Where did that sense of entitlement come from?
Slave owners.
Did these men own slaves and continue to own slaves?
I fear if we lose our spiritual nature, we will find ourselves worshiping something far worse.
Motivation by fear is the worst motivation.
Fear of eternal damnation is the prime motivator of the church (and I use the term to describe religion generally but select church because I suspect you can relate better to a church concept than a broard brush term religion).
You may have guessed but I dont have a spiritual nature.
I have no fear that I will worship anything or anybody...there is no need to worship anything or anyone..the concept of worship is wrong and outdated.
Once gone it does not have to be replaced by another evil.
Smokers give up and make the mistake of then eating lollies...they dont see they have a problem of constantly trying to fill some imaginary gap...the problem is not smoking or eating lollies...the problem is they feel every minute of every day they need a reward as if they are somehow entitled to constant reward.
I would be interested to know how it might be better.
All the resources wasted upon houses of religion and labour could be redirected to do good in material outcomes rather than be monopolised in worship and make believe.
Sure churches do some good but it is an incredibly inefficient system in my view.
In addition if folk threw away the crutch that is religion they would have to think for themselves and for many realise that there need be no mystery to the world.
And force them to grow up and not expect the present life is just one of two or many ( as with some religions).
Also maybe we could stop folk simply making stuff up and justifying their speculations as a belief that cant be challenged because it is out of bounds because it is a belief.
Heck if you claim you see a ufo you will be called upon to put up or shut up...claim there is a God then say but thats my belief I can make up any crap I wish. ..it is wrong.
One should not be able to make up unsupported crap and elevate it past calls to put up or shut up.
I think with religion out of the way maybe we could erradicate in part this entitlement belief of humans. .. get it out of their heads the world has been created for them and make them realise that as the top species our responsibility extends to all humans not just those of our religion and to the animals and even the vegetation. And indeed the planet..I see a change in mind set possible by taking away the belief that God gave man dominion over the animals etc.
And wealth. .take away this notion of entitlement and no doubt there could be hope for a more equitable distribution of wealth.
How many folk out there control their wealth and believe they have it because their God gave it to them.
Leaders would need to find good reason for war rather than the enemy follows another religion.
Getting rid of religion will take time a long time but when it is gone and historians look back to times that superstition effectively ruled the world, they and their students, will laugh at us for being so primitive and superstitious.
Before computers we had no idea of a world where they would make life better and there is a future where superstition will not exist and it will be better and we will wonder why was there a need by humans to entertain fairy tales and embody those fairy tales in our society.
And even in my time I have seen the power of religion diminish.
Once the churches dictated so much of our lives and today fortunately many people just think they are a waste of time and an affront to modern thinking and science and indeed all reasonable things...many people have escaped their control.
The church is stuck in the past and rejects change but as we know things that wont change will disappear.. because they can not or will not change...the church will be no different and year by year it withers until it will be no more.
I see many churches sold and converted to homes and when a population is growing and the churches are being sold it suggests they are dieing out.
One in Hornsby is being pulled down to put up a block of home units..how good get rid of a house no one lives in so people and families have a place to live where once it housed no one.
Thats progress.
Pull them all down and put up houses or home units.
House people not a mythical God.
The parasitic presence of religion will disappear and we will move on to a better world which we can not yet conceive.
Their time is passing just like the mounted knights of old their time has passed.
Alex