[extropy-chat] Religion Rant

[BillK]

On 5/25/05, The Avantguardian wrote:
>       It has not escaped my notice that some very
> general and very overt
> anti-religious-spiritual-paranormal sentiment on this
> list. I don't see any reason for this. If personal
> freedom is truly an extropian principle, then you must
> realize that no matter how accurate or "true" your
> paradigm might be to YOU, it stops at the tip of your
> nose.
<snip>
>       So lighten up and humor people who wants to talk
> about the UNKNOWN. 
<snip>

"Religion is bunk"
---Thomas Alva Edison

Personal freedom doesn't mean keeping your mind so open that your
brains leak out.

The biggest critics / opponents of religion are the members of a
different religion.
'My invisible friend is better than your invisible friend'. Let's have
a holy war!

It is a waste of your intelligence to try and find the 'one true path'
among the thousands of cults and religions. And don't bother becoming
a New Age type who treats all the religions like a restaurant menu.
"I'll have one of them and some of that and a bit of this, etc.".

As a wild generalisation, being "Spiritual" in western society mostly
means - "I am not a member of any church or organisation, but I think
deep thoughts and am a nice guy".
The implication here being that if you are not "Spiritual" you are
either not a nice guy, or at least, not as nice as the "Spiritual"
one.

The nonsense that has been displayed in the Religion threads
demonstrates all the myriad interpretations that different branches of
Xianity extract from the same verses of the Bible. Every verse has
multiple interpretations and can be countered by quoting opposing
verses.
And it is all being used as a route to power by religious
organisations trying to control your life.


Sure, you can investigate the unknown. But investigate reality, not
the vivid illusions within your own mind. You might as well get drunk
every night to investigate the pink elephants roaming around your
living-room.

BillK