Observer-Reporter forum

freethinker · Posted: Mon Jan 11, 2010 10:37 am Post subject:

Another religion thread unresolved, derailed by nervous humor….But close readers will notice that certain questions have not been answered…Most important - what is the difference between teaching and brainwashing…? The subtle distinctions are strangely unexplained by modern politics ---A Muslim mother who encourages her son to die a martyr, is brainwashing, right…? And a Christian father who talks of the golden rule is teaching morals, correct…?
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No and no, wrong and wrong….Because, in this narrow realm, there is no difference between teaching and brainwashing when it involves your own child….Not only does the child crave understanding, they will absorb and adopt anything you say….They want answers, and guidance…So you pick the best story and stick with it…Calling that little white lie “Shoving it down their throat.” is an insult to 45 generations of fathers who have certainly been just as smart as you, and who knew there was no adult need for a god, but a very real child’s need for guidance….
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So I’m left with a kid who needs advice, and I have three choices…
1.) Expose them to every possible philosophy and religious tradition…
2.) Advise them that there is no higher moral authority, There is no Heaven or Santa, and that their personal responsibility extends to the ends of their fingers , and stops there…
3.) Enjoin them in a tradition that has lasted and helped improve the world during the last forty thousand years
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One is intellectually impossible, Two is emotionally impossible, and Three is the easy way out…
“Forgive me Father, for I have sinned… I lied to my children, to benefit their souls…”
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and I still don’t see how this can be honestly compared
to mental rape
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where-ever you get it - there you have it. - Anon.

dick · Journeyman Joined: 28 Jan 2009 Posts: 3134

dick · Journeyman Joined: 28 Jan 2009 Posts: 3134

freethinker · Posted: Mon Jan 11, 2010 11:28 am Post subject:

dick, with all due respect, my position is more open-minded than yours...When you focus only on the negative aspects that are connected to spiritual belief, you are ignoring the benefits it delivers in raising well-adjusted children..
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It's kinda funny, really....I enjoy my atheist friends a lot more than my
righteous religious friends...But i have not yet been able to adequately articulate my defense of a belief in the impossible...
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Agnosticism and atheism represent pride and structural independence --
"We don't need no stinkin' God...."

And pride goeth before a fall

Here's another verb :Endear... And when you agnostics can perpetuate a system of operating traditions that will endear the human heart and provide it with the strength and courage to face impossible odds and persevere despite certain failure in the pursuit of noble goals...

I will be the first to sign on.
In the meantime, I offer my kids, the words of Jesus
_________________
where-ever you get it - there you have it. - Anon.

dick · Journeyman Joined: 28 Jan 2009 Posts: 3134

Cylinsier · Master Joined: 29 Sep 2008 Posts: 13229 Location: Oh shi-

freethinker · Posted: Mon Jan 11, 2010 12:04 pm Post subject:

Whoa, horsey...!
Please do not accuse me of looking down on ANYONE...!
You defend your position, and i defend mine...
You are not superior, and neither am I...

It is our personal beliefs that are at war, not our opinions of each other
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where-ever you get it - there you have it. - Anon.

dick · Journeyman Joined: 28 Jan 2009 Posts: 3134

freethinker · Posted: Mon Jan 11, 2010 12:25 pm Post subject:

dick,dick,dick...that was not a slight, and you know it, sir...
That was a challenge.
Incorporate a working tradition that will either absorb or replace christianity, and deliver the loyalty it has proven to show..
Or else,
shut up
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where-ever you get it - there you have it. - Anon.

Cylinsier · Master Joined: 29 Sep 2008 Posts: 13229 Location: Oh shi-

But why? You don't need to a working tradition. Christianity doesn't need to be replaced, nor does any other religion.
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freethinker · Posted: Mon Jan 11, 2010 12:42 pm Post subject:

Cy, to maintain that position, the one that says all religion is bull,
(one you and i both know is true) then you have to maintain that all human beings who came before us were stupider than we are
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Sorry, but i am not that vain. I listen to my ancestors, and recognize a reason for the subterfuge
_________________
where-ever you get it - there you have it. - Anon.

Cylinsier · Master Joined: 29 Sep 2008 Posts: 13229 Location: Oh shi-

I thought it was a given that each generation is more educated than the last.
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dick · Journeyman Joined: 28 Jan 2009 Posts: 3134

I noticed when you (freethinker) ended the other Religion thread very similarly.