I think the practice of worship (within any religious group) is what turns an ordinary bad idea into a catastrophe. I too admire systems that encourage free inquiry.

The Abrahamic organized religions (the big three) as we know them to day are much more focused on telling its adepts what to think and do, and how to keep in line, and how to not think to much about, well, anything

So is it shame on the promoters of the systems, or shame on the people who gave them too much credit?

So back to worship.. what are the signs of a worshiper? How do they behave? For one they readily accept authoritative relationships. A non-worshiper prefers give and take relationships, peer to peer or negotiative if you will. Think of the predominate religious tradition of the sermon, what does it have in common with.....say the lectures you attend?

Nice post.

When PungSviti typed "religions." It seems like he's referring to belief systems in general. From what I can tell he is trying disparage his least favorite religious groups by condemning religious groups in general which is silly if you ask me.

I suppose I should reply to his post eh? lol

Richard Dawkins idea of a meme was supposed to be analogus to a gene, not a virus.

Gene´s make up both cellular structures and viruses - viruses are in general distinct from cells in that they are parasites - i.e. not self sufficient.

I agree that meme theory is at least a great analog to evolutionary theory of genes - my point is that some cultural artifacts are meme´s and others are viruses: such as (in my opinion) the abrahamic relgions, piramid schemes of any kind, any kind of known ways to swindle, centrally controlled cults and probaby more things I cant remember.

"Religion as a whole is a very, very easy thing to criticize. Because they can't all be true."

Just out of interest, what makes you think that your religion is correct?

"I believe in Christ. Does this make me some zombie? Would you (based on that alone) assume that I am an uneducated fool that ignores science."

No I wouldn't assume you where an uneducated fool that ignores science - I would assume you where poorly educated (taught about creation "science" and such) that didn't understand science. And a semi-Zombie; yes

I see you underline "some" in "what some scientist are saying" - I am betting you are referring to that not all scientists think creation "science" is all that stupid - and that again goes to show that if I am correct with my assumptions you are poorly educated.

the hate comment, where it is coming from? - well it seems to me that irrational hatred is mostly spawned from self-righteous religious pack-mentality.

I am not being hateful calling religion a mental retardation - It does have some characteristics of retardation - it makes it so that the person who catches religion has an inability to understand basic concepts - is unbalanced - prone to violence and so on.

You are right about one thing though - Religion is really easy to criticize - the hard part is getting the religious person to understand the criticism. It is like trying to teach your dog how to play chess.

Just quit hiding behind what some scientists are saying and try to look for truth instead of going with what sounds good to your comfort.

I've already thrown down the gauntlet in the global warming debate, so we might as well address this too.

I am making the assumption that you are referring to evolution. If this is incorrect then let me know.

You claim that only some scientists support the theory? That is just plain wrong. Well over 99.9 percent of scientists agree that evolution is a valid theory that explains very well the mountains of evidence for evolution.

In addition, you tell people to seek the truth, yet you clearly have rejected evolution without knowing anything about it for the mere fact that you perceive it to contradict your beliefs. In effect you are being a hypocrite.

I am not criticizing you for being ignorant on the subject of evolution, only for remaining willfully ignorant when you have plenty of sources that can educate you (the internet, books, school, and if you really want me to, I can explain to you the theory).

People like you are the reason that science education in the U.S. is lagging behind the rest of the world. So if you have questions, about the subject ask and I will be more than happy to answer your questions.

I can understand if you reject this offer however, god forbid you ever actually had to think.

please cite the study that states what you said about longevity and religious people

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