How do we slay the dragon?

[Confused Ape]

Here we are, facing this monster, the rational among us realizing that physical threat or coercion would only strengthen the monster and fuse ourselves to it, yet at the same time, realizing that the dragon is completely immune to reasoned argument. Or is it just very stubborn, and will reasoned argument eventually slay the dragon? I can't see that happening. Human beings are generally too dumb.

Did you see that video in another topic about cognition and God? See Post #19

Humans aren't generally too dumb for their dragons to be slain by reasoned argument - it's the way our brains operate.

How do we slay the dragon?

Maybe religion is just one expression of the real dragon at work. What makes people fanatical about ideologies which have nothing to do with religion?

I have several suggestions:

1) Better science education in the public schools. Fundamentalist are quite right to feel threatened by it. If you really study evolution you can't help but conclude that it exists. If you really study geology, you can't help but believe in an ancient earth. The list goes on.

Scientists can be religious. Francis Collins who led the Human Genome Project is an Evangelical Christian - he understands evolution and believes it's the way God did it. Millions of other Christians accept the age of the universe and evolution. They just adapt science to fit their beliefs.

“Creation: Big Bang, or what?”

So, how would God describe the stages of His creation to semi-nomadic herdsmen? How would you?

Big Bang: The First Day

So the first 'day', the first stage of creation was "Let there be light". And there was the biggest blaze of light the universe has ever seen, in the massive explosion of the Big Bang. What a wonderful description; what a wonderful picture the Big Bang event creates in the mind's eye!

2) Teach comparative religion classes as part of history or social studies. Nothing like knowing about all the other options in the salad bar that is theism to inoculate you against any particular one. Teaching one of the dead ones we know something about like the Ancient Egyptian's beliefs wouldn't hurt either. The multiplicity of choices shows up the arbitrariness of any particular choice.

I've been interested in comparative religion and mythology since I was a child. It didn't take long before I decided that all these different beliefs were just beliefs. There's no guarantee that this approach will work for everyone, though. A comparative religion course could result in somebody converting to a religion they wouldn't have heard about without the course. Why? Because they feel that Religion X is the right one.

3) Teach meditation. It provides much of what many people get from prayer without the god part.

This could be very helpful along with an introduction to neuroscience explaining what is happening in the brain.

4) Provide the same tax breaks for charitable social groups that provide a church like sense of community as we do for churches. Alternatively and better, take away the tax exempt status of churches.

This won't stop people from believing.