Mark Waser wrote:
Joseph has been asking about other goal-seeking entity attractors, so . . . . Interlude 2. The God Attractor How many of y'all are willing to recognize/agree that the vast majority of humans in Western Civilization are currently spread around the basin of yet another *very* powerful ethical attractor -- the belief in a God that cares how we behave and acts as a morality enforcer? If you believe that moral/ethical behavior in others is in your self-interest, then the belief in God is a great way to initiate, explain, and reinforce that behavior. ...
Unfortunately, when I look at history it appears to be that "belief in God!" is more often a justifier for selfish behavior by a demagogue than it is an attractor of ethical behavior. So sorry, experimental evidence doesn't back up that hypothesis. (Now if you were to assert that it's useful for rallying "our gang/tribe/country" against theirs...that's another argument. "Belief in God!" is definitely useful for that. But that's hardly ethical behavior except in extreme situations.
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