Scientists say the more religious a person is, the more likely they are brain-damaged

[BigDH01]

It might seem like a simple idea now but thousands of years ago the concept of not killing or telling lies about your neighbor were very new concepts.

Are we talking specifically about Christianity?

 

[Modelworks]

Religions of all sorts have been used by man as a means of control since our inception. Human beings have a desire to be purposeful, and that is manifested in our spirituality. I do not believe that creating frameworks that harness or manipulate this spirituality is particularly novel or insightful.

Consider a world without religion of any kind, where the individual only believes what they can benefit from like food, shelter, clothing. Why would I care if my neighbor has food ? He is competing with me for resources, it would be better to kill him and take what is his. If I have a child and that child grows up to be sickly and not able to work the land I should kill him because he is not contributing to my life but again taking from me. In that world there would be no room for anything but what helped you survive. Without the prospect of something greater than ourselves life degrades into a fight over what is best for the individual .


You can see it everyday with people that complain about feeding the poor. They don't care if those people go hungry because all they are concerned with is what they can get, they see nothing but the present because they believe in nothing greater than what they are, they are just waiting around to die and want to take as much as they can for themselves before they do.

 

[Modelworks]

Are we talking specifically about Christianity?

No not specifically any religion. Most have rules about killing for reasons of taking someones possessions or stealing their wives or lying about people for personal gain.

 

[MJinZ]

Consider a world without religion of any kind, where the individual only believes what they can benefit from like food, shelter, clothing. Why would I care if my neighbor has food ? He is competing with me for resources, it would be better to kill him and take what is his. If I have a child and that child grows up to be sickly and not able to work the land I should kill him because he is not contributing to my life but again taking from me. In that world there would be no room for anything but what helped you survive. Without the prospect of something greater than ourselves life degrades into a fight over what is best for the individual .


You can see it everyday with people that complain about feeding the poor. They don't care if those people go hungry because all they are concerned with is what they can get, they see nothing but the present because they believe in nothing greater than what they are, they are just waiting around to die and want to take as much as they can for themselves before they do.

Religion does not teach you those things, they are part of being human. Indoctrination has you brainwashed into thinking what you already "knew" as a person was taught to you by religion.

Christianity is a baby in the history of human societies. No one needed Christianity thousands of years before it existed to teach them anything.

 

[HannibalX]

What level of retardation would Obama be? He has been in church for years!

heeeehheehhe

 

[BigDH01]

Consider a world without religion of any kind, where the individual only believes what they can benefit from like food, shelter, clothing. Why would I care if my neighbor has food ? He is competing with me for resources, it would be better to kill him and take what is his. If I have a child and that child grows up to be sickly and not able to work the land I should kill him because he is not contributing to my life but again taking from me. In that world there would be no room for anything but what helped you survive. Without the prospect of something greater than ourselves life degrades into a fight over what is best for the individual .


You can see it everyday with people that complain about feeding the poor. They don't care if those people go hungry because all they are concerned with is what they can get, they see nothing but the present because they believe in nothing greater than what they are, they are just waiting around to die and want to take as much as they can for themselves before they do.

But the fact that humans created religion makes it seem to me that humans do care about those things.

I also find religion to simply be too convenient. The religious people I know will simply embrace the parts of their religion that conform to their beliefs and reject the rest. I just don't find the moral argument for religion very convincing from my experience. This is especially true when you start discussing love, charity, and usury.

Men may have used religion to tell others what and what not to do, but the current system in place to dictate behavior in society is our elected government. We can use reason to decide what is not permissible.

It also neglects those people who could've done what you described and escape punishment. I have sometimes found myself in a position to make money from ignorance or take advantage of my fellow man, yet have not always taken the chance to do so. Like any human, I sometimes make mistakes. And I didn't need God to inflict the guilt I felt afterwards.

 

[WHAMPOM]

At last! We have proof!

Now, if we can just find a cure.



Via: http://news.yahoo.com/s/livescience/20100212/sc_livescience/linkstospiritualityfoundinthebrain

Near death experiences, strokes. brain seizures and Middle-East hermits getting high on petroleum fumes seeping into their caves. Most of our "I see God" types have a few brain cells on fire, "Oh excuse me afflictions."

 

[Net]

religious scientist:

Galileo, Mersenne, Descartes, Pascal, Isaac Newton, Euler, Faraday, Maxwell, Stokes, etc etc etc....

