Some of atheists’ best arguments are only valid against the most condescending and superficial of religious beliefs… Any Creator God who would go through the trouble of granting us free-will would no doubt do it with the intention of us eventually becoming self-sufficient. So—if this Creator God were to show up and magically solve all our problems—our peace would be meaningless. Self-accountability has to be the highest priority of a sentient species. God’s only moral obligation to us would be to EDUCATE us—which is exactly where Jesus & pals come in. PEOPLE turned those characters into something that had to be worshiped without question. Of course it’s fair to ask where we make the distinction between ‘the Word of God’ and the corruption of man. All I can say is that self-accountability is the highest of virtues.
Obviously there are religious institutions that would love nothing more than for us to become mindless drones, so they put emphasis on obedience rather than autonomy. Emphasis on obeying rules rather than explaining the morality behind the rules—and I think we all know why authority figures would rather put a premium on obedience over morality. But of course that’s not an issue exclusive to the world of religion. In fact, some of atheists’ best arguments are equally valid against GOVERNMENT. If you think your government is the one, true government, then the logic follows that you would kill and die for it. In fact, isn’t there a greater moral imperative to do away with government considering that, in contrast to religion, there is nowhere on earth where you are free to live without it?
Not that you can actually ‘do away’ with any hierarchy (at least not with the means you’re thinking of)—because the fundamental issue to all our problems is an ANIMAL INSTINCT to conform to external forces; thus dividing humanity into ‘leaders’ & ‘followers’. Leaders then create problems to justify their role and followers allow it to happen because they’re psychologically invested in being submissive. SO! Self-accountablity, especially in terms of morality, is the only way create real, lasting peace. In other words—blame biology, not the meme.
And if you think religious people go to church for any reason other than the same reason atheists congregate at coffee shops then you don’t understand human nature. We all need to socialize and share values. Which in itself is necessary and good. But you’ll never unite the world through something that insists ‘truth’ lies outside one’s self—you’ll never unite the world through conformity to external forces, because it disregards the fact we experience reality differently. FACT. And conformity, by necessity, negates self-accountability—why think for myself when this text book or bible can do it for me? And once you’ve conformed the next logical step is to try to make others conform as well, and we all know where that leads (SEE WORLD HISTORY AND/OR THE INTERNET).
In one study conducted at the University of Rochester, researchers tracked 150 recent college grads and monitored their goals and reported levels of happiness. They compared the rates at which the graduates achieved both extrinsic and intrinsic rewards and concluded:
“The attainment of extrinsic, or ‘American Dream’ goals — money, fame, and being considered physically attractive by others — does not contribute to happiness at all. In fact, they reported, far from creating well-being, achieving extrinsic rewards actually does contribute to some ‘ill-being.’ If we let our desire for more and more extrinsic rewards monopolize our time and attention, it prevents us from engaging in autotelic activities that would actually increase our happiness.” —source
Now wouldn’t the search for ‘objective truth’, and the subsequent quest to make people conform to it fall into the category of ‘extrinsic rewards’? However, we have this sassy comment to consider…
“The fact that a believer is happier than a sceptic is no more to the point than the fact that a drunken man is happier than a sober one. The happiness of credulity is a cheap and dangerous quality.”—George Bernard Shaw
But I think the quality of life is very much “THE POINT”. If not then we really don’t anything more to discuss… like ever. Of course I’m not suggesting we disregard scientific inquiry, quite the contrary, the scientific method should be employed by EVERYONE—as long as it’s kept in its proper context; that of a GAME… just like religion should be.
Actually, science & religion both provide useful theories—for example—All Matter is made of Energy, Energy is made of Information, and Information is Alive (LOGOS); therefore Reality is Consciousness, God is real, and psychic powers are inevitable. But don’t take my ‘word’ for it (yuk yuk yuk)—experiment with your own Consciousness and decide for… yourself!
Ah, Thank You.>>
Until next time, stay ignorant : )_p
This strange hope has been brought to you by
“The Greatest Work of Art You Create is Yourself!”
