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You should go to infowars.com and listen to alex jones you must be ayoung kid or something.
Originally posted by bigbert81
reply to post by pieman
I don't think believing in God is bad at all. I just think we would progress further as a society if we acted more like we were alone.
Thanks for the post.
First, humanists believe that it is better for a human to be free of illusions, and belief in god and the supernatural is an illusion. Undoubtedly, as John states, theistic and supernaturalistic religions offer their believers emotional supports that enable them to survive and live happily in the world, but similar supports can be found in humanism:
A. Afraid of death? Either believe in an afterlife and immortal soul or live your present life realistically and achieve immortality by the memories and records of your efforts to improve the world for others. One can be happy or unhappy in either situation, but only the latter is authentic and consistent with nature and reality as we know them.
B. Finding yourself alive, how does one then live? Theistic religions provide the answer of believing in God and following the commandments, while humanism says that humans are responsible for creating their own morals as well as following them. Either can result in both ethical and unethical behavior, but only the latter is realistic, subject to rational analysis, and actually represents the true state of affairs (who can deny that religionists actually create and follow their own moral codes regardless of what they claim to believe!).
C. What is the meaning of life? Most religions are happy to provide a simple, superficial, semi-palatable answer, e.g. serve God on Earth and then in heaven by achieving salvation through some easy or difficult doctrine, while humanists say the meaning of life is found in an individual's relationships with other humans. Both have undoubtedly given meaning to humans, but only the latter can be examined rationally, can be accomplished without guilt, and actually promotes better conduct among humans.
Second, while religions have certainly resulted in some good in the world, their misogyny, patriarchy, bigotry, authoritarianism, propagation of nonsense, ignorance, and credulity, tolerance of slavery and crimes against humanity, human over-population, environmental destruction, maintaining the status quo (I must be thinking of Christianity), etc., far outweigh any of that good. Contrast that with humanism, which has always promoted the most noble qualities of humanity: reason, empiricism, tolerance, fellowship, compassion, democracy, skepticism, etc. Science is a product of the empirical, rational, and skeptical humanist impulse, and has given humanity unparalleled advances in food, energy, communication, transportation, medicine, etc. Contrast just the fruits of science with all that religion has given us--the comparison is telling.
Originally posted by bigbert81
reply to post by pieman
I don't think believing in God is bad at all. I just think we would progress further as a society if we acted more like we were alone.
Thanks for the post.