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In the earlyer stages of mankind we hadn't invented the concept of God yet, you dont find any "theism" untill very late into the stoneage or pre bronze age. Dont try to tell me they could make "cartoons" showing huntingexpeditions in their cavedrawings, but didn't depict their beliefs in "the almighty".
Originally posted by MrXYZ
reply to post by randyvs
Yes, thousands or hundreds of years ago people filled gaps in knowledge with magic (aka god)...and to some extent that's still happening. But thanks to scientific method and the fact that knowledge is now easily available on the Internet and TV, it's only rational that atheists are on the rise.
If there are so many things about a particular religion that is DEMONSTRABLY wrong, such as global floods less than 10k years ago, or people surviving in whales, or gods with elephant heads, or that humans just popped up in their current form without evolution, then people will start to question "the whole package". And that's exactly what we're seeing right now.
Just look at the decline of believers in the US, during a time when the number of atheists almost doubled. That happened in the last 15 years ago since the Internet made it easy to educate yourself about facts.
In short, I'm not sure what the argument is, but if it's that cultures thousands of years ago weren't atheists...then...well...that makes PERFECT SENSE because they didn't have an ounce of the knowledge we have today. Welcome to the 21st century
Originally posted by jessejamesxx
Religion is a symptom of large groups of people being afraid of death (and acquiring power, of course - what better way to keep people in line?). With Groupthink, people with different views are alienated. They either conform (so they won't be murdered), or just keep their mouths shut about it.
Societies in the past that have been less than civilized, gained great amounts of power through religion. The powerful people made the statues, made the inscriptions & wrote history. Most of these civilizations were based around their religion.. It's my view that in an uncivilized environment, it would be practically impossible to wield any power without the mass hypnosis, indoctrination & punishment system known as religion with the invisible judge watching over you ready to send you to a fiery pit for all of eternity if you don't obey laws.
Sure there were people that believed it was all BS. I'm sure there were people in power that didn't believe the non-sense they were coming up with. But how do you keep control of a group of people while promoting freedom of self? It's pretty much not doable, IMO
The Myth of Renaissance Atheism and the French Tradition of Free-Thought (1968) employ a narrower (and more modern) definition of atheism that more strictly distinguishes blasphemy, heresy and anticlericalism from direct questioning of God's existence. [4] They conclude that there is no good evidence for atheism (in this stricter sense) prior to the seventeenth century. According to these historians, accusations of atheism in the sixteenth century and earlier amount to nothing more than an indication that the accuser was in some respect or other hostile to the position of the accused, not that there was any genuine atheism around.[5]
Depending on the history of atheism consulted, the interested reader can come away either with the impression that contemporary atheism has a long lineage stretching back through the atheists of the French Enlightenment, the Paduan Averroists of the sixteenth century, the middle ages and back to antiquity; or that it appears surprisingly late in history, no earlier than the mid seventeenth century.
In one respect historians defending their employment of a broader definition of atheism obviously have a point. Strict philosophical atheism (in the narrow sense of the denial of God's existence) did not come from nowhere, and as Schroeder has noted, a range of heterodox strategies employed by deists and pantheists from radical biblical criticism, religious comparativism, the undermining of Christian revelation and the establishment of natural religion can be identified as important factors determining atheism's first appearance. However, these cannot be identified with atheism, even if they prepare the way for it.
If ancient man beleived in atheism, then there would be no "stone god" records of this, as they, then like now, did not need these images.
Originally posted by randyvs
Originally posted by jessejamesxx
Religion is a symptom of large groups of people being afraid of death (and acquiring power, of course - what better way to keep people in line?). With Groupthink, people with different views are alienated. They either conform (so they won't be murdered), or just keep their mouths shut about it.
Societies in the past that have been less than civilized, gained great amounts of power through religion. The powerful people made the statues, made the inscriptions & wrote history. Most of these civilizations were based around their religion.. It's my view that in an uncivilized environment, it would be practically impossible to wield any power without the mass hypnosis, indoctrination & punishment system known as religion with the invisible judge watching over you ready to send you to a fiery pit for all of eternity if you don't obey laws.
Sure there were people that believed it was all BS. I'm sure there were people in power that didn't believe the non-sense they were coming up with. But how do you keep control of a group of people while promoting freedom of self? It's pretty much not doable, IMO
I tottally reject your response as being based on assumptions and ignorant to the evidence. Star anyway.
Originally posted by jessejamesxx
Religion is a symptom of large groups of people being afraid of death (and acquiring power, of course - what better way to keep people in line?). With Groupthink, people with different views are alienated. They either conform (so they won't be murdered), or just keep their mouths shut about it.
Societies in the past that have been less than civilized, gained great amounts of power through religion. The powerful people made the statues, made the inscriptions & wrote history. Most of these civilizations were based around their religion.. It's my view that in an uncivilized environment, it would be practically impossible to wield any power without the mass hypnosis, indoctrination & punishment system known as religion with the invisible judge watching over you ready to send you to a fiery pit for all of eternity if you don't obey laws.
Sure there were people that believed it was all BS. I'm sure there were people in power that didn't believe the non-sense they were coming up with. But how do you keep control of a group of people while promoting freedom of self? It's pretty much not doable, IMO
Do you completely reject the idea that religion has been a colossal tool to keep people in line? Or do you reject the idea that one of the main ways for a civilization to be successful, and the rulers to maintain their power and positions is through religion?
Originally posted by randyvs
Not at all. I'm not unfamiliar with the fact that those in power can use anything to their advantage. Most of all Atheism.
And therein lies the conspiracy.
Originally posted by jessejamesxx
Originally posted by randyvs
What does this even mean? Most of all atheism? Religion has been used for thousands and thousands of years for power & control - millions upon millions of people dead in the name of religion.. and you're saying that atheism, which came around only recently (in a big way), is the bigger tool for power? Which wars have been waged in the name of atheism? How many of your rights have been infringed upon in the name of atheism? Because I can make the counter argument.edit on 27-10-2011 by jessejamesxx because: (no reason given)
I'll do you a favor and present the whole of your argument.
Originally posted by Dezero
Just look at all the greatest civilizations, they all worshipped some kind of idol or anti-Judeo/Christian God.
Then you look at the Illuminati and the Vatican today with all their symbols and Idols, you have to come to the conclusion that something is giving them power.
Originally posted by jessejamesxx
reply to post by randyvs
I'm not watching a 47minute video.
Please stop deflecting & attacking and explain your position, or admit you're wrong. How is atheism used "most of all" for power and control, more-so than religion has been in the past?