NationStates Jolt Archive

Religion isn't the problem, it's the formalisation of a problem. Prejudices, irrational beliefs, etc. can all exist outside of religion. Religion is just an attempt to create a consistent set of rules for them. This is, of course, a manifestation of conformism - something else that can exist outside of religion.

Religion is more a symptom of human nature than any kind of cause.

EDIT: Just to be clear, religion is influenced by positive effects of human nature as well. And of course, these too can exist outside of religion.

Thanks for sharing.

Religion isn't the problem, it's the formalisation of a problem. Prejudices, irrational beliefs, etc. can all exist outside of religion. Religion is just an attempt to create a consistent set of rules for them. This is, of course, a manifestation of conformism - something else that can exist outside of religion.

Religion is more a symptom of human nature than any kind of cause.
Religion is like totally gay. No offense intended to gays.

Problem with what? What problem are you talking about? There's a problem?

Religion is like totally gay. No offense intended to gays.
Please don't feed the trolls :p

Thanks for sharing.
No problem. Just wanted to show that religion isn't the big "source of evil" people claim it as. Just a product of human nature (both good and bad aspects thereof).

Problem with what? What problem are you talking about? There's a problem?
Depends. Are wars a problem? Terrorism? Persecution of those who are different? It all depends on your perspective.

Please don't feed the trolls :p
Hey, everybody's gotta eat.

Please don't feed the trolls :p
I thought I made a good point. I took an unusual stance, tried to show a frequently discussed topic in a different light. Is that trolling?

Depends. Are wars a problem? Terrorism? Persecution of those who are different? It all depends on your perspective.

Oh, THOSE problems. No, of course it's not religion. I don't think it's even prejudice and irrational beliefs. These problems and religion have nothing to do with one another. It's really more to do with treating people as objects.

Problem with what? What problem are you talking about? There's a problem?

Yes - multiple. Amongst them are the tendencies of humans to divide their world in "us" and "them", to embrace lies and deceit if they sound appealing, refusal to critically examine ones own beliefs and values and to trust hearsay.

Religion does not cause all these things - it just turns them into rules.

Yes - multiple. Amongst them are the tendencies of humans to divide their world in "us" and "them", to embrace lies and deceit if they sound appealing, refusal to critically examine ones own beliefs and values and to trust hearsay.

Religion does not cause all these things - it just turns them into rules.

Funny, all of that is against the tenets of my religion.

Yes - multiple. Amongst them are the tendencies of humans to divide their world in "us" and "them", to embrace lies and deceit if they sound appealing, refusal to critically examine ones own beliefs and values and to trust hearsay.

Religion does not cause all these things - it just turns them into rules.

But are those really problems? How many wars have been caused by a refusal to examine one's own beliefs? Lies and deciet only matter if there's someone lying and decieving in the first place (and I'm pretty sure religion in general isn't for lies & deciet anyway), and "us" and "them" has never been a catalyst in itself.

Political philosohpy isn't the problem, it's the formalisation of a problem. Prejudices, irrational beliefs, etc. can all exist outside of political philosophy. Political philosopy is just an attempt to create a consistent set of rules for them. This is, of course, a manifestation of conformism - something else that can exist outside of political philosophy.

Political philosophy, and politics in general is more a symptom of human nature than any kind of cause.

EDIT: Just to be clear, political philosophy is influenced by positive effects of human nature as well. And of course, these too can exist outside of political philosophy.

Political philosohpy isn't the problem, it's the formalisation of a problem. Prejudices, irrational beliefs, etc. can all exist outside of political philosophy. Political philosopy is just an attempt to create a consistent set of rules for them. This is, of course, a manifestation of conformism - something else that can exist outside of political philosophy.

Political philosophy, and politics in general is more a symptom of human nature than any kind of cause.

EDIT: Just to be clear, political philosophy is influenced by positive effects of human nature as well. And of course, these too can exist outside of political philosophy.
Actually political philosophy is an attempt to create an ideal form of government. Many of the things said about religion can be applied to politics, but politics ultimately results from the need to plan for the task of governing and is thus of a more practical nature.

... but politics ultimately results from the need to plan for the task of governing and is thus of a more practical nature.

Governing is all about making everyone conform to the will of the state.

Governing is all about making everyone conform to the will of the state.
Yes... That's a different meaning of a word I used... I think I'm missing your point here.

I thought I made a good point. I took an unusual stance, tried to show a frequently discussed topic in a different light. Is that trolling?
No lol.

DCD's post was trolling. You know, because some random Christian or somesuch, or maybe just another troll, is going to use it to hijack the thread. And the best part is he was probably joking. But anyways, I wasn't talking about you.

Funny, all of that is against the tenets of my religion.
:eek:
don't say things like that, they may start to think we're rational

Yes... That's a different meaning of a word I used... I think I'm missing your point here.
I've never seen much difference between organized religion and political thought.

In the early days of civilization, religion WAS politics. If a ruler rules by "divine right"...

I've never seen much difference between organized religion and political thought.
True, especially with extreme politics

In the early days of civilization, religion WAS politics. If a ruler rules by "divine right"...
Well, the leaders were taking advantage of the people's religious nature, whereas politics were created by the leaders as a strategy by which to do their jobs.

Well, the leaders were taking advantage of the people's religious nature, whereas politics were created by the leaders as a strategy by which to do their jobs.

I don't think this is necessarily true. Sometimes politics were created in order to create a job for the "leader". In other words, someone wanted power and thus created a system by which they could get it.

We know religion isn't the problem. Stupid people are the problem.

religion is the problem.........that and the americans..........and the sooner we realise this and have the guts to do something about it the better

I don't think this is necessarily true. Sometimes politics were created in order to create a job for the "leader". In other words, someone wanted power and thus created a system by which they could get it.
Yes, I was oversimplifying.