[ExI] Theological arguments

[The Avantguardian]

---- Original Message -----

> From: Keith Henson <hkeithhenson at gmail.com>
> To: ExI chat list <extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org>
> Sent: Friday, December 11, 2015 11:07 AM
> Subject: [ExI] Theological arguments

> The meta question here is why religions get the free pass.  I
> certainly am not going to argue with you on the point that they do.
> Claim it's religion and they get away with outright criminal
> activities, corruption of the courts and governments.  This is
> something I have experienced personally.
> 
> Keith


I think religion gets more a free pass in democracy than it does in more traditional forms of government. For example King Henry 8.0 waved his scepter and outlawed Catholicism and created the Church of England in one fell swoop, so he could dump a wife that was killing his vibe. Then of course there was Constantine, a guy so desperate to raise armies to seize the emperorship of Rome that he was willing to institute a slave religion as the state religion to get, you guessed it, slaves to fight for him.    

In democracy, numbers equal power, so expect politicians, and by proxy tax collectors, judges, and cops to kiss the ass of religions in direct proportion to their local demographic popularity. Why else would a presumably not retarded neurosurgeon claim that Jesus prevented him from killing his brother?

Stuart LaForge

"We speak for Earth. Our obligation to survive is owed not just to ourselves but also to that Cosmos, ancient and vast, from which we spring." - Carl Sagan