Re: religion

Robert J. Bradbury (bradbury@www.aeiveos.com)
Mon, 25 Oct 1999 06:10:46 -0700 (PDT)

On Thu, 25 Nov 1999, Rob Harris wrote:

> Religion = reality shield for the weak minded.....and this is universal.
>
Rob, I would generally agree that for most people religion is handed to them on a silver platter or sold to them (as in a used car).

However, there are people who see reality very clearly, and can still choose to be religious because of the reasons I've been discussing in the astrophysics thread with Amara -- the Universe seems too "rigged". If people want to have "faith" that something caused the big bang or that multiverses exist and they choose to express or practice that faith in a particular religious form, then I don't think you can say that they are "universally weak minded".

I would suggest where you want to draw the lines is when you go from using religion (as in faith) to explain the unknowns at the "edges" of reality to an organized system that evolves power structures, gatekeepers, wealth concentrations, systems for controlling "unacceptable" behaviors and organized genocide.

Religion is not inherently faulty, it is mostly misguided.

Robert