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How do we grow?
May 16, 2011 at 12:52 pm
After hundreds of conversations with both fanatic defenders of theism and the casual theists, I find myself having what is essentially the same conversation so often that I know my responses, as well as theirs by heart. It baffles me, we as a civilization stand at the precipice for a bright technological future. I mean really, this is the time to be alive. Over the next few centuries, we will undoubtably branch our civilization throughout the solar system, hopefully the galaxy. We will learn new methods of producing efficient energy that further moves our technological capabilities. Unless we annhilate ourselves, the next few generations are going to be born into a civilization so far beyond what we can fathom today it will be unrecognizable. Consider the leaps we've had in the last century alone. I am ecstatic for what this century offers and almost wish I were immortal so I could see it. We've learned so much in the last five decades alone, about ourselves, about our planet, about the cosmos. It seems so obvious to me, and others that what we have been taught for millenia about where we came from is so far removed from the facts that it should have been dismissed with flat earth and geo-centrists doctrine long ago. But it hasn't. Half the population of the US believes scientists are part of some global anti god conspiracy. Presidential nominees are asked if they believe in evolution, and in the US, a museum exists passing the Flintstones off as documentarial demonstrations of human history. How do we as a species outgrow this archaic and juvenile dogma so that our seemingly bright future, is as bright as it should be, and not impeded by those of us who wish to remain in the dark?
"In our youth, we lacked the maturity, the decency to create gods better than ourselves so that we might have something to aspire to. Instead we are left with a host of deities who were violent, narcissistic, vengeful bullies who reflected our own values. Our gods could have been anything we could imagine, and all we were capable of manifesting were gods who shared the worst of our natures."-Me
"Atheism leaves a man to sense, to philosophy, to natural piety, to laws, to reputation; all of which may be guides to an outward moral virtue, even if religion vanished; but religious superstition dismounts all these and erects an absolute monarchy in the minds of men." – Francis Bacon
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RE: How do we grow?
May 16, 2011 at 1:22 pm
(This post was last modified: May 16, 2011 at 1:49 pm by Eudaimonia.)
nvm..
Love the thread btw.. Hope you get sincere substantive responses.. :-)
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RE: How do we grow?
May 16, 2011 at 2:48 pm
We won't have a bright future unless we drop the sharade of religion. I too wish to see how far we would advance or not, but I would be contempt with us just going back to the moon or mars in my lifetime.
Live every day as if already dead, that way you're not disappointed when you are. 
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RE: How do we grow?
May 16, 2011 at 4:05 pm
The ignorant masses rely on their superstitions to get them through their lives, and particularly to face their own mortality. As human intellect continues to evolve we will see more people abandoning those superstitions, but it is going to be a long slow process. The idea that there is no heaven waiting for them, and no god watching over them is a concept that many people are unwilling, or unable to face, and you can't force them to, no matter how logical your argument.
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RE: How do we grow?
May 16, 2011 at 4:10 pm
(This post was last modified: May 16, 2011 at 5:18 pm by Eudaimonia.)
(May 16, 2011 at 4:05 pm)corndog36 Wrote: The ignorant masses rely on their superstitions to get them through their lives, and particularly to face their own mortality. As human intellect continues to evolve we will see more people abandoning those superstitions, but it is going to be a long slow process. The idea that there is no heaven waiting for them, and no god watching over them is a concept that many people are unwilling, or unable to face, and you can't force them to, no matter how logical your argument.
I totally agree with you.. However, I think you can simply provide an example of a better life (Sweden?) and educate the children... peacefully transition the mind towards something real... and in addition, I think those who have divorced themselves from such a fallacious mindset should get busy creating something new ... and continuously improve... 
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RE: How do we grow?
May 16, 2011 at 11:24 pm
(May 16, 2011 at 12:52 pm)SleepingDemon Wrote: How do we as a species outgrow this archaic and juvenile dogma so that our seemingly bright future, is as bright as it should be, and not impeded by those of us who wish to remain in the dark?
We don’t … At least not in time to save ourselves from our own self-made annihilation. History shows us that it takes the whole of mankind hundreds, even thousands of years to grow intellectually beyond a school of thought. And the deeper the indoctrination was - the longer it takes. We don’t have time. Mankind is breeding too quickly and although technology is moving ahead briskly now, most of the world is a third world country… uneducated, unenlightened and unready to advance. Add to that, that three quarters of the civilized world still clings to religion like a drowning man to driftwood … sadly, it’s not going to happen anytime soon.
Many people, including myself, feel that a combination of war and lack of resources will destroy the majority of the human race within the next 150 years, and since the recovery of an entire species is naturally slow the likelihood of the human race seeing that enlightenment you speak of within even 500 years is exceptionally small.
That being said … I would be most pleased to be wrong on this matter.
….. maybe the “next” human race will be smarter than the first.
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RE: How do we grow?
May 17, 2011 at 6:04 am
Doesn't a fatalistic mindset work against the probability that humanity can achieve progress? It takes as many minds to work for as it does against progress correct?
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RE: How do we grow?
May 17, 2011 at 9:16 am
(May 17, 2011 at 6:04 am)Eudaimonia Wrote: Doesn't a fatalistic mindset work against the probability that humanity can achieve progress? It takes as many minds to work for as it does against progress correct?
therein lies the problem Eudaimonia ... absense of religion and superstition is not considered "progress" to many.
To a LOT of fundamentalist conservatives of Christianity and Islam, the phrase "we have made a lot of progress" is an outright fabrication of the secular world. We have proven that all the technology in the world will not change the mindset of BILLIONS of people who have been taught their whole lives to fear the supernatural power of god and that anything that takes away from that (ie. technology) is evil and must be denied. On a global scale - we are screwed. I don't believe there is a way to irradicate religion and superstition without letting them run their course. This is of course the sad part because I believe religion will inevitably lead to total destruction. I think only when we come back from the precipice of utter annihalation will human kind realize the extreme danger of our own silly beliefs.
The problem is that the minds that "work for", as you say, are far far outnumbered by the minds that "work against".
My above post is not wishful thinking. I will continue to live a rational and logical life in the hopes that I can perhaps lead by example, but that doesn't mean that I can't see the truth or that I'm going to bury my head in the sand and pretend that humanity has it all figured out. Overall, I think the world is still barbaric with only beacons of enlightenment to show what could be possible. We're not there yet ... and it's going to be awhile.
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RE: How do we grow?
May 17, 2011 at 5:06 pm
Peace...
Perhaps the problem is less religion and more the evil which religions seek to eradicate. Do you think that religion is the root of evil?
Whirling Moat
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RE: How do we grow?
May 17, 2011 at 5:47 pm
Religion is not the root of all evil, but it is an indispensible promoter, facilitator, and protector of many of the worst and most damaging ones.
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