Message from @Abel

Discord ID: 488176512399310848


2018-09-09 02:36:33 UTC  

The more we learn about the world around us, the more we kill off these so called deities.

2018-09-09 02:36:35 UTC  

Think about it.

2018-09-09 02:36:38 UTC  

More than that, though

2018-09-09 02:36:48 UTC  

I think philosophy is at odds with nature.

2018-09-09 02:36:52 UTC  

Let's take the Abrahamic story

2018-09-09 02:37:01 UTC  

Why is god such a hypocrite?

2018-09-09 02:37:02 UTC  

The fact that we can have a civil discussion and not rip each other's throats out

2018-09-09 02:37:18 UTC  

And why have these stories stayed the same for thousands of years?

2018-09-09 02:37:19 UTC  

That's not natural, but I'd consider it as good.

2018-09-09 02:37:29 UTC  

Atleast that element of it

2018-09-09 02:37:35 UTC  

Religion is also a way of creating social codes and cohesion. A way of controlling people, and I don't mean that in a bad way, it was one that I think probably did a lot of good for our ancestors. Same way modern laws are a way of controlling people.

2018-09-09 02:37:39 UTC  

There is a small grain of truth to most religious stories, but those who written them down took a lot of creative liberties to them.

2018-09-09 02:37:47 UTC  

i think religion has a variety of good and bad aspects

2018-09-09 02:38:02 UTC  

The entire point of Religion is to put a person beholden to a consistent higher power.

2018-09-09 02:38:05 UTC  

I don't think religious stories were ever intended to be a way of understanding the world as we think of it

2018-09-09 02:38:25 UTC  

Because being beholden to your fellow man and your own legacy beyond your own life is a MUCH HARDER thing to ask.

2018-09-09 02:38:42 UTC  

I think they were designed to impart values that were easily impressed upon people through stories than complicated philosophy

2018-09-09 02:38:56 UTC  

Some were. Like Zeus throwing lightning bolts. "well how else could you explain that? No human could ever understand where those come from so it MUST be Zeus"

2018-09-09 02:39:02 UTC  

and yeah the fear of going to hell is a good way to get people to effectively police themselves, which is kind of important in a world with very primitive investigatory methods

2018-09-09 02:39:05 UTC  

Well, yes. But that explanation branches off of 'being beholden to a higher power'.

2018-09-09 02:39:10 UTC  

Especially during the times when most civilizations used word of mouth

2018-09-09 02:39:40 UTC  

I love the example of Hinduism. People mistake it for a pagan religion like the Greek and Roman religions

2018-09-09 02:39:47 UTC  

It's anything but that

2018-09-09 02:40:18 UTC  

I believe it can be said that Christianity makes for good policy, but bad politics.

2018-09-09 02:40:44 UTC  

I doubt it was ever meant as political advice

2018-09-09 02:40:59 UTC  

Mmm... I'd argue with you on that.

2018-09-09 02:41:03 UTC  

Like Islam was, for instance

2018-09-09 02:41:11 UTC  

The story of Jesus Christ was wrought with politics.

2018-09-09 02:41:17 UTC  

Commandments are just laws that come from a different place

2018-09-09 02:41:19 UTC  

The politics of the time.

2018-09-09 02:41:36 UTC  

@Schedrevka Are they laws, or morals?

2018-09-09 02:41:46 UTC  

The adoption of Catholicism was a political move.

2018-09-09 02:42:03 UTC  

They're literally what you're commanded to do. Hence the name.

2018-09-09 02:42:13 UTC  

The King James Bible came about from a political schism.

2018-09-09 02:43:00 UTC  

And then there's stuff like leviticus which is not only the rules but also the punishments, but there's some argument for that not being 'Christian'. Jesus was kind of inconsistent about whether he was there to replace the old laws or not

2018-09-09 02:43:19 UTC  

If you look at the Bible purely as a record of the life of Jesus, you're missing a lot of the background.

2018-09-09 02:43:34 UTC  

Or maybe the Bible is just inconsistent about what he said

2018-09-09 02:44:32 UTC  

Or, maybe, it was the root Church that interpreted it incorrectly.

2018-09-09 02:44:36 UTC  

i imagine the bible has been reinterpreted and rewritten enough that there isn't an intact original sentence in the whole thing

2018-09-09 02:44:48 UTC  

Catholicism got a bad read from the start.

2018-09-09 02:45:21 UTC  

Then there's the whole issue with the church deciding at different times what is and isn't canon.