Im a recovering Catholic myself - was brought up that way and in my youth had such interesting questions as "Doesnt the Bible stand opposite certain scientific constants?" snuffed out of me. In my mind there are three types of religious minions - any religion has them: Type 1. Dont give a watermelon - he goes to church/Temple/Mosque on some Sundays/Saturdays/Whateverdays, Christmas, and Easter - does the whole family church thing maybe but doesnt follow the rules set forth by the religion. Type 2. I should give a watermelon - Feels guilty about lack of association with the church - usually in his late 50's when he starts to need something to look foward to after death - everlasting life is a good choice, right? Hell do the church thing, some community events, hand out communion and maybe even preach a little bit - "spread the word" if you will. Type 3. Fanatical, fundamentalist, maniac, born again, fake. Here is the creme of the religious crop... he follows his religion to a T in his mind and in his speech... but not in his actions... this point is non-negotiable. There exists not one person that "lives by the book" end of story.
Religion as an outdated social control device has about 500 years of existance left IMHO. Obviously we can get very deep into the reasons for this, but the main reason will be our own advancement as a species. Once we can answer questions like "where did we come from?" or "how did this occur?" we will no longer have any need for these silly tales of creating worlds and life in 7 days, water into wine, etc. The human race has a very interesting period of time before it - unfortunatly none of us will see it. A second period of enlightning will erase all need for religion as its purpose will have been fufiled by our own people.
As interested in this topic as I am, I have a far greater interest in how religions came about - this is a far deeper argument - one requiring a great deal of speculation and use of logic (sorry fanatics). If this thread curves toward that direction, Ill share some of my thoughts on the matter.
Mazz
<-TFC->
