Ah, religion. A major topic in human affairs today, and one that I plan to discourse about at length in my work later. Most of you already know my views on religion from my arguments here earlier, but I'll summarize them for the rest.
I am
extremely opposed to religion of any sort, especially organized religion - not so much the principles (although even many of those are worthless) as the methods in which it is accepted by people and so finely ingrained into their minds through the course of their lives that it severely limits their capabilities to think properly.
I have said before many times that as I see it, religion was a requirement for the early formation of human civilization, because it provided two things for a technologically advancing species to socially advance as well and keep things consistent: a government to provide a sense of order (the "code" of religion is the law and god is both the peacekeeper and the punisher), and to account for that which could not be explained by science at the time. (a god to "make" the world and the universe) Over the millennia, other, more sophisticated creations of humanity have taken up those purposes: namely complicated national governments and advanced science, and religion has become sort of an embarassing joke of our civilization. It has also been, and still is, used as an excuse for commiting uncivilized acts. Hitler really believed he was serving god and carrying out god's will, and bin Laden may have/be as well; they are humans just like the rest, so who is to say who is "right" (whatever that means) and who isn't? Once we start working on artificial modification and replication of the human body (which is not too far into the future), the religious sects will once again start to interfere in science as well, just as they did with the development of celestial physics back in the 1600s.
There is precisely zero evidence for any Religious belief, all of them rely on blind faith and faith alone.
One of the reasons I detest it is right there; scientifically this makes no sense and does not appeal to the rational mind. A few axioms are necessary for any formulation of course, but after looking more in depth into the major religions, all I can say is that this is beyond ridiculous in today's world. By its very nature and the early age at which it is taught to people, they will cling to it tightly (since future ideas are built upon it), and it would be a fruitless task to try to eliminate the ideas from people's minds. (as Top Gun said, they go by blind faith and will not accept any evidence) Instead, the social and political "sweeping forces" of history will probably take care of that over many hundreds of years.
Religion has indeed become an "opium of the people," as Marx once said, in an almost literal sense as for the brain is concerned.
However, I think that it will become a dead force in the coming years; even now, its influence is slowly diminishing over the generations as seen by the current trends.
I don't believe in any kind of higher power. When you die, you die - which is why it's so important to make good the opportunity you have at life.
Organised religion is inherently stagnant - or else what would one organise around? As a result, it doesn't reflect the prevailing needs or attitudes of the public.
This is why I think that science and religion will clash at some point in history, possibly with violence. (with an obvious victor)
I argue very well. Ask any of my remaining friends. I can win an argument on any topic, against any opponent. People know this and steer clear of me at parties. Often, as a sign of their great respect, they don't even invite me. You too can win arguments.
heheheh; looks like a fellow arguer here...
And how often do you hear about Aristotle or Ghandi?
Aristotle was quite great, but Gandhi was a complete fool of a man unprecendented in recent history.
Also, there is another way to render these various biological agents harmless, and that is to ditch the human body altogether, which will happen eventually, but probably not before the major diseases have been forced into submission.
