The Inside Assyria Discussion Forum #5

=> Re: Reza Aslan and the Misrepresentation of Atheism ...

Re: Reza Aslan and the Misrepresentation of Atheism ...
Posted by pancho (Moderator) - Saturday, November 26 2011, 17:10:48 (UTC)
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Once upon a time religions may have ennobled human existence, somewhat, by getting people to believe that there was some purpose to existence....as if just existing well isn't enough in itself. Maybe they taught greater compassion and dignity than primitive people could manage...I'm just being kind to religion here...I still think that their overall record has been dismal and that for a long time now they've been a drag on human development...and why not since their "ethics" and mumbo jumbo were developed ages ago...at the same time that people believed all sorts of ridiculous things.

The only excuse left for religion is that it promotes morality; even if you no longer believe the stories and miracles...at least it upholds morals. If you got rid of religions now, even though we admit they are barbaric, still, at the very least their existence upholds morality, a sense of right and wrong; that if you did away with them people would do all sorts of nasty things that belief and fear of god keeps them from doing...but what could be a worse indictment of religion than that?

If, after a few thousand years, religion has not actually taught morality in such a way that it becomes a natural part of our lives, but must still keep its fear-mongering and guilt-inducing practices, then I say it has already failed miserably and isn't likely to improve any.

Religion had its chance and for a short while it may have done some good....but those days and benefits are long, long, gone. It's time to live without that crutch/cudgel. It's time to teach children that doing good is its own reward...it's time to rely on the Golden Rule as about the best and simplest way to live. It isn't perfect, nothing is...but it does away with jihads and fundamentalists and bigotry...it makes your own comfort and well-being the standard of measure you use when determining how to treat others...and that's a far better guide to morality than some heaten god of 2000 years ago.



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