What is happening in the world?

[china]

You have a Christian God, Hindu Gods, Mohammedans with their particular conception of God - each little sect with their particular truth; and all these truths are becoming like so many diseases in the world, separating people. These truths, in the hands of the few, are becoming the means of exploitation. You go to each, one after the other, tasting them all, because you begin to lose all sense of discrimination, because you are suffering and you want a remedy, and you accept any remedy that is offered by any sect, whether Christian, Hindu, or any other sect. So, what is happening? Your gods are dividing you, your beliefs in God are dividing you and yet you talk about the brotherhood of man, unity in God, and at the same time deny the very thing that you want to find out, because you cling to these beliefs as the most potent means of destroying limitation, whereas they but intensify it. These things are so obvious."

 

[Dexter Sinister]

Simple solution: atheism, reason, critical thinking.

 

[s_lone]

Simple solution: atheism, reason, critical thinking.

I personally would replace atheism by agnosticism but yes, reason and critical thinking can do much to solve our problems. I would also add a healthy dose of love and compassion into the mix.

 

[L Gilbert]

Yeah, I'll go along with S_ except for the agnostic bit. There are no gods n demons in which to disbelieve. Reason, logic, compassion, on the other hand, do exist. Um, I think there are as many faiths as there are people that believe in such things and each one of them has a different view of whatever organisation they happen to follow in their faith.

 

[smilingfish]

Science is developing. And then many people become agnostics or just like you & me, don't believe in any of those stuff. But now I wanna ask, what is happening in the world. Things are worse than 1 or 2 hundred years ago. People kill themselves, cheat on their spouses, more crimes, etc, etc. And our souls are so NOT peaceful.

So that's why these religions and beliefs stuff are good. I kinda hope I could be an adherent of something. But I just can't, cus I've known too much about science.

So you're from China. Me too. Weird, 2 Chinese talking in English. Anyway, back in university, my professor said Chinese people just don't really belief in anything, some people can go to the Church and the Buddist temple at the same time. Funny and so true. That kinda solves the problem, right? lol

Well, none of my business.

 

[L Gilbert]

Science is developing. And then many people become agnostics or just like you & me, don't believe in any of those stuff. But now I wanna ask, what is happening in the world. Things are worse than 1 or 2 hundred years ago. People kill themselves, cheat on their spouses, more crimes, etc, etc. And our souls are so NOT peaceful.

Things only seem worse because there are more people than before and the word gets around a lot faster and more often (age of info stuff).

So that's why these religions and beliefs stuff are good. I kinda hope I could be an adherent of something. But I just can't, cus I've known too much about science.

Do you? Einstein link believed in stuff in the other-than-rational. He just had developed his own view of what they were. Many scientists even today believe in gods.

 

[smilingfish]

link[/URL] believed in stuff in the other-than-rational. He just had developed his own view of what they were. Many scientists even today believe in gods.

I know, I know, Newton also believed in God in his late years. That's because at that time, there were too many unexplainable problems in their research. Some scientist guys gave up their belief in science, and some were too confused and ended up killed themselves. But then, new theories and researches were brought out, and have explained parts of those problems.

"Do you?" Ok, I "don't". lol Well I'm actually an agnostic. I do believe in some(not everything, only a few that I've seen it happens) Chinese superstitions like "bad luck if a hen crows", sounds stupid, b/c I really witnessed that when I was kid and my mom had this crowing hen, terrible stuff happened one after another. I don't believe in God b/c I've never seen anything about "Him".

Ok now I'm confused. I'd better get back to me work. Work time now.

 

[gopher]

Diversity of religion is just fine and dandy with me. All I ask is that we agree to have a shared morality. This could possibly lead to a world of peace.

 

[china]

Diversity of religion is just fine and dandy with me. All I ask is that we agree to have a shared morality. This could possibly lead to a world of peace.

So do I ,gopher.

 

[Curiosity]

Diversity of religion is just fine and dandy with me. All I ask is that we agree to have a shared morality. This could possibly lead to a world of peace.

Gopher

Exactly! Well said!

 

[AmberEyes]

Diversity of religion is just fine and dandy with me. All I ask is that we agree to have a shared morality. This could possibly lead to a world of peace.

Couldn't have said it better myself.

 

[gopher]

And my thanks to each of you -- it is discussions of this type that make for a better world. As always, don't hate - communicate!

 

[Zzarchov]

Religion doesn't divide people. People divide people.

People will inherintly find ways to seperate into us and them. Take away religion they will find something else, take away that..they will find some other way. People instinctively need an us and them.

In schools they try to force uniforms so that kids can't form cliques based on clothes. But then they use all kinds of things to seperate themselves. It gets to the point they now check shoe lace colour. No matter what you do, people will always form into groups who's main point in existing is to oppose another group.

 

[AndyF]

china:

Secularism.

A manifestation that comes about by the self assurance obtained through the general lack of calamity,chaos,etc and feeling of independance and well being and self assurance that man can go it alone without assistance.

