Dave Posted April 29, 2007 Share Posted April 29, 2007 .....I heard they want to get a country by themselves too, where they can build the welcoming center for the aliens. Man, is humanity messed up or what? Give them an island somewhere and let them do what they want. They have only themselves to hurt. Humanity, and humans, are messed up..... but we're all we have. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grandpa Harley Posted April 29, 2007 Share Posted April 29, 2007 since when was Chrsitianity NOT spread by coercion and brainwashing? They try to limit who you talk to, how you think, which family you mix with and which you don't... it's a cult under the definition above Only the extreme versions of the religion are like that. I don't believe the majority of christian sects would fit the extremes that a cult would go to. Although I do include AA and other 12step groups in the cult range. It does have a lot of sects... many of whom are classic form cults in their own right... by the same definition. Many, but not all, and I don't believe the majority. When people are disowning and ostracising their kids, I'd ask how much more extreme to you need it to be to get to 'cult'? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Posted April 29, 2007 Share Posted April 29, 2007 When people are disowning and ostracising their kids, I'd ask how much more extreme to you need it to be to get to 'cult'? When all of them do it automatically. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grandpa Harley Posted April 29, 2007 Share Posted April 29, 2007 When people are disowning and ostracising their kids, I'd ask how much more extreme to you need it to be to get to 'cult'? When all of them do it automatically. QED... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
R. S. Martin Posted April 30, 2007 Share Posted April 30, 2007 When people are disowning and ostracising their kids, I'd ask how much more extreme to you need it to be to get to 'cult'? That is extreme. However, I don't see the majority of Christians doing that. I think it depends more on the individual family than on the church in most cases. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grandpa Harley Posted April 30, 2007 Share Posted April 30, 2007 They get the idea from somewhere... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
woodsmoke Posted April 30, 2007 Share Posted April 30, 2007 Somehow a majority of people wants this? They want to be told what to believe. I think it is because it is too hard for most people to think on their own, and the lazy nature makes them wanting to follow and not lead. And the ones the want to lead, mostly wants to lead without concern about what or how they lead or what the end results are. Greed and laziness, the two opposing forces in humanity. This is simply an (in this context) unfortunate byproduct of our evolution as a species. Humans are social herd animals. It's in our nature to find a person whom we believe to be a capable leader and follow her/him for as long as her/his leading benefits/protects us. On a fundamental level, it's the exact same behavior pattern as can be seen in livestock. We can, of course, overcome this in some ways on the individual level (as is proven by so many of the members here), but as a species I think we're pretty entrenched in the path our evolution has set us upon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mongo Posted April 30, 2007 Share Posted April 30, 2007 A "sect" requires a minimal form of organization and some sort of dogma to ensure cohesiveness of the organization. Atheism lacks both. However, by calling the calling the atheist view an agenda you have created a term that can be used for dogma. And by claiming that atheists use various intellectual organizations to mete out their agenda (dogma), you imply a sence of sectarianism. Of course the same thing could be said about gamers who have web sites around which they organize, establish a set of best practices(walk throughs and help files) and publicize their agenda. Atheists and gamers are virtually the same. I belong to the Caesar III sect. A number of Caesar IV sites are trying to covert me but so far I have resisted their dogma. Mongo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
woodsmoke Posted April 30, 2007 Share Posted April 30, 2007 Beautiful, Mongo! Absolutely fuckin' beautiful! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grandpa Harley Posted April 30, 2007 Share Posted April 30, 2007 Testify, Mongo! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ouroboros Posted May 1, 2007 Share Posted May 1, 2007 We can, of course, overcome this in some ways on the individual level (as is proven by so many of the members here), but as a species I think we're pretty entrenched in the path our evolution has set us upon. i.e. freethinkers (like us) are the odd development of nature. And I belong to a sect... my own sect... only one member so far, but I'm working on it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grandpa Harley Posted May 1, 2007 Share Posted May 1, 2007 We can, of course, overcome this in some ways on the individual level (as is proven by so many of the members here), but as a species I think we're pretty entrenched in the path our evolution has set us upon. i.e. freethinkers (like us) are the odd development of nature. And I belong to a sect... my own sect... only one member so far, but I'm working on it. They've sprung up from time to time... they just tended to die quickly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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