Re: God: Why argue?

Delvieron@aol.com
Fri, 26 Feb 1999 19:37:18 EST

We shouldn't argue about God (or lack thereof).

Discuss? Speculate? Theorize? Debate? Fall Asleep?

Any and all of the above are more than OK, but we should be careful of arguing and fighting over these matters. And why is it that any mention of religiously related matters seems to fan the flame of conflict?

I would suggest that when we bring up religion in any form, we are activating some rather deeply embedded and baroque meme complexes which have strong and myriad associational links, many of them capable of triggering powerful emotions. Thus we should be cautious, and utilize some of the best social tools available, such as tolerance, courtesy, and empathy to prevent a meme complex triggered emotional avalanche. Now, another option would be to simply avoid the subject all together as too dangerous...never liked this approach, too restrictive. Besides which, I would suggest there might be some good memes entangled in all those religious meme complexes; it would be a shame if we were to throw the meme out with the meme complex.

Glen Finney