Education, logic and reason are very powerful for overcoming belief, but let’s face it; the average believer is not the brightest light bulb in the cupboard. I doubt they could even spell education, logic or reason so these concepts would be like trying to train a dog to eat with a knife and fork. The other option is drugs which can offer effective treatment for the panic and depression that would occur if the believer’s bubbles of ignorance were popped. But drugging them into a zombie like state is surely not the solution.
So are there any other options?
2007-07-27 16:41:44 · 22 answers · asked by Desiree 4 in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
Aloha Desiree,
Glad to see you're back to your old self - got tired of stirring things up as a theist huh?
I've been giving this some thought for quite a while and it's the one question that atheists should be devoting their brain power to solve. I mean finding contradictions in the bible is fun, but it does get old after a while.
Einstein said: "we cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them", so whatever the solution to religion, it will involve a quantum shift in our current perspectives as to how we view religious believers and their delusions.
Maybe the Blashphemy Challenge is a good out-of-the-box way to start: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rational_Response_Squad
You might be interested in a related question I posted: http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=An5Wf9ELBemg96e6MSIBkIXd7BR.?qid=20070713134357AAlfoIp&show
Part of me realizes that Dostoyevsky was right, that we might be fighting a losing battle...
"So long as man remains free, he strives for nothing so incessantly and so painfully as to find someone to worship. But man seeks to worship what is established beyond dispute, so that all men would agree at once to worship it. For these pitiful creatures are concerned not only to find what one or the other can worship, but to find something that all would believe in and worship; what is essential is that all may be together in it. This craving for community of worship is the chief misery of every man individually and of all humanity from the beginning of time. For the sake of common worship, they've slain each other with the sword. They have set up gods and challenged one another, "Put away your gods and come and worship ours, or we will kill you and your gods!" And so it will be to the end of the world, even when gods disappear from the earth; they will fall down before idols just the same."
Maybe if we could market science as the new "religion", and show all the "miracles" that science has discovered. Science should be given more credit for all the advances to humanity - through man's own hard work and brain power. Mankind should be worshiping: education, intelligence, reason, and the scientific method. We need a religion that is based on science - maybe throw in the Golden Rule for good measure.
"That's all religion is -- some principle you believe in ... man has accomplished far more miracles than the God he invented. What a tragedy it is to invent a God and then suffer to keep him King."
— Rod Steiger
2007-07-27 21:34:15 · answer #1 · answered by HawaiianBrian 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I think you are wrong, and haven't researched your opinion very well. Whether or not a particular religion is correct or not is not part of your question, as I read it you are saying that education can replace the need for a belief system. And you pretty much stated that religious people are also dumb. It is these two areas in which I disagree with you.
Highly intelligent people can also be religious. Perhaps they are intelligent enough to realize the need for a belief system is probably built right into our genetics. Maybe you need more education about the human mind, you don't sound all that educated or intelligent, at least in this subject.
2007-07-27 23:49:51 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 1⤋
What is your definition of religion? If a religious person is someone who believes in something that they cannot prove using empirical means, then everyone is religious. If you believe there is a God, then you are religious because you can't prove he exists. If you don't believe that there is a god or anything supernatural about our existence, then you are religious because you cannot prove that there is nothing beyond the physical. The only things that we can know for certain are those things which we experience firsthand with our human senses. Anything that you believe that doesn't fall into that category could be considered a religious belief. A belief system is what you have to explain the nature of reality for yourself when you do not have hard data to do the job. Everyone falls into this category, but not everyone realizes it.
2007-07-28 00:05:12 · answer #3 · answered by Unorthodox 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
It will never change even if everything is explained it will be to complicated to explain to the masses. Slick talking jerks will still prowl the earth looking for suckers 1000 years from now. The human brain can only intake so much info and the more important factor is wisdom which is better with grey hairs. We have to evolve to a smarter(less paranoid and violent) being to create a society like that.
2007-07-27 23:55:32 · answer #4 · answered by otis spunkmeyer 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Belief in religion doesnt mean that a person is unintelligent, sometimes people just need something to hold on to kind of to give them a reason. Nobody knows what the point of this life is so its up for interpretation just like everything else.
2007-07-27 23:44:49 · answer #5 · answered by ricksplint 2 · 2⤊ 0⤋
no it wouldn't because, even tho education is a good thing its not every thing. and no not all religious people are "dumb" as a matter of fact there are plenty of really smart Christan's in the world. if it were my opinion id say non believers have a tendency to be a little "dumb". was it not science that said bumble bees cant fly? but it happens every day!
-god bless: )
2007-07-27 23:56:39 · answer #6 · answered by blue belt 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
The Brightest Light Bulb in the Cupboard.... Wow YOU Must have an IQ of , lets see...75-85? There are hundreds of thousands of Christians with HUGE IQ's., and Degrees in many different fields. Obviouisly you got your Degree in a Box of Cracker Jacks!
Romans 1:19 since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. 20 For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse.
What's Yours?
2007-07-27 23:50:56 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 3⤋
Put your belief in yourself, share with others your beliefs not force feed them.
Drugs are not just for panic and depression, it is also to bring people who go the other way back down to earth.
2007-07-27 23:47:25 · answer #8 · answered by Part-time Antagonist 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
wow, I will state once again:
All believers are not ignorant, buck-toothed, inbred, uneducated hillbillies. Stop generalizing.
I could say that all atheists are: ignorant, fanatical, judgmental, depressed souls crying out for the love of God and substituting sex, drugs, possessions, and alcohol for it. But I don't do I? Because I know what happens when you assume, generalized, and lump people into artificial categories. Stereotyping is wrong.
2007-07-27 23:52:49 · answer #9 · answered by biology.teacher 3 · 3⤊ 1⤋
Religeon will never end,and lets face it,your average person isn't the brightest light bulb in the closet.
2007-07-27 23:45:32 · answer #10 · answered by Gorgonof 3 · 2⤊ 1⤋