I abbreviated their story to keep my comment short, and linked the full thing for people who want to learn more.
In truth, the reason she was so susceptible to his offshoot of their religion was because she’d been raised believing in the mainstream religion, which he warped a bit in order to gain followers to his cult. She was primed for it because she couldn’t imagine a reality outside of the belief system in which she was raised, and his cult was only slightly outside that and built upon it.
Look up the story yourself, if you like. That’s why I linked it. My quick summary wasn’t ‘too tidy to be true’, and I can give you links to many, many more stories exactly like that one. Loads of normal people have committed atrocities – often against their own children – because their Christian faith told them to. A great many of them weren’t mentally ill until they became religious. Many committed those atrocities because they became convinced heaven was a better place for their children, that demons were real and trying to corrupt their kids, etc. Google it yourself; I’m not trying to filter knowledge here. These were normal people until they became religious.
Like I said, we should be talking about the damage these fables are doing. We should be talking about the damage done by indoctrinating children so they can’t discern reality from fantasy and right from wrong. We should be questioning our leaders when they say morality only exists in their stories, when the opposite is true. This shot is causing us irreparable damage as a society.
I’m thoroughly aware of the story which is why I find your summary of it lacking.
I don’t like religion at all, but it’s entirely clear to me that people’s emotional and social needs created religion, and then our love of hierarchical structures created organized religion.
You could wipe religion off the Earth tomorrow and it’d be back by next Tuesday as long as you didn’t wipe out all the people on the planet with it.
You’re firing in a scatter shot manner at a general human sociological phenomenon and are pretty off target in this case especially, where it’s pretty obvious the person had a mental illness.
You’re right, and I don’t disagree with you at all. Yes, we’ve had an emotional need for stories – more for connection with one another than for individual understanding, which cultural stories provide.
I’m saying there’s a difference between cultural stories and organised religion. The former is benign and can translate our questions into a semblance of meaning, and the latter which becomes dictatorial dogma that amplifies the worst of us, turning our basest instincts into abhorrent action.
I don’t think we disagree that much, you and I. I used to think organised religion wasn’t something I could get behind, but I thought to each their own.
The more I learned about it and the more I saw the bad influence it did to people I loved, the more I realised it’s nothing but a terrible influence in the world, holding us back as a people, and causing needless suffering and death.
Yeah, I don’t think we’re very far apart in thought either, there’s just some specifics in this case that make organized religion especially not really the culprit in these cases and we disagree on the specifics.
I too hate religion and organized religion probably even more so, and I don’t think “to each his own” as much as I’m simply resigned to the fact that it’s a part of the human experience, and will probably be around as long as we are.
I abbreviated their story to keep my comment short, and linked the full thing for people who want to learn more.
In truth, the reason she was so susceptible to his offshoot of their religion was because she’d been raised believing in the mainstream religion, which he warped a bit in order to gain followers to his cult. She was primed for it because she couldn’t imagine a reality outside of the belief system in which she was raised, and his cult was only slightly outside that and built upon it.
Look up the story yourself, if you like. That’s why I linked it. My quick summary wasn’t ‘too tidy to be true’, and I can give you links to many, many more stories exactly like that one. Loads of normal people have committed atrocities – often against their own children – because their Christian faith told them to. A great many of them weren’t mentally ill until they became religious. Many committed those atrocities because they became convinced heaven was a better place for their children, that demons were real and trying to corrupt their kids, etc. Google it yourself; I’m not trying to filter knowledge here. These were normal people until they became religious.
Like I said, we should be talking about the damage these fables are doing. We should be talking about the damage done by indoctrinating children so they can’t discern reality from fantasy and right from wrong. We should be questioning our leaders when they say morality only exists in their stories, when the opposite is true. This shot is causing us irreparable damage as a society.
I’m thoroughly aware of the story which is why I find your summary of it lacking.
I don’t like religion at all, but it’s entirely clear to me that people’s emotional and social needs created religion, and then our love of hierarchical structures created organized religion.
You could wipe religion off the Earth tomorrow and it’d be back by next Tuesday as long as you didn’t wipe out all the people on the planet with it.
You’re firing in a scatter shot manner at a general human sociological phenomenon and are pretty off target in this case especially, where it’s pretty obvious the person had a mental illness.
You’re right, and I don’t disagree with you at all. Yes, we’ve had an emotional need for stories – more for connection with one another than for individual understanding, which cultural stories provide.
I’m saying there’s a difference between cultural stories and organised religion. The former is benign and can translate our questions into a semblance of meaning, and the latter which becomes dictatorial dogma that amplifies the worst of us, turning our basest instincts into abhorrent action.
I don’t think we disagree that much, you and I. I used to think organised religion wasn’t something I could get behind, but I thought to each their own.
The more I learned about it and the more I saw the bad influence it did to people I loved, the more I realised it’s nothing but a terrible influence in the world, holding us back as a people, and causing needless suffering and death.
Yeah, I don’t think we’re very far apart in thought either, there’s just some specifics in this case that make organized religion especially not really the culprit in these cases and we disagree on the specifics.
I too hate religion and organized religion probably even more so, and I don’t think “to each his own” as much as I’m simply resigned to the fact that it’s a part of the human experience, and will probably be around as long as we are.