A God We Know Nothing About
- Thread starter PsychoticEpisode
- Start date
Yes, it does, so it should be stopped, don't you think?
never heard of it .... sounds like we are headed to the same issues that surround circumcision etc etc, or how determining a secondary principle for a primary one makes for an absurdity.
the short answer - yes and no.
Generally rituals pertain to the body (aka sva dharma). As such they can be classified in different terms according to where one is at and where one wants to go.
Kind of like civic communities organizing midnight basket ball competitions for street kids. Will it help them get an education, etc? Maybe yes, maybe no ... but whatever the case is, its probably not a necessary extra curricular activity for a PhD student to get where they are going (unless they have a proclivity for breaking into chemists during the wee hours or something)
not only that but it can be categorized
different needs, interests and concerns present themselves.
For instance 100% of jews in NYC neglect the rituals that surround camel maintenance
Instead they have stock interests in abattoirs and farm factories so I the ritual got superseded
depends what the claim of knowledge is.
:shrug:
The idea is that a mentally capable person makes the endeavour to do so. Whether others agree or not is something else. For instance if I was in a community where the mere affirmation of beliefs were simply dealt with equally without any further discourse I would be worried.
the key ingredient is for a valid outlook (at least as far as sanity is concerned) is that a person be able to extrapolate on it intelligibly. For instance if there's nothing forthcoming from a murderer aside from "I believe it is ok" they can expect a lengthy jail sentence
NYC's camel population has been in decline, I can forgive them for the neglect.
How so? A simple 'this is for you God" every morning before starting up should suffice.
Does sacrificing an animal to God mean someone has specific knowledge of what God wants? You say yes and no. I can't think of too many nice reasons for God to desire animal sacrifice. Besides if God demands it then it isn't a custom or ritual. It would be like a truck driver needing a truck, necessary for operations to continue.
Therefore IMO, custom and ritual have more to do with not knowing what God wants. I wonder how many customs have come and gone because something unfavorable occurred post ritual that was attributed to God's displeasure with it. If a custom had good fortune associated with it then that custom would continue. It is not knowledge of God, people have merely deduced what God wants.
It would be unfair to conclude God is a big mean guy who likes blood & death because of certain customs and rituals that tend to be barbaric. If it is unfair to say God is not nice then it is also unfair to say He is nice. There is no justification for either conclusion to become factual. So if God can't be good or bad then no amount of custom and ritual means a damn thing. Now I'm right back where I started, a god we know nothing about.
I really hate that argument.
No, religion is not the only institution that indoctrinates. But as a point of fact it is by far the largest institution that indoctrinates. When it comes to indoctrination, religion has the market cornered.
My two cents and I'll back off...I think the military has a big slice. Then again, armed forces personnel may need religion also. Double whammy!
Which military are we talking about? All military? Or just the US? The only indoctrinating the US (or any western military) does is training men and women in the art of war. They train them how to be efficient soldiers, and therefore effective killing machines, but they don't indoctrinate with ideologies or philosophies.
Now, in places like North Korea and Iran...might be a different story. But the numbers still don't compare.
i don't agree with you. i think our government and educational system and health care systems are just as bad if not more so than religion.
How could either possibly be true? Would you care to elaborate on that, perchance?
No political ideologies? As in Fight for Democracy. Stop the Red Menace. Death to all Infidels. For God and Country. Remember the Alamo.(just threw that one in there for no reason)
I agree that religion is number one and nothing else is even close.
jesus christ, i don't even know where to start. our society is so saturated with lies and most people don't even give a shit, as long as they're "happy". let's see...9/11 was an inside job, and if you don't believe that you're an absolute brainwashed idiot. people are so concerned with bickering about which political party is in office, they're distracted to the fact that the whole system is corrupt. bankers run the world. keep the people ignorant, poor, sick, and on drugs. they've had a cure for cancer for years now, but it's not profitable. the shit they teach our kids in school, particularly about american history is very selective, if not outright lies. the government controls the media. propaganda, propaganda, and more propaganda. and as long as we have our fast food, our anti-depressants, and our tv shows we're just fine.
don't forget the war on drugs and the war on terrorism, which has achieved absolutely nothing except robbing citizens of what once were constitutional rights.
I had an entire post sorted out, and my session timed out. Since I'm at work, the web pages expire, and I wasn't able to recover my work.
Anyway...
The gist of what I said was this: You've watched too many movies, I think. Mottos and creeds do not count as indoctrination, and even if they do, they certainly don't compare to the level of indocrination religion provides.
Also, I'm not entirely certain which military teaches "death to all infidels" but I'm guessing it's more like a terrorist organization, in which case it's nothing more than an armed division of a religious movement.
Lori_7 said:
It all sounds like a bunch of paranoid BS, frankly. While I tend to agree that our education system is crap, that is not indoctrination. It's a poor system that really doesn't work all that well, but the problem lies with the philosophy rather than the facts being taught.
Again, how is that indoctrination? I'm convinced you don't know what the word means at this point.
well, the brainwashing does work on lots of people. really i think it's more of an "ignorance is bliss" mentality. and you can certainly become indoctrinated into an agenda. which is usually nothing more than propaganda to cover up what the agenda really is. which reminds me of religion.
What brainwashing?
We're not going to agree on this, because in order for that to happen either I would have to agree with the laundry list of conspiracies you believe, or you'd have to abandon it. Neither is likely to happen.
We can agree to disagree on this one.
What brainwashing?
We're not going to agree on this, because in order for that to happen either I would have to agree with the laundry list of conspiracies you believe, or you'd have to abandon it. Neither is likely to happen.
We can agree to disagree on this one.
well, that's fine but, i hardly think that the truth is hidden well enough to be called a conspiracy. must people don't want to know the truth. they not only don't seek it, they actually run from it. you know, they might get scared, or they might have to actually get off their couch and be compelled to do something brave, postpone a vacation to disneyland. most people are very happy with being lied to, and very content being a slave. i am not.
I think you're overstating it.
We are not slaves. To say we are is to disgrace the memories of those who actually have been. I, personally, would avoid hyperbole that crosses the line like that, because in the end you just make it hard for people to take you seriously.
Our government, in many ways, is self-serving. There are elements to it that breed that kind of corruption, as there is in any form of government. But the level of dishonesty isn't quite as high as you say it is, nor are the motives quite as evil.
I don't see this active campaign to desensitize the nation. You're mistaking active capitalism (the marketing of anti-depressants and such) as some governmental plot, and that's just bogus.
i think i'm understating it.
we are absolutely slaves to greed in every sense of the word.
you either have no idea what you're talking about or you're just saying that to make yourself feel better...probably both.
there will always be a market for fat, lazy people who wallow in their ignorance. and if we weren't so unfulfilled, in our lives of slavery, there wouldn't be an epidemic of depression.
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Hardly, and I think you know it.
Out of curiousity, what is the foundation of your opinion here?
Coming from a person who said anyone who doesn't believe 9/11 was an inside job is a brainwashed idiot...I'm going to have a little laugh right now.
There. That felt good.
And again, where does the indoctrination come into play? And can you please elaborate on this?