Religion is mind control
Discuss religious, spiritual, and theological issues concerning Christianity, Judaism, Islam, or any other religion.
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Religion is mind control'it is better to love men than fear gods...it is far grander and nobler to think and investigate for yourself than to repeat a creed' Robert Green Ingersoll
'A good world needs knowledge, kindness and courage; it does not need a regretful hankering after the past or the fettering of the free intelligence by the words uttered long ago by ignorant men.' Bertrand Russell
think for yourselves, don't let priests and 'holy' books do your thinking for you. -
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Yeah, I do see what you mean. I do believe the happiness of an individual is down to that person...like, we make our own way etc. I don't know whether religion is "mind control" though because most people have chosen to submit, and people very often 'find' religion and denounce it.
I'll add more when I can think properly! -
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'Chosen' i dunno 'bout that. If you've been bought by up by your family or whoever to follow a system of beliefs then that is indoctrination rather than free will. you believe because you never know anything different. even if you 'discover' religion, you're still following a prescribed belief based upon the writings of men (and they're always men) who lived long ago.(Original post by zhivago)
Yeah, I do see what you mean. I do believe the happiness of an individual is down to that person...like, we make our own way etc. I don't know whether religion is "mind control" though because most people have chosen to submit, and people very often 'find' religion and denounce it.
I'll add more when I can think properly! -
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But what if you 'choose' your religion?(Original post by tobie)
'it is better to love men than fear gods...it is far grander and nobler to think and investigate for yourself than to repeat a creed' Robert Green Ingersoll
'A good world needs knowledge, kindness and courage; it does not need a regretful hankering after the past or the fettering of the free intelligence by the words uttered long ago by ignorant men.' Bertrand Russell
think for yourselves, don't let priests and 'holy' books do your thinking for you. -
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growing up within a family of a certain religion doesn't mean you're being brainwashed at all. i'm sorry but i fail to see your point. most things that people believe are on the writings of other people, eg. i believe in evolution after studying the works of charles darwin - this is no different to what you're saying. and hence, can you accuse science of brainwashing people too?(Original post by tobie)
'Chosen' i dunno 'bout that. If you've been bought by up by your family or whoever to follow a system of beliefs then that is indoctrination rather than free will. you believe because you never know anything different. even if you 'discover' religion, you're still following a prescribed belief based upon the writings of men (and they're always men) who lived long ago. -
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I agree, most people who believe in religion are conditioned into it. Of course religion for some people isn't brainwashing, but simply the acceptance of a wrong base belief. If you become firmly rooted to certain beliefs there is nothing that could change your mind because everything will be explicable under your beliefs, whether you were conditioned into this belief or walked into it with open eyes. If you walked into it you would always have been predisposed to it, although possibly a similar belief (religion) would have had the same initial attraction and result in the firm final belief.
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completely different, Darwin justified his theories with EVIDENCE. Unlike the holy texts which justify their theories with a claimed 'divine authority'.(Original post by pratikv)
growing up within a family of a certain religion doesn't mean you're being brainwashed at all. i'm sorry but i fail to see your point. most things that people believe are on the writings of other people, eg. i believe in evolution after studying the works of charles darwin - this is no different to what you're saying. and hence, can you accuse science of brainwashing people too? -
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you never said anything about evidence in your original post, but said that religion was "following a prescribed belief based upon the writings of men", who lived a long time ago. a long time ago is a very relative thing, and cannot be accurately described, and hence my answer was correct in refernce to the post you made.(Original post by tobie)
completely different, Darwin justified his theories with EVIDENCE. Unlike the holy texts which justify their theories with a claimed 'divine authority'. -
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No. Let Bertrand Russell do your thinking for you.(Original post by tobie)
'it is better to love men than fear gods...it is far grander and nobler to think and investigate for yourself than to repeat a creed' Robert Green Ingersoll
'A good world needs knowledge, kindness and courage; it does not need a regretful hankering after the past or the fettering of the free intelligence by the words uttered long ago by ignorant men.' Bertrand Russell
think for yourselves, don't let priests and 'holy' books do your thinking for you.
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You see, that's really not a good argument. Philosophers such as Russell debate and discuss; they do not deal with dogma. Religious texts ARE dogmatic and you ARE expected to follow them blindly (with faith - ie. a lack of evidence). Philosophical texts are not dogmatic and one is not expected to adhere to them in any practical manner and they do not espouse a set of laws which must be followed for fear of eternal damnation. Reading someone like Russell (a man of great intelligence) does not involve having your thinking "done for you" - totally the opposite in fact; it allows you the freedom to challenge or disagree whilst offering the insights of a man who spent a lot of his lifetime thinking about such matters. The Bible is not (and cannot) be read like this - it is a text which is passed off as the word of God and DOES "do your thinking for you". And for areas the Bible does not cover, the church does your thinking for you.(Original post by Howard)
No. Let Bertrand Russell do your thinking for you.
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Of course religion is dogmatic. That's what stops it being philosophy.(Original post by englishstudent)
You see, that's really not a good argument. Philosophers such as Russell debate and discuss; they do not deal with dogma. Religious texts ARE dogmatic and you ARE expected to follow them blindly (with faith - ie. a lack of evidence). Philosophical texts are not dogmatic and one is not expected to adhere to them in any practical manner and they do not espouse a set of laws which must be followed for fear of eternal damnation. Reading someone like Russell (a man of great intelligence) does not involve having your thinking "done for you" - totally the opposite in fact; it allows you the freedom to challenge or disagree whilst offering the insights of a man who spent a lot of his lifetime thinking about such matters. The Bible is not (and cannot) be read like this - it is a text which is passed off as the word of God and DOES "do your thinking for you". And for areas the Bible does not cover, the church does your thinking for you. -
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It's not supposed to is it? I don't really think you can compare religion with philosophy. They are too entirely different disciplines. It's a bit like saying that French is a crap subject because it fails to explain some mathematical problem.(Original post by tobie)
Therefore it does not allow freedom of thought, unlike philosophy.
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