Religions are fairy tales for adults. Should we encourage them to grow up?

[Greatest I am]

4. Elisha and the Two Bears (2 Kings 2:23-25)

23 Then he went up from there to Bethel; and as he was going up by the way, young lads came out from the city and mocked him and said to him, “Go up, you baldhead; go up, you baldhead!” 24 When he looked behind him and saw them, he cursed them in the name of the LORD. Then two female bears came out of the woods and tore up forty-two lads of their number. 25 And he went from there to Mount Carmel, and from there he returned to Samaria.

What's the deeper meaning?

That jokes are not worth killing over and that hairless Jews should expect young children to have a bit of fun by ridiculing them and that bald men should just live with that bit of ridicule and be quick to forgive it.

What do you see as the deeper meaning?

Regards
DL

 

[C C]

Religions are fairy tales for adults.

Prescriptive ideologies of any kind begin as suspect "fictions". Though once adopted they may cause some of the items they advocate to be realized (whether the results are constructive or destructive). Even the descriptive ones, as interpretations of what [some] humans are supposedly already doing, can accordingly be inaccurate or fail to capture everything by virtue of being such formal generalizations abstracted from particular circumstances and events.

Should we encourage them to grow up?

There's no weaning of humans from what they invent: Either the loose folk frameworks or the more rigidly coherent systems. Other then de-evolving them back to an atavistic stage which lacked a knack for abstract thought and models. Limited to any instinctive reactions primates came natively equipped with, which might not fully qualify as a legitimate plan or template or tool for conceiving their circumstances.

 

[billvon]

For instance, many think telepathy is real. I am in that camp as I have what I needed to believe in it. Two anecdotal experience and a victim. I say victim as she described it as an assault.

Telepathy is unproven and has never been duplicated. It is still firmly in the realm of pseudoscience, and adults generally discount it as a real phenomenon.

Should people encourage you to grow up?

 

[spidergoat]

That jokes are not worth killing over and that hairless Jews should expect young children to have a bit of fun by ridiculing them and that bald men should just live with that bit of ridicule and be quick to forgive it.

What do you see as the deeper meaning?

Regards
DL

The opposite. Don't ridicule your elders or God will kill you in horrible ways.

 

[wellwisher]

That jokes are not worth killing over and that hairless Jews should expect young children to have a bit of fun by ridiculing them and that bald men should just live with that bit of ridicule and be quick to forgive it.

What do you see as the deeper meaning?

Regards
DL

The old guy saw the 2 bears and was climbing up, to get around the bears without disturbing them. The dumb ass boys were so distracted making sport of the old bald guy, they were not aware of the two bears. The old guy curses the boys to get the F-away. This was because of the bears, But the boys were too stupid to understand he was trying to help them.

Bears do not just materialize out of the void and can be dangerous.

 

[Greatest I am]

Prescriptive ideologies of any kind begin as suspect "fictions". Though once adopted they may cause some of the items they advocate to be realized (whether the results are constructive or destructive). Even the descriptive ones, as interpretations of what [some] humans are supposedly already doing, can accordingly be inaccurate or fail to capture everything by virtue of being such formal generalizations abstracted from particular circumstances and events.



There's no weaning of humans from what they invent: Either the loose folk frameworks or the more rigidly coherent systems. Other then de-evolving them back to an atavistic stage which lacked a knack for abstract thought and models. Limited to any instinctive reactions primates came natively equipped with, which might not fully qualify as a legitimate plan or template or tool for conceiving their circumstances.

I am not an expert on de-programming the indoctrinated and brainwashed but experts seem to think that they can reverse such things. The fact that Christian who have been programmed to hate gays for all of these many generations turned away from their ugly homophobia in just a couple of generations on their own so I tend to think that the mentally ill can be helped.

You may have a point for the really dumb. They may be damaged by their religion forever.

Regards
DL

 

[Greatest I am]

Telepathy is unproven and has never been duplicated. It is still firmly in the realm of pseudoscience, and adults generally discount it as a real phenomenon.

Should people encourage you to grow up?

They do and I ignore them because I have facts, not faith.

I also have a bit of scientific backing.

Regards
DL

 

[Greatest I am]

The opposite. Don't ridicule your elders or God will kill you in horrible ways.

