You're right, every faith in the world is "the best religion" for that group

Seeing that cartoon of the front of a church evoked a completely unrelated memory from my thoughts:

The opening scene from the SUPER GREAT MOVIE "Night of the Iguana." Now I will probably have to go rent that movie again.

On the subject of religion, isn't is simply AMAZING, truly and seriously, I do find it absolutely AMAZING that...

-Otherwise intelligent, sensible, clear thinking men and women can be so so so totally obtuse and divorce themselves from all logical thought process when they get on the subject of "religion."

-EVERYONE, seems to think that their religion is the "One True Religion," and that the rest of the world is ... lost forever, or "going to burn in hell," or going to be re-incarnated as a bug, or...... etc. etc. So perfectly encapsulated in this cartoon - "It's true - we totally have the best religion!"

-And finally, and this is the thing about religion that REALLY AMAZES ME, nobody, nobody, nobody can absolutely and scientifically prove or disprove any of the stuff that religions purport to explain for us. It is all just based on "faith," i.e. believing in something you have no reason to believe in. So, why is it, that on these matters of "faith" that are absolutely unsupported by any real evidence for or against, that people everywhere are ready to do the most horrid things? E.G. burning heretics and witches at the stake? It is the things we are the LEAST SURE ABOUT, the things we cannot prove or disprove, that cause us (the collective human race - NOT me and most of the people I know) to do the most extreme things. I seriously would love to scientifically study that phenomenon, I mean really, we are ready to KILL, seriously KILL other human beings because they do not believe in the same imaginary friends that we do, this totally illogical behavior seriously does merit a complete scientific investigation.

DEAR D.B.

Don't waste your time on SHIT_ZO_PHRENICS...

There is no cure for the SHIT 4 BRAINS Syndrome...

bobover3 (imported) wrote: Thu Jun 24, 2010 12:38 am http://www.cartoonbank.com/June-28-2010 ... nvt/135318

Cute cartoon. Too true. Too true.

A-1 (imported) wrote: Thu Jun 24, 2010 1:37 pm DEAR D.B.

Don't waste your time on SHIT_ZO_PHRENICS...

There is no cure for the SHIT 4 BRAINS Syndrome...

NOW WAIT JUST A SECOND HERE!

A-1, I understand that you are angry and hate filled at the "shit-zo-prenics" who suffer from "shit 4 brains" syndrome. Believe me, I hate them just as much if not more. The human race would be infinitely better off if we had rid ourselves of this collective sickness called "faith." Seriously and honestly, when you take an honest accounting of all the good that religions can do - and let's be honest, sometimes the influence of faith IS a good thing, but totalled up, I think the damage caused by religion far far far outweighs the good. So, it is clearly in the best interest of every human being to better understand this mental disorder, and hopefully cure the collective insanity.

While I am not in any position to direct scientific research efforts, I seriously wish I were, and that we could find out the WHY of it, and maybe even cure this disease.

Consider this, IF Dr. Salk had given in to his natural reaction to be disgusted and repulsed by sick and crippled people (as some idiots still do today), he would have never cared, never investigated, never discovered the first workable vaccine against polio. You seem to be (quite reasonably) disgusted and repulsed by the sick and mentally crippled people who suffer from "shit-zo-phrenia" or what I call "religious fervor." But if we could actually cure this, bring the insane zealots back to their senses, think about the benefits.

It is actually quite a worthwhile endeavor, to study the brains and brain chemistry of these people, see if there is some sort of chemical disorder or brain damaging defect that causes this behavior. Don't you think the benefits would be worth it? I do not for one second think it is a "waste" of time.

It is in my estimation, unrealistic to expect to see a world wide cure in my lifetime, but just think, IF I could make a world for my grandchildren that was free of this insane religious superstition, wouldn't that be worth some of my effort? A world WITHOUT religious zealots, no more "faith based" idiocy, no more rabid fundamentalist muslim, christian, what-ever-ist suicide bombers. It would be soooooooo worth the effort to cure this disease that has vexed the human race since our very beginning.

Dear D.B.,

Can't blame it all on religion. The sick of mind seem to gravitate there, and it is O.K., as long as people are in religion to help other people.

HOWEVER,

Far too many today USE their religion to obtain things that they could NOT get any other way. Money, power, SEX, influence, prestige, SEX, respect, and more SEX are just the things that the mentally ill need.

The problem is that NUT CASES tend to cluster. Just look at this site... No, but seriously, D.B., Religion is NOT the illness, but certain TYPES of religions are certainly SYMPTOMS, just the same as how other benign religions can be converted into vehicles of EVIL by unethical BASTARDS who take advantage of others.

I think all human beings want the same things, sometimes in different proportions. There are an unlimited number of ways people use to get what they want. Religion is one of them.

While religious beliefs may not be physically true, they're still social and emotional truths for many people. A widespread belief may itself be a compelling fact. The Great Oogah-Boogah may not actually demand sacrifice, but if enough people say he does, there are consequences to the belief. These consequences often make people happy, which is the root of why the beliefs become popular. I may not believe there's a Tooth Fairy, but I may refrain from disillusioning a believing child.

Trouble arises when groups have conflicting agendas, which they try to advance through conflicting religions (or non-religions, religiously pursued). Best to remember that religion does not cause these conflicts, but is merely the shorthand through which the combatants express themselves. For example, those who oppose gay marriage would probably oppose it anyway, but it eases their advocacy by claiming Jesus wanted it that way. Jesus isn't the villain. He's the disguise. So, atheist that I am, I can live in peace with believers. I judge them not by their theology, but by their character.

bobover3 (imported) wrote: Sat Jun 26, 2010 10:24 pm Trouble arises when groups have conflicting agendas, which they try to advance through conflicting religions (or non-religions, religiously pursued). Best to remember that religion does not cause these conflicts, but is merely the shorthand through which the combatants express themselves. For example, those who oppose gay marriage would probably oppose it anyway, but it eases their advocacy by claiming Jesus wanted it that way. Jesus isn't the villain. He's the disguise. So, atheist that I am, I can live in peace with believers. I judge them not by their theology, but by their character.

As a Christian it makes me sick the amount of violence, hate, and sin that has been perpetrated in his name.

Dharkbus (imported) wrote: Sun Jun 27, 2010 4:02 am As a Christian it makes me sick the amount of violence, hate, and sin that has been perpetrated in his name.

Yup, you're right. Thanks to Christianity, we've had the Unholy Crusades, the Inquisition and the Salem Witch Trials.