It's like cancer

[JoeBobSmith]

[Whitney]

Not that it probably matters but the article cited in the OP was written by a male.

[LegendarySandwich]

Ideology has evolved to have a large amount of control on a person's mind. It makes sense that it can cause a lot of damage.

There is probably nothing wrong with that person's mind, Thinkbigger, other than the problems all of our minds have.

[Thinkbigger]

Ideology has evolved to have a large amount of control on a person's mind. It makes sense that it can cause a lot of damage.

There is probably nothing wrong with that person's mind, Thinkbigger, other than the problems all of our minds have.

Please Mr Sandwich, speak for yourself.

[Thinkbigger]

Just because everyone's not like you doesn't mean they have fucking mental problems.

I swear to God I'm not trolling you but that made me literally laugh out loud. Boy.. talk about your quotable quotes. I think I just found my signature line.

[JoeBobSmith]

 

[LegendarySandwich]

Ideology has evolved to have a large amount of control on a person's mind. It makes sense that it can cause a lot of damage.

There is probably nothing wrong with that person's mind, Thinkbigger, other than the problems all of our minds have.

Please Mr Sandwich, speak for yourself.

I don't know you, so I can't say anything about your brain, but as a species, we all suffer from the same flaws.

[LegendarySandwich]

Just because everyone's not like you doesn't mean they have fucking mental problems.

I swear to God I'm not trolling you but that made me literally laugh out loud. Boy.. talk about your quotable quotes. I think I just found my signature line.

Glad I could make your signature.

[Thinkbigger]

Ideology has evolved to have a large amount of control on a person's mind. It makes sense that it can cause a lot of damage.

There is probably nothing wrong with that person's mind, Thinkbigger, other than the problems all of our minds have.

Please Mr Sandwich, speak for yourself.

you're a psychiatrist?

u should be judging people?

Who are you to judge me for judging.. are you a Judge? lulz

Simmer down Joe. Remember, civility is the only thing that binds us.

[ForTheLoveOfAll]

I feel so sorry for this poor fellow. A prime example of how religious dogma can be instilled into someone and be almost impossible to get out after a certain point. Even after they realize what they believed before was utter bullshit.

The major faiths are based on Fear and not Love. That's spelling trouble right from the get-go.

Reminds me of a woman I saw on one of Richard Dawkins documentaries who had been raised Christian, and after falling away from her blind faith opend a clinic to help people recovering from the fear instilled into them by their various religions.

[iSok]

I feel so sorry for this poor fellow. A prime example of how religious dogma can be instilled into someone and be almost impossible to get out after a certain point. Even after they realize what they believed before was utter bullshit.

The major faiths are based on Fear and not Love. That's spelling trouble right from the get-go.

Reminds me of a woman I saw on one of Richard Dawkins documentaries who had been raised Christian, and after falling away from her blind faith opend a clinic to help people recovering from the fear instilled into them by their various religions.

Well, actually I agree. Most religions are based on Fear, including the Abrahamic religions.
But, is there a way that is more efficient?

it's the Fear that bonds, and from the bond comes Love. Mercy and Compassion.

[fester30]

I feel so sorry for this poor fellow. A prime example of how religious dogma can be instilled into someone and be almost impossible to get out after a certain point. Even after they realize what they believed before was utter bullshit.

The major faiths are based on Fear and not Love. That's spelling trouble right from the get-go.

Reminds me of a woman I saw on one of Richard Dawkins documentaries who had been raised Christian, and after falling away from her blind faith opend a clinic to help people recovering from the fear instilled into them by their various religions.

Well, actually I agree. Most religions are based on Fear, including the Abrahamic religions.
But, is there a way that is more efficient?

it's the Fear that bonds, and from the bond comes Love. Mercy and Compassion.

That's like Stockholm Syndrome, when hostages feel a bond with their hostage taker and feel compassionate toward him/her, even though the experience was terrifying.

