(November 10, 2017 at 9:23 am)alpha male Wrote: Consider OP - she says that when an adult converts to religion (i.e. a change in environment resulting from a personal choice), their mental faculties decline. And she says they deserve contempt for making that choice.
Because as a child you do not have a say on how you are raised, where you were born, who you were born to or how you are conditioned. Most people recognise this which is why religious belief is given a wider acceptance than say political beliefs, even though most people's political beliefs also mirror that of their parents. Religious indoctrination mainly focuses on children before they develop critical thinking skills. Think about how hard it would be now as an adult to start believing in Santa Claus again.
Yet this is what the new converts actually do. Now you can acknowledge that there was probably a lot of religious indoctrination in their upbringing that did not fully develop into theistic beliefs but did lay the ground work, and fair enough. But on the other hand, they did have a glimpse of the real world and gave it up to live in a fantasy. They knowingly choose the blue pill for their own personal comfort regardless of the cost to everyone else around them in doing so. It's no different to not caring how your government pillages the resources of third world countries and send young soldiers to die so you can continue to drive your gas guzzling SUV. We can only make the world a better place if we all work together. Those that take the blue pill of organised religion when they have a choice otherwise are deliberately slacking off and riding on the efforts of others to do the dirty work for them. And it is for this reason that I think their decision deserves contempt.