 

[Taejin]

religious scientist:

Galileo, Mersenne, Descartes, Pascal, Isaac Newton, Euler, Faraday, Maxwell, Stokes, etc etc etc....

that's cause they didn't know any better back then. world has changed a lot since then (notice how the big religious scientists are all really old ones)

 

[WHAMPOM]

Consider a world without religion of any kind, where the individual only believes what they can benefit from like food, shelter, clothing. Why would I care if my neighbor has food ? He is competing with me for resources, it would be better to kill him and take what is his. If I have a child and that child grows up to be sickly and not able to work the land I should kill him because he is not contributing to my life but again taking from me. In that world there would be no room for anything but what helped you survive. Without the prospect of something greater than ourselves life degrades into a fight over what is best for the individual .


You can see it everyday with people that complain about feeding the poor. They don't care if those people go hungry because all they are concerned with is what they can get, they see nothing but the present because they believe in nothing greater than what they are, they are just waiting around to die and want to take as much as they can for themselves before they do.

I see, religion is the only thing that keeps you from robbing, raping and murdering your neighbor. Only in a world populated by sociopaths

 

[ebaycj]

Consider a world without religion of any kind, where the individual only believes what they can benefit from like food, shelter, clothing. Why would I care if my neighbor has food ? He is competing with me for resources, it would be better to kill him and take what is his. If I have a child and that child grows up to be sickly and not able to work the land I should kill him because he is not contributing to my life but again taking from me. In that world there would be no room for anything but what helped you survive. Without the prospect of something greater than ourselves life degrades into a fight over what is best for the individual .


You can see it everyday with people that complain about feeding the poor. They don't care if those people go hungry because all they are concerned with is what they can get, they see nothing but the present because they believe in nothing greater than what they are, they are just waiting around to die and want to take as much as they can for themselves before they do.

Imagine there's no heaven
It's easy if you try
No hell below us
Above us only sky
Imagine all the people
Living for today...

Imagine there's no countries
It isn't hard to do
Nothing to kill or die for
And no religion too
Imagine all the people
Living life in peace...

You may say I'm a dreamer
But I'm not the only one
I hope someday you'll join us
And the world will be as one

Imagine no possessions
I wonder if you can
No need for greed or hunger
A brotherhood of man
Imagine all the people
Sharing all the world...

You may say I'm a dreamer
But I'm not the only one
I hope someday you'll join us
And the world will live as one


...Imagine a world where, instead of "competing for resources", you simply ask your neighbor who has food, how he gets it (farming, etc..), and you do the same. Or perhaps you have some natural/intuitive engineering skills, and can help him build a house with a roof that doesn't leak, or build a shelter for his livestock in exchange for his helping you with your food situation.

I know you're gonna go right to "SOCIALISM !!! KARL MARX !!! GAAAAH!!!", but think about the "building" period of this country/area (1492 - industrial revolution). This story was reality for pretty much everyone in a pre-manufacturing-facility world. And it worked.

 

[ebaycj]

I see, religion is the only thing that keeps you from robbing, raping and murdering your neighbor. Only in a world populated by sociopaths

Exactly, the golden rule is all you need. And before you go attributing the golden rule to Jesus of Nazareth, make damn sure you have read the subsection titled "Ancient Egypt" first.

 

[El Guaraguao]

Consider a world without religion of any kind, where the individual only believes what they can benefit from like food, shelter, clothing. Why would I care if my neighbor has food ? He is competing with me for resources, it would be better to kill him and take what is his. If I have a child and that child grows up to be sickly and not able to work the land I should kill him because he is not contributing to my life but again taking from me. In that world there would be no room for anything but what helped you survive. Without the prospect of something greater than ourselves life degrades into a fight over what is best for the individual .


You can see it everyday with people that complain about feeding the poor. They don't care if those people go hungry because all they are concerned with is what they can get, they see nothing but the present because they believe in nothing greater than what they are, they are just waiting around to die and want to take as much as they can for themselves before they do.

your model doesn't work. its broken.

lets do some pretending. you're good at that right? lets pretend were in Colombia. Dont worry, I know spanish. Lets pretend you're treating me to a drink and we take a taxi to a local bar. Before we get there, you tell me that you need to get cash out an ATM. I tell the driver we need to make a stop at an ATM. we stop at a atm, you get out and walk towards the atm. driver knocks me out, kidnaps me and drives off. You look back to see the taxi driving off. You shit your pants because you have no idea where you are. Not even 2 minutes after the driver goes off, you get mugged and killed.

Shit like this happens everyday in Colombia. In fact Colombia is one of the most dangerous countries in the world. Oh and btw, in Colombia, 95% of the population are Christians.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colombia#Religion

Places like Columbia, parts of Mexico, Mogadishu, parts of China people kill each other for food and water. These places are amongst the most dangerous places to live. Yet, the majority of those dangerous countries the majority of the population are attributed to some kind of religion.

