• UlyssesT [he/him]@hexbear.net
    cake
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    8
    ·
    edit-2
    1 month ago

    Religious superstition and prejudice is a problem, yes, but if you think religion is the singular source of society’s problems and of human suffering in general, or that its absence would make those problems all go away in a puff of euphoria, you should be sorry.

    • ShinkanTrain@lemmy.ml
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      3
      arrow-down
      1
      ·
      edit-2
      1 month ago

      No, of course not. I agree with you on that. Ultimately how a religion is followed is a reflection of the society, but I hope you’ll agree that the source materials have a lot of outdated beliefs from a time where people knew little about a lot of things and it’s fertile grounds for otherwise well meaning people to do harm.

      • UlyssesT [he/him]@hexbear.net
        cake
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        6
        ·
        edit-2
        1 month ago

        but I hope you’ll agree that the source materials have a lot of outdated beliefs

        So does Reddit New Atheism. The Sam Harris-era atheist craving to glass the Middle East and seeking the mass murder of Muslims after 9/11 comes to mind.

        There’s no special monopoly on unqualified false expertise, bad hubris-laden ideology, or even propaganda that justifies murder and mayhem that is exclusive to religion, and not all of it is ancient. In fact some of the most fucking ignorant people in the industrialized world get taken for a ride and get into some very bad beliefs because they think that abandoning religion makes them objectively smarter than everyone else and immune to being fooled.