History's most ruthless rulers used fear to demand love.  God demands that we love him, or we go to hell.  Nice.  He's so great, yet he threatens us with eternal torment if we won't love him.  My first wife did that to me, and psychiatrists diagnosed her with a mental illness.

Well I guess it's easy for you.  You have 72 virgins waiting.  Why anybody would actually want 72 virgins is beyond me.  I thought the one virgin I was with was too much of a handful.  I can't imagine how much of a hell 72 virgins are.

[iSok]

I feel so sorry for this poor fellow. A prime example of how religious dogma can be instilled into someone and be almost impossible to get out after a certain point. Even after they realize what they believed before was utter bullshit.

The major faiths are based on Fear and not Love. That's spelling trouble right from the get-go.

Reminds me of a woman I saw on one of Richard Dawkins documentaries who had been raised Christian, and after falling away from her blind faith opend a clinic to help people recovering from the fear instilled into them by their various religions.

Well, actually I agree. Most religions are based on Fear, including the Abrahamic religions.
But, is there a way that is more efficient?

it's the Fear that bonds, and from the bond comes Love. Mercy and Compassion.

That's like Stockholm Syndrome, when hostages feel a bond with their hostage taker and feel compassionate toward him/her, even though the experience was terrifying.

History's most ruthless rulers used fear to demand love.  God demands that we love him, or we go to hell.  Nice.  He's so great, yet he threatens us with eternal torment if we won't love him.  My first wife did that to me, and psychiatrists diagnosed her with a mental illness.

Well I guess it's easy for you.  You have 72 virgins waiting.  Why anybody would actually want 72 virgins is beyond me.  I thought the one virgin I was with was too much of a handful.  I can't imagine how much of a hell 72 virgins are.

Fester, lets take it this way:

1. A God exists.
2. God wants people to follow His guidance.

The question is: How can He achieve this?
Answer: The most efficient way is the way of the Bible or the Qur'an.

Man is driven by fear.
You will only call for God, once I put you in a crashing airplane, there's no other reasonable way for you Fester.
Man's strongest emotion is fear. When man is put to fear, his true innerself comes out to present to the world who he really is.

What did you expect Fester?

That God would say: "Human beings, I love you, I will forgive you, it's okay, please try to be good..please...you know I love you?"
Do you know what our response would be?: We would start negotiating. 'Okay..so you're God, but...we want this and this to be fulfilled, otherwise we won't follow you'
This is our nature Fester, only Fear can bond us, after Fear, when we feel the bond, Love comes.

This is exactly what I noticed in the Qur'an.
The first 10 chapters of the Qur'an do this exactly.

The overal thought of the Qur'an from the first 10 chapters is this: "I am God, I do what I want and you are nothing more than a human, so bow and obey"
Do you know what type of people close the Qur'an after the first 10 chapters? The people who have ego issues and see themselves as important.
http://www.skepticsannotatedbible.com/quran/, see for yourself that the highlighting of 'controversial passages' decrease after 10 chapters.

After the first 10 chapters, the threats quickly decrease and the Qur'an then starts reasoning with you, to make you at ease.
It narrates historical passages and talks about nature to make you understand that this is the Truth.

When I first read the Qur'an, it felt like a battle. Especially the first 10 chapters. I couldn't read more than a few pages because it would make my head spin.

(When I read The God Delusion by Dawkins, the arrogance was like fireworks on each page, same counts for people like Hitchins or Harris)

Once you find yourself a 'good'/intelligent/kind person, you are not. Then you are developing ego.

The Qur'an does not accept ego, it demands submission.
"If you can't, then stop reading and close the book, some day you'll find out."

In overal, reasoning does not work for us. It's only fear that works for us human beings.
God would not know his creation if He wouldn't threat mankind.


On a side note: I mentioned multiple times that the 72 virgins is a myth within Islam, why are you repeating it? If it's a personal attack, you may repeat to enjoy yourself.

