Quote:
Originally Posted by kane
So are you suggesting that everyone with an IQ above 100 that considers themselves to be a religious person is just faking it to play their part in controlling the herd?
I think you are greatly oversimplifying a much bigger issue.
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Not at all. Look, I read this in this morning's news:
The husband of raped and murdered 28 year old Amanda Blackburn:
"My hope is for 3 things in the weeks and months to come:
(1) That the court system would have wisdom on how to prosecute this man, so that no one else endures the pain Amanda and our family have had to endure because of his actions.
(2) That through all of this and although there will be great consequences for his actions, he would become truly sorry for what he has done and would even begin to experience the life-transforming power of the Grace and Mercy of Jesus Christ.
(3) That Jesus would give me and our family a heart of forgiveness.
Though everything inside of me wants to hate, be angry, and slip into despair I choose the route of forgiveness, grace and hope. If there is one thing I?ve learned from Amanda in the 10 years we were together, it?s this: Choosing to let my emotions drive my decisions is recipe for a hopeless and fruitless life. Today I am deciding to love, not hate. Today I am deciding to extend forgiveness, not bitterness. Today I am deciding to hope, not despair. By Jesus? power at work within us, the best is STILL yet to come. Even when I don?t see it, I believe it to be true."
Religion can be a kind of comfort. It genuinely serves a purpose for those who can believe. The correlation between IQ and religiosity is well established, and not my data. Bach, an acknowledged genius, was deeply religious. Many are.
But the comforting stories are one aspect, and the control methods are another. Often they are at odds with each other. Regardless, one can have a scientific or faith based approach to life, and if your approach is scientific, you must acknowledge that religion has no basis in reality other than the actions it produces in the people who follow it.