Flame — HabitableZone

Flame » in reply to Survivor of the tornado

Premises
Bowser — (archived)

First, one has to be aware that religious beliefs of the Judeo-Christian and Muslim variety are superstition.

Second, one has to be aware that the minds which can hold those beliefs in the face of all evidence are not amenable to reason on those topics. "God said it, I believe it, that settles it!"

Third, this is a cruel God, one who will destroy innocent people as an example to the guilty. Sort of like Bush invading Iraq.

Now add an almost all-powerful Satan, who can create havoc at random.

If implored properly, in the right manner, the magical, mystical God may, just may, overrule Satan in individual instances.

That the people who do not implore God are saved in the same proportion does not matter. What matters are the ones which do.

It's not a matter of reason, logic, or God-given intelligence. It is a matter of anxious, fearful minds trying to create order out of chaos, trying to create a sense of security no matter how false in order to deal with the randomness of the world.

Egos want to feel important, that there is a Divine Purpose for them, a Father who will take care of them. It's much easier than standing on one's own, realizing that you aren't very important, that the world will go on without you very well, and your circumstances are of no matter except to you in your vainglory.

I used to do a lecture where I'd ask the audience to close their eyes and imagine that I had disappeared. I'd aske them to imagine that in mid-sentence I'd disappeared, vanished, no trace, no sound, no nothing.

I'd ask them to open their eyes. I told them that I'd bet about half of them wondered how I did it, and the other half wondered if they could go home. The laughter told me I was right.

And, I added, by tomorrow you'll have forgotten I existed except as a neat story to tell - "I was there when this guy - - - ".

That realization is a bit more than most religious people can handle.

We all have to give our own lives meaning, and purpose, and all we get is the experience. It's the most liberating attitude one can have, though those that can't understand will say the opposite.

Arf

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