That is the literal and has no depth. Depth of though does not make God look like an immoral prick.

Regards
DL

 

[Greatest I am]

The old guy saw the 2 bears and was climbing up, to get around the bears without disturbing them. The dumb ass boys were so distracted making sport of the old bald guy, they were not aware of the two bears. The old guy curses the boys to get the F-away. This was because of the bears, But the boys were too stupid to understand he was trying to help them.

Bears do not just materialize out of the void and can be dangerous.

I like this better than the more literal views from spidergoat.

Regards
DL

 

[spidergoat]

That is the literal and has no depth. Depth of though does not make God look like an immoral prick.

Regards
DL

So you're inventing things to sweeten up the Bible, because a vengeful God isn't compatible with modern morality.
Why don't you just write your own Bible then?

 

[Greatest I am]

So you're inventing things to sweeten up the Bible, because a vengeful God isn't compatible with modern morality.
Why don't you just write your own Bible then?

The world has enough books of myths and would not likely buy it.

Are you volunteering to ghost write, proof and edit it?

If so, I might reconsider.

Regards
DL

 

[billvon]

I am not an expert on de-programming the indoctrinated and brainwashed . . .You may have a point for the really dumb. They may be damaged by their religion forever.

People who are bigots - who believe that they can judge someone based on the color of their skin, their religion, their sex, their sexual orientation or their handicaps - make this forum a worse place. Should we encourage them to grow up?

 

[danshawen]

4. Elisha and the Two Bears (2 Kings 2:23-25)

23 Then he went up from there to Bethel; and as he was going up by the way, young lads came out from the city and mocked him and said to him, “Go up, you baldhead; go up, you baldhead!” 24 When he looked behind him and saw them, he cursed them in the name of the LORD. Then two female bears came out of the woods and tore up forty-two lads of their number. 25 And he went from there to Mount Carmel, and from there he returned to Samaria.

What's the deeper meaning?

42

 

[Bowser]

Religions are fairy tales for adults. Should we encourage them to grow up?

To just leave Christians and Muslim idol worshipers to continue as is means that we may never rid ourselves of their institutionalized homophobia and misogyny. The kind and moral thing to do is to try to correct our immoral religious friends to recognize their myths as fairy tales for adults. Do you agree?

Regards
DL

Certainly, if you want to change the nature of God to better represent your values, you should write your own book about your insight into the divine; that is, should you want to be a prophet for the new age. However, you better be willing to back it up with some miracles to impress those that you wish to entice with your moral dictates. Honestly, how can you offer anything more alluring than heaven and eternal life? Atheism and carnality will take you only so far 'til you hit a brick wall. It's a lonely path that leads only to death in the end. You can't compete with the promises offered by Christianity or it's competitor.

 

[Kristoffer]

Please supply proof that heaven and eternal life is actually a real thing, not just a crutch for those afraid of death.

 

[Bowser]

Please supply proof that heaven and eternal life is actually a real thing, not just a crutch for those afraid of death.

How could I possibly offer proof? I've never been.

 

[Beer w/Straw]

That was funny. lol

 

[Greatest I am]

People who are bigots - who believe that they can judge someone based on the color of their skin, their religion, their sex, their sexual orientation or their handicaps - make this forum a worse place. Should we encourage them to grow up?

Why? Are you afraid to be seen as immature?

Regards
DL

 

[Greatest I am]

Certainly, if you want to change the nature of God to better represent your values, you should write your own book about your insight into the divine; that is, should you want to be a prophet for the new age. However, you better be willing to back it up with some miracles to impress those that you wish to entice with your moral dictates. Honestly, how can you offer anything more alluring than heaven and eternal life? Atheism and carnality will take you only so far 'til you hit a brick wall. It's a lonely path that leads only to death in the end. You can't compete with the promises offered by Christianity or it's competitor.

I agree. I cannot. They have grabbed all the good lies already.

All I have is a better moral value than what they offer in case any so called believer wants a religion that is not homophobic or misogynous.

Regards
DL

 

[Bowser]

All I have is a better moral value than what they offer in case any so called believer wants a religion that is not homophobic or misogynous.

Regards
DL

So, you're offering them homosexuality and feminism in exchange for their devotion to your moral authority?