Cameras, microphones and God

[Spooky]

Sounds about right. But somehow it doesn't sound ridiculous to them.

[Spooky]

The watch nerd in me has no choice but to say...Interesting choice of watch for a dictator:



Oddly classy and understated.  They (Dictators) usually wear louder watches. 

[Pyrrho]

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The watch nerd in me has no choice but to say...Interesting choice of watch for a dictator:

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Oddly classy and understated.  They (Dictators) usually wear louder watches. 

So you are saying he has good taste...

[Spooky]

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The watch nerd in me has no choice but to say...Interesting choice of watch for a dictator:



Oddly classy and understated.  They (Dictators) usually wear louder watches. 

So you are saying he has good taste...

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Yeah, basically.  Dictators usually go for shit like this:



Really expensive watch fit for a dictator...

[Pyrrho]

Definitely, he has better taste than someone who would buy that.

[ignoramus]

And how many of his own people starved so that he may wear that?
He's a pathetic waste of oxygen...

"Omega" must cringe to see that image connected with their corporate philosophy.
I wonder if their PR dept tried to put a marketing spin on it ....
eg: "OMEGA, fit for a God!"

[Salacious B. Crumb]

Nice job robvalue You did a great job with the analogy, and put it into language creationists can understand, but what are the odds they will actually look at that and realize that it's an analogy for what they believe? Many of them are probably nodding their head..."Yes..Yes.. a very scary thought, good thing we don't live like that."

[robvalue]

Thanks very much! Maybe it will ring true to someone, somewhere.

Pyrrho: Wow yes, I was aware that in my scenario you can get away with thinking what you like, as long as your actions and speech are in line with the rules. But you're right, christianity goes even further than that. It's amazing what science can do too

The thing is, you don't even have to fully believe in all the cameras and that; as long as you have a reasonable doubt in your head that is just might be true. That would be enough to keep you scared and in line. Religion prays on that doubt I think

[Drich]

I just had a thought. Imagine this scenario.

You're living in a total fascist dictatorship. The leader has absolute power over everybody and there is never any way he can be replaced or removed from power. This is it, forever. He is so powerful that there is literally zero chance of any sort of uprising ever succeeding. But you know the dictator has everyone's best interests at heart. Everyone always says how much they love him!

Now imagine that there are cameras and microphones absolutely everywhere. There is no way to get away from them, or to disable them. You can't do or say anything without the dictator knowing about it. And if anyone does anything that breaks his rules, or speaks badly about him, that person will be marked for torture. Not tortured right away, but at some point in the future the dictator will send out guards to grab that person and move him to the torture chamber, where he will be artificially forced to live forever to endure endless suffering.

People who never break the rules however will be grabbed by the guards at some point and taken to live with the dictator, where they will have everything they ever want and will be happy forever.

You know all this to be true. Would you ever break the rules? Would you ever speak ill of the dictator?

Now consider this extra information. You've never actually seen the dictator. You've not heard from him, you know nothing about him directly except that he has supreme power which can never be defeated. You have his book, of course, which supposedly tells you everything you need to know about him and his rules. You've also never seen any of these cameras and microphones, because their technology is so advanced that they are undetectable. You have seen guards come and grab people, and after that you never see them again. But you don't know for sure where they've been taken, or why. The guards will never say.

You believe it all. You believe it because it is true. It must be true. It's what you've been told since you were born...

I now have more of an idea what it must be like to be religious, and why some people would do or say absolutely anything in order to avoid somehow admitting the fault of their God. I can understand it, and it's fucking terrifying.

...which is why we have been given this life to live apart from his known Glory. (So you can rebel and set yourself apart.) which is why Rhonda s argument is moot

[Pyrrho]

Bold emphasis has been added:

Thanks very much! Maybe it will ring true to someone, somewhere.

Pyrrho: Wow yes, I was aware that in my scenario you can get away with thinking what you like, as long as your actions and speech are in line with the rules. But you're right, christianity goes even further than that. It's amazing what science can do too

The thing is, you don't even have to fully believe in all the cameras and that; as long as you have a reasonable doubt in your head that is just might be true. That would be enough to keep you scared and in line. Religion prays on that doubt I think

Yes, I think you have hit on something that fits with many Christians.  They only half-beleive, or don't really believe, and are quite unsure about it.  And for them, it only sometimes keeps them in check, as what one does in a moment is not based on what one usually thinks, but on what one is thinking at that moment.

Really, if they fully believed god was watching them all the time, they would not be doing things in private that are "wrong" because they would be thinking that god was watching them do it.  We see, however, many instances in which people put on a public show, and privately do something else.  That can be explained as simple dishonesty, but I think some of it is that they just are not as sure about things as they often pretend, and do not always think about it when they are giving in to their inclinations.


As for science, it is getting frightening for anyone who values privacy.  If the brain scan technology is perfected, just think what governments will do with it.