I'm an atheist and an anti-theist, but I'm not anti-religious.
From my perspective, the one thing religions can't be is fake. That's the whole problem with abrahamic theism. Every single utterance or belief that forms the content of a particular religion could be in error from the bottom to the top, and all forms of theism are wrong in precisely this way.......consequentially and dangerously so, but the religion is still real. Still out there in the world and having social effects that don't depend on the accuracy of the belief but in the demographics of belief.
Sure, I think that the history of abrahamic theism provides ample reason for concern...but allow me to give you a glimpse of the uncanny valley here. I think that right now, right this very moment, with all of the shit about kids...and sex rings.. and conflicts...and extremism... and terrorism...right now, is the "best" that abrahamic theism has ever been. There's a discussion to be had there about how this is in some large part not entirely voluntary, that the restraining hand of growing secularism has effected this outcome. I want to skip all of that and just acknowledge that, especially if the history of abrahamic belief in the world is our measuring stick...they're doing very well at present.
I don't think that abrahamic theism's religiosity is the problem, it's the contents. You simply can't get theism "right" in the moral sense that seems to be of particular concern to us both - because you can't premise a religion on a king in the sky without ending up with slaves on earth. Big g gods, soul forges, things like this are necessarily authoritarian and destructive premises. I'm not surprised by the bad outcomes, I'm surprised when and if it isn't worse. It is baseless and immediately apparent revisionism to suggest that people who treat women, for example..like property today are somehow not following in the footsteps of patriarchal slaveowners who saw fit to write a king in the skys seal of approval over the sex trade into the book they say...they say....came from a god. They may be "doing religion wrong" by our moral lights - but they are not "doing religion wrong" by religions rights, or even their specific religions explicit metrics. That you and deepak chopra have suggestions on entirely different ways we can get things wrong, factually, practically, morally, is, to my mind, no improvement in particular. Even less so when it's used to launder the reputation of the former.
I know I've said this to you before in a bunch of ways, but the difference between a maltheist and an antitheist is only that one of them believes in the gods they both agree are shit.
From my perspective, the one thing religions can't be is fake. That's the whole problem with abrahamic theism. Every single utterance or belief that forms the content of a particular religion could be in error from the bottom to the top, and all forms of theism are wrong in precisely this way.......consequentially and dangerously so, but the religion is still real. Still out there in the world and having social effects that don't depend on the accuracy of the belief but in the demographics of belief.
Sure, I think that the history of abrahamic theism provides ample reason for concern...but allow me to give you a glimpse of the uncanny valley here. I think that right now, right this very moment, with all of the shit about kids...and sex rings.. and conflicts...and extremism... and terrorism...right now, is the "best" that abrahamic theism has ever been. There's a discussion to be had there about how this is in some large part not entirely voluntary, that the restraining hand of growing secularism has effected this outcome. I want to skip all of that and just acknowledge that, especially if the history of abrahamic belief in the world is our measuring stick...they're doing very well at present.
I don't think that abrahamic theism's religiosity is the problem, it's the contents. You simply can't get theism "right" in the moral sense that seems to be of particular concern to us both - because you can't premise a religion on a king in the sky without ending up with slaves on earth. Big g gods, soul forges, things like this are necessarily authoritarian and destructive premises. I'm not surprised by the bad outcomes, I'm surprised when and if it isn't worse. It is baseless and immediately apparent revisionism to suggest that people who treat women, for example..like property today are somehow not following in the footsteps of patriarchal slaveowners who saw fit to write a king in the skys seal of approval over the sex trade into the book they say...they say....came from a god. They may be "doing religion wrong" by our moral lights - but they are not "doing religion wrong" by religions rights, or even their specific religions explicit metrics. That you and deepak chopra have suggestions on entirely different ways we can get things wrong, factually, practically, morally, is, to my mind, no improvement in particular. Even less so when it's used to launder the reputation of the former.
I know I've said this to you before in a bunch of ways, but the difference between a maltheist and an antitheist is only that one of them believes in the gods they both agree are shit.
I am the Infantry. I am my country’s strength in war, her deterrent in peace. I am the heart of the fight… wherever, whenever. I carry America’s faith and honor against her enemies. I am the Queen of Battle. I am what my country expects me to be, the best trained Soldier in the world. In the race for victory, I am swift, determined, and courageous, armed with a fierce will to win. Never will I fail my country’s trust. Always I fight on…through the foe, to the objective, to triumph overall. If necessary, I will fight to my death. By my steadfast courage, I have won more than 200 years of freedom. I yield not to weakness, to hunger, to cowardice, to fatigue, to superior odds, For I am mentally tough, physically strong, and morally straight. I forsake not, my country, my mission, my comrades, my sacred duty. I am relentless. I am always there, now and forever. I AM THE INFANTRY! FOLLOW ME!