[Munchkin Goddess]

I can completely understand where this guy is coming from. I was raised in the Pentecostal sect of Christianity and they are fundamentalist. When I did go to church, they constantly talked about hell. Heck, my uncle even told me when I was four years old that the devil made up Santa Claus and the Easter bunny so we can forget the real reason for the holidays. I think the fear of hell was the reason I clung to Christianity and the belief of "God" for so long. Even now, I sometimes think about it; however, I decided that I'm not sure I would want to go to heaven with a deity that will only allow entry if you "believe in Jesus Christ". I think what a person does in life is more important than what one believes in.

[fester30]

Fester, lets take it this way:

1. A God exists.
2. God wants people to follow His guidance.

The question is: How can He achieve this?
Answer: The most efficient way is the way of the Bible or the Qur'an.

Probably would be more efficient if he wrote shorter books that simply said "I am God, follow my guidance."  If we is all powerful, he can easily just talk to us as the Bible says he did with Adam.

Man is driven by fear.
You will only call for God, once I put you in a crashing airplane, there's no other reasonable way for you Fester.
Man's strongest emotion is fear. When man is put to fear, his true innerself comes out to present to the world who he really is.

If God exists, then it was his choice that we are driven by fear.  He could have created us to be driven by love.  Perhaps we would be a nicer species then.

What did you expect Fester?

That God would say: "Human beings, I love you, I will forgive you, it's okay, please try to be good..please...you know I love you?"
Do you know what our response would be?: We would start negotiating. 'Okay..so you're God, but...we want this and this to be fulfilled, otherwise we won't follow you'
This is our nature Fester, only Fear can bond us, after Fear, when we feel the bond, Love comes.

He would have nothing to forgive us for if he made us perfect.  Still have a hard time with the perfect being creating something imperfect, which would make him imperfect in my estimation.  Whatever.  Our nature is only our nature, by the estimation of theists, because God made it our nature.  Therefore, our nature could have been whatever he wanted it to be.  He didn't have to make us to be negotiators.

This is exactly what I noticed in the Qur'an.
The first 10 chapters of the Qur'an do this exactly.

The overal thought of the Qur'an from the first 10 chapters is this: "I am God, I do what I want and you are nothing more than a human, so bow and obey"
Do you know what type of people close the Qur'an after the first 10 chapters? The people who have ego issues and see themselves as important.
http://www.skepticsannotatedbible.com/quran/, see for yourself that the highlighting of 'controversial passages' decrease after 10 chapters.

After the first 10 chapters, the threats quickly decrease and the Qur'an then starts reasoning with you, to make you at ease.
It narrates historical passages and talks about nature to make you understand that this is the Truth.

When I first read the Qur'an, it felt like a battle. Especially the first 10 chapters. I couldn't read more than a few pages because it would make my head spin.

When I first read the Qur'an, I had trouble following as well, because unlike the Bible, I had never had it drilled into me weekly.  I gave it a chance.  It didn't work out for me.  Obviously, as you point out below, I don't remember hardly any of it.

(When I read The God Delusion by Dawkins, the arrogance was like fireworks on each page, same counts for people like Hitchins or Harris)

Once you find yourself a 'good'/intelligent/kind person, you are not. Then you are developing ego.

The Qur'an does not accept ego, it demands submission.
"If you can't, then stop reading and close the book, some day you'll find out."

In overal, reasoning does not work for us. It's only fear that works for us human beings.
God would not know his creation if He wouldn't threat mankind.

I never read the God Delusion.  I don't accept the Qur'an as anything other than a work of fiction.  Arguments about the nature of man with respect to God mean nothing to me, since God could have made us with any nature of his choosing, and could have made things easier on him and us in the process.  He didn't have to use the Stockholm Syndrome method.

On a side note: I mentioned multiple times that the 72 virgins is a myth within Islam, why are you repeating it? If it's a personal attack, you may repeat to enjoy yourself.

I have never read where you mentioned that the 72 virgins thing is a myth.  I apologize, I won't bring that up again.  That was rather childish.