 

[ebaycj]

your model doesn't work. its broken.

lets do some pretending. you're good at that right? lets pretend were in Colombia. Dont worry, I know spanish. Lets pretend you're treating me to a drink and we take a taxi to a local bar. Before we get there, you tell me that you need to get cash out an ATM. I tell the driver we need to make a stop at an ATM. we stop at a atm, you get out and walk towards the atm. driver knocks me out, kidnaps me and drives off. You look back to see the taxi driving off. You shit your pants because you have no idea where you are. Not even 2 minutes after the driver goes off, you get mugged and killed.

Shit like this happens everyday in Colombia. In fact Colombia is one of the most dangerous countries in the world. Oh and btw, in Colombia, 95% of the population are Christians.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colombia#Religion

Places like Columbia, parts of Mexico, Mogadishu, parts of China people kill each other for food and water. These places are amongst the most dangerous places to live. Yet, the majority of those dangerous countries the majority of the population are attributed to some kind of religion.

Also, this.

 

[Vic]

Spirituality != religion

 

[Nemesis 1]

So many who have lost the way, truely sad.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GsW6hZxNe4E

 

[Craig234]

liberalism is just as much a religion as any theistic regimen...

Wrong.

 

[El Guaraguao]

well well well. If it isnt my buddy, Nemesis 1. how you doin? :awe:

I see you brought something. Oh, whats this? a World of Warcraft video? What are trying to say there, little buddy? Are you trying to show me the way to Icecrown Citadel?

 

[Craig234]

Interesting that liberals/Democrats believe it's better to lie and decieve about religious beliefs for personal/political gain than actually hold such beliefs sincerely. Not big on honesty or sincerety I see.

Personally Im repulsed by people who (falsely) claim religion for some personal (and usually) dishonest advantage. They're no more than con artists. Just a Jim Baker, or some other TV preacher asking for money, but on a slicker level.

I've got more respect for the nut who is sincere. I've got more tolerance for different beliefs than dishonesty.

Fern

Interesting point.

But then, do you really have more respect for Hitler, with his sincere beliefs in the superiority of his preferred groups and willingness to cleanse the world of others, than FDR who misled the nation into fighting him?

I'm not asking you to condone dishonesty, exactly - I don't like it, either. But you seem to need a little perspective on the tradeoffs with other moral issues.

Even the Bush white house was not honest on religion.

While Bush was from all indications some level of sincere - despite his own minister who had led him to convert abandoning him - his administration had clear reports of contempt for the religious groups they used for political advantage, mocking them as nuts behind their back (read their first faith-based director's, David Ko's, book), and Bush had a long history of using his 'talent' to sell religiious groups for political advantage.

Republicans have been pretty shameless about using such groups, throwing them bones like insider religious phrases in speeches, as manipulation.

 

[Vic]

Oddly, animals aren't religious or spiritual...

 

[Nemesis 1]

Oh my goodness. Let a little light in people.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oAwbwZnJxeM&annotation_id=annotation_992707&feature=iv

 

[Craig234]

Consider a world without religion of any kind, where the individual only believes what they can benefit from like food, shelter, clothing. Why would I care if my neighbor has food ? He is competing with me for resources, it would be better to kill him and take what is his. If I have a child and that child grows up to be sickly and not able to work the land I should kill him because he is not contributing to my life but again taking from me. In that world there would be no room for anything but what helped you survive. Without the prospect of something greater than ourselves life degrades into a fight over what is best for the individual .


You can see it everyday with people that complain about feeding the poor. They don't care if those people go hungry because all they are concerned with is what they can get, they see nothing but the present because they believe in nothing greater than what they are, they are just waiting around to die and want to take as much as they can for themselves before they do.

You have a serious lack of understanding of the concept of morality apart from religion.

 

[nobodyknows]

Oddly, animals aren't religious or spiritual...

And how would you know animals aren't spiritual?

 

[Ozoned]

Interesting point.

But then, do you really have more respect for Hitler, with his sincere beliefs in the superiority of his preferred groups and willingness to cleanse the world of others, than FDR who misled the nation into fighting him?

I'm not asking you to condone dishonesty, exactly - I don't like it, either. But you seem to need a little perspective on the tradeoffs with other moral issues.

Even the Bush white house was not honest on religion.

While Bush was from all indications some level of sincere - despite his own minister who had led him to convert abandoning him - his administration had clear reports of contempt for the religious groups they used for political advantage, mocking them as nuts behind their back (read their first faith-based director's, David Ko's, book), and Bush had a long history of using his 'talent' to sell religiious groups for political advantage.

Republicans have been pretty shameless about using such groups, throwing them bones like insider religious phrases in speeches, as manipulation.

Shameless is exploiting a group of people for votes that have a poverty rate of 25%, and not throwing them any bones...

 

[Nemesis 1]

You have a serious lack of understanding of the concept of morality apart from religion.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SwB9zg7Tbx8