This would presume that man can define when he is aware he's not being assisted, and when he is. Now he is confident he is in complete control, who needs a diety, the sun shines, the grass grows, the car runs, the children are relatively healthy. The reality is man is continually hooked up to God's life support system. Everything from the precarious balance of the cosmos, and his social relations is being fed by the circulatory system that God's grace flows in. If a man can think today, it is by permission, if the world is relatively peaceful it is by permission, if a man disputes the existance of God, it is by permission(tolerance), if his heart beats it is by permission.

Man is jarred back into reality on occasion. A global calamity has him running to the nearest Church. If he is in imminent natural death, he begs to be remebered. If he is caught beneath the axle of a burning car, he makes promises to God that he will change his ways.

It is cyclic due to short memories, arrogance and pride. We are at peek independance at this time, yet to brought to stark reality one day.

AndyF

 

[MikeyDB]

Zzarchov

I agree with your analysis regarding the 'need' to create an "us and them", but do you have any idea why this is the case?

Hole in one Gopher!

 

[Curiosity]

MikeyDB

I am in no way attempting to answer your query to Zzarchov but I wonder if our unique individualism affects our interpretation.

 

[MikeyDB]

Anyone ever read Desmond Morris’s “The Naked Ape”?

Richard Dawkins famous work “The Selfish Gene”…. advances the notion that a great deal of our psychology is genetic in foundation. Other works by James Baldwin (The Baldwin Effect) credits phenotypic plasticity as a critical development in the rise of culture and the subsequent enculturation that sits behind a great deal of our human conflicts. Some participants here at Canadian Content might be familiar with the concept of evolutionary psychology….

What characteristics contribute to qualifying a potential mate as a ‘potential’?

Depends of course on where you’re from, what you’re social expectations might be, and of course a great many more discrete interpretations of possible ‘potential’. Characteristics like how tall you are, how pigmented your skin may be, bone structure and so on…

We have as a species (to employ Dawkins perspective) an impulse that’s genetically driven to assure the greatest success possible in reproducing our species. Across genetic cultural and social mindscapes the call from our biological uniqueness is clearly quite evident. Attributes that convince us of the reliability and dependability of our mates as hunters/providers may include particular combinations of biology that translate as offering greater likelihood of ‘success’ bringing home food to feed the family…

Beyond physical metrics and biologically or environmentally “fixed” dynamics, we confront the less obvious kinds of evaluations that contribute to determining ‘potential’.

As the Baldwin effect (still being argued about by the way..) suggests, learning capacity, or the psychological dynamics that facilitate integrating knowledge and understanding of our environment and the relative success in application of this knowledge to our “life-circumstance” contribute to the over-all evolutionary increase in mental sophistication that we see developing from our earlier ancestors.

As societies evolve (social organizing principles) these more difficult to observe and assess contributions to the over-all potential ‘success’ of social sub-groups within the larger set, are frequently mirrored in the creation of social institutions and organizations that strive to entrench particular behavioral and psychological mores and constructs more permanently within the larger group….

So yes Curiosity, our unique individuality is a factor to be considered, but it is considerably more complicated that it would appear…

Modern corollaries to this set of conditions include models of lineage and ancestry that play significant roles in shaping governments and declaring suitability for the assumption of greater authority; demonstrated proficiency at finding and securing wealth (fancy cars clothes and good teeth…)

I’d offer the opinion that religions and belief structures of all kinds critically depend on fracturing and categorizing the social construct to assure not necessarily the longevity of our species but the far more temporal and more selfish immediate access to power to affect and influence others, accumulate wealth (a means to power other than the club or the gun) and build hierarchies of social strata for no greater purpose than to provide a sub-class of human beings to serve the will of the larger.

 

[Sparrow]

Here is a quote that I like and I think it applies to todays world. What do you think?

"When the power of love overcomes the love of power the world will have peace"

Religion in itself does not divide, the teachers of some religions are often the ones who teach in a way to try to CONTROL their "faithful".

 

[MikeyDB]

Lovely quote Sparrow...

I must admit to a little doubt regarding the idea that "Religion" doesn't divide folk that it's the actions of practitioners more than "religion" itself....

Ancient civilizations have left us reasonably detailed accounts of ceremonies rituals and behaviors that argue that "belief" in and of itself prepares the adherent with the propensity or vulnerability to regard the non-believer and the skeptic as minions of the evil or corruption that must be fought and/or eradicated. Certainly being convinced through rehetoric aimed at consolidating prejudice is extremely important, but to the ancients, not embracing the gods of fertility and harvest was enough to get you banished at a minimum....

I may have read too much Schopenhauer of course and adopted his pessimism...

 

[Sparrow]

I wasn't refering to practitioners, I was refer to the ministry of religions. How many time have we heard about preachers teaching violence (maybe the word is too strong but I cannot think of another term) against other religions. They should be the first to preach love of others but they like the CONTROL they have over their practitioners when they think they are an army defending their beliefs. Everybody wants to lead but not everybody is a good leader. (I hate people who keep quoting sayings, and here I am doing the same)