[ExI] Fw: Re: atheists declare religions as scams.

Sondre Bjellås sondre-list at bjellas.com
Thu Jan 20 13:23:37 UTC 2011


It's clearly unethical to write something you know are untrue, or tell
someone a lie, just to give them comfort. Ignoring small white lies, which
can be beneficial (if your wife is afraid of spiders and you rub one off her
shoulder, you are not harming her by telling her that it was some dust on
her shoulder that you just removed).

Samantha is correct about faith being more widespread amongst the less
fortunate. Christianity is a religion for the slaves, while some of the
faiths in ancient Rome was a religion for the rulers, same as Islam.
Religions and faith follow the society and society is unfortunately very
much shaped by the religions after they take root in it.

Ignorance is bliss, believing in something bigger than yourselves to escape
the harsh realities, is a mechanism of our minds. I think it's evident that
taken to the extreme, this mechanism will be a negative force in the society
and it's a mechanism that religious leaders use to manipulate the masses.

So you should consider the ramifications of your story, will it be a story
that makes people understand the world, reality and society better? - or is
it just a story that will further fuel an addiction to whatever fantasy a
person have created in their minds?


- Sondre

On Thu, Jan 20, 2011 at 11:26 AM, Samantha Atkins <sjatkins at mac.com> wrote:

>
> On Jan 12, 2011, at 12:28 PM, Ben Zaiboc wrote:
>
> > "spike" <spike66 at att.net> wrote:
> >
> >> I ask you then: suppose I personally knew a way to write
> >> something
> >> inspirational.  I know an inspiring story based on
> >> something that actually
> >> happened, which I could fictionalize to protect the
> >> identities, and it
> >> involves one who came thru a very trying time by faith in
> >> god.  It really is
> >> a good story.  But you know and I know I am a flaming
> >> atheist now.  I could
> >> use a pseudonym.  Is it ethical for me to write
> >> it?  Would I be lying in a
> >> sense?  I have been struggling with this question for
> >> years, and I am asking
> >> for advice here.  Johnny?  Adrian?
> >> Ben?  Damien?  Keith?  Others?
> >
> >
> > Of course you wouldn't be lying, not if you know it's a true story.
> > As for whether you *should* write it, that's another thing.  There are
> pros and cons.  One of the cons is providing fuel for the god-squad.
>
> Why would it be unethical to admit the truth that belief in god, or at
> least some applications thereof, can make it easier to get through at least
> some types of very challenging times.  That is pretty well known.  Doesn't
> mean god is real or that religion is a more good thing than not or anything
> like that.  So how would relating such a story in any wise be wrong or a
> form of lying?
>
> - samantha
>
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-- 
Sondre Bjellås
http://www.sondreb.com/
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