Frank
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polite_gandalf wrote on Jul 18 th, 2016 at 6:15pm: Brian Ross wrote on Jul 18 th, 2016 at 5:46pm: tickleandrose wrote on Jul 18 th, 2016 at 5:31pm: I disagree with both Brian and Gordon on this. I believe religion is a necessity to control the human population as our society evolve. However, we are now at a stage of free thinking and altruism. As such, they now have outlived most of its purpose in many countries of the world. However, no all countries and regions are equal in this remark, and therefore, it still has its uses.
In the future, religion should be practices as only free choice of the individual, and that there should be distinct separation of church and state (including education) in each nation. But in this, we are talking at least 100 or may be even 200 years ahead. Well, good luck getting that past the religionists. I agree with you in part but I have to recognise that something that has been a part of humanity forever will not disappear overnight. Only by concerted effort by society as a whole will it disappear. It is true that for much of its existence religion has been a rather vacuous secular/materialist tool of control that has essentially been devoid of any spiritual meaning. This, I believe is what you and others would like to see disappear, and I'm with you. However it is a mistake to equate this with "true" religion, as in what the original purpose of the religion is. Doing so dismisses the innate human need for a spiritual sense of purpose, and an innate sense of the existence of God. You are essentially calling for one vacuous materialist system to replace another vacuous materialist system. Yet the real cause of disillusionment in religion IMO is not the rejection of its core message and purpose (a spiritual one), but rejection of the dogma of mainstream religion. Religion won't disappear, rather IMO it will transcend and start to reflect its true purpose. Its followers will eventually reject the vacuous dogma that has so dominated most religions for centuries, and will actually start following a far more fulfilling spiritual journey. And this by no means requires the scrapping of the religious texts - those are chock full of all the right spiritual guidance. Spiritual has forever been harnessed by the worldly. Plato wanted philosophers, Jesus wanted the fishermen, Marx wanted the proles -but it's never the philosophers, the fishermen or the proles. It's the Malcolm Turnbulls, Rudds, Gillards, Howards, Keatings - it's the company men. Mohammed is nobody's idea of a nice guy yet you poor sods have ended up with him as your best and brightest. How's that for f Vcked with nowhere to turn?
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