where are all the dummies…
Where are the questions that would cause us dummies to opine?
ok----this dummy thinks that death and loneliness are the two biggies…and religion tries hard to deal with
these existential problems…
Does religion help or hinder?
turtle
ok----this dummy thinks that death and loneliness are the two biggies…and religion tries hard to deal with
these existential problems…
[/quote]
ier
Does religion help or hinder?
[/quote]
turtle
I think it can help and hinder…the worst part of it …we tear each other to pieces arguing about different beliefs…it helps some people and hurts others…what do you think
Religion is infantile so long as it contains bullies’ e.g., threats of eternal damnation. It is infantile if it is married to politics. It is infantile if it does not support hope and love for each other.
again
Death is sometimes to be desired. Just to be finished with suffering. Loneliness is never to be desired. It is suffering. I’d choose death over loneliness, if I had such a choice. But I don’t.
Religion is infantile so long as it doesn’t lead to conscious thought and moral and ethical behavior. I have found that many people, christians and otherwise, (but not you Ierrellus) seem to separate their religion and/or spirituality from what they DO and how they live. Religion for them IS simply an opiate.
I tried to comment on religion, but Turtle seems to prefer discussion of death and loneliness. I agree with the above.
It really makes little difference whether religion is an internally self caused opiate, or one which results from the effects of outside forces, because it is extremely difficult to separate one from the other. Is consciousness the result of the effects of the same evolutionary processes as those which we share with other primates, in fact with all organic and even inorganic material? If so, and i suspect that it is, then does it make a scintilla of difference whether we call this upward surge toward the realization of the self god’s work, or that of natural progression of nature? The fact is, religion is a lot more than simply an anthropomorphic defense against the vagrancy of nature, it is the attempt to overcome the remaining doubt which remains over the Being, which tries desperately to define man in cosmically enduring ways, to benefit the memory of that cosmic Being. This Being’s memory more likely then not, tries to infiltrate the opaqueness enveloping the cloud of doubt surrounding the inherent unity of it’s self, simultaneously in singular and universal terms, i strongly suspect.
we are trying to deal with personal extinction[death] and loneliness…
I cannot imagine my own death because I am immersed in consciousness. I can only hope that consciousness will continue after my inevitable demise.
I hope also for me…the threat of extinction is awful…
The inevitability of death demands that we consider the meaning of life. If we become extinct, life becomes the more precious because it is all we have. I hope that is not the case.
yes ier
as far as the meaning of life…I think the most important thing to do is be personally happy with your life…unless your behavior runs up against the rules…
…because that is all we have… everything else being conceptual or material and therefore likely to only create fleeting happiness… and how very positive of you Turtle to respond with that 
I have perceived that the long-term ill crack the most jokes… I guess what other choice but to make ones-self feel better rather than worse.
Turtle,
What rules do you have in mind that cannot foster happiness?
DO NOT KILL