[ExI] Rick Warren on religion

[SR Ballard]

>> If you are the only man on the planet, are you still in America?
> 
> Depending upon your definition of America and your location, yes.
> 
>> Do you still have your American citizenship?
> 
> That depends upon your definition of "American citizenship".
> 
>> Are you still employed (and thus able to identify with your job)?
> 
> That depends upon your job. If you're self-employed and still doing the work, sure.
>  
>> If you are religious, can you really say that your church still exists?
> 
> Depends on your definition of church.
>  
>> Do your social bonds exist still (like son, father, brother, teacher)?
> 
> Not currently, according to your premise.
>  
>> Can you still be considered a misanthrope if there are no people?
> 
> Sure.
>  
>> Do you still have social anxiety or confidence if there are no people?
> 
> Sure.
>  
>> Are you still smart if there is no one left who is dumber than you? 
> 
> Sure. You're the smartest. And the stupidest. 
> 
>> So yes, your personal identity is deeply tied to other people.
> 
> Yes, but it doesn't cease to exist without others.
> 
> -Dave

If your identity requires people, and you remove the people, how can the identity continue? 

The USA is a nation. It’s boundaries rely on treaty, and those treaties rely on governments. With no people, there are no government, thus no nations. 

You cannot maintain citizenship to a country which does not exist. 

How could you possibly maintain a meaningful “job” as we currently understand one in a capitalist society, if there is no money, no goods or services to exchange, and no one to consume the product you create. There is no possible financial end, as there are no people. 

If a Church is a religious organization, then it ceases to exist when there is no one to organize it. If it is a body of believers it ends when there are no believers. If it is a group of opinions, then perhaps it continues to exist until you, the last human, dies.

If there are no people, how would you know if you were still a misanthrope. There is no way to check. Similarly you cannot be anxious of social interactions if their are none, and you can’t be confident in them either because they fail to exist. Similarly, you are now neither smart nor dumb, because your responses to events are precisely the definition of average. Your attitudes and reactions literally become the only possible ones. If you took an IQ a thousand times, your score would average to 100 because you are the only person who could be used to average the score. 

The concept of “self” is created in relation to that which is not the self (the other). No one is arguing that your physical body would dissolve and that you would ascend to an enlightened non-material self. 

What we’re saying is that your concept of “self” that is, how you define yourself as a person distinct from others, breaks down if you are the only person. 

Let’s take a for example here: how would you describe yourself? What type of person are you? How would that sense of self be impacted by no longer having other people?
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