me something I never asked for. If and when He/She/It ever does give me something I ask for (or something that provides a miraculous benefit to my life), then I might reconsider this position and my possible obligations to "God." Likewise, there are no "covenants" which apply to me personally, since "God" has never spoken to me, nor have we ever sat down and negotiated a contract.
If there's no benefit from joining a religion or worshiping "God," then people won't do it. An empty, hollow, and vague promise of an idyllic "Afterlife" is hardly a strong enough incentive.
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