Good will to all men? Not from the grumpy atheists! (Thank God not all atheists are grumpy but there sure seems to be a lot of them)
Why is it that so many in the atheist community cannot bring themselves to get past their anger whenever they engage in discussions? The language of many of their contributions in public debate is laced with invective and dripping with sarcasm and bile. There are exceptions of course, but they tend to fall more into the category of being the 'exception that proves the rule' when compared to the hostility of many of today's atheist posters. Comment offered by the theists in the public square is often depicted as being 'malicious' or 'venomous' and intended to enslave the 'feeble minded and weak' by those who post. Nothing could be further from the truth. Venom is something that is oriented to death. Christians are oriented in a 180 degree different direction. We speak not to the culture of death that grips our world but rather for the culture of life and light which ends with the gift of eternal life. For example, the Catholic Church in its hum...
People are not so driven to religion. What they crave is civil and domestic order and peace. The church used to be a huge force in providing these things.
ReplyDeleteNow secular societies provide them and without all the superstitious claptrap, sex rules and the subjugation of women.
Religion seems to be fading fast. Will it return? Who knows. One thing is certain. Institutions as powerful, all incompassing and expensive to maintain as religion do not exist without providing society with correspondingly huge benefits and make no mistake, in their hayday, religions are very good at what they do and attract very competent legions of functionaries to do it.
One of the clues about the future lies in it's functionaries. There are ever fewer religious functionaries and they are less and less competent and tend to be oddballs, who do not directly engage or even seek to engage with real people, living real lives.
The church has never stated that they are opposed to slavery. What they say they are opposed to is crueltry or unjust treatment of those held in bondage.
ReplyDeleteThe church held serfs on papal estates until well into what are considered modern times.
Ask the now elderly women who were held in the Magdalen laundries in Ireland by the church until the 1970's if they considered that slavery. Long arduous hours of work, corporal punishment, isolation, denial of even their meager food and drink to enforce compliance and very short lives were their lot. Saying that you are opposed to crueland unjust treatment ofthose under your power is never the same thing as providing it, is it?
The tendency to be religious probably is, bit I hope it's obvious that being religious isn't. In that respect it's like sports. There's a tendency among humans to like sports but one can, with no loss of one's human nature, choose to enjoy sports or be a Leafs fan.
ReplyDeleteRationalist1
Mark. Wait till next year. Leafs in 20XX.
DeleteI don't insult you. I would be the last one to insinuate that you routed for the Habs.