I wrote:
> Really, I'm offended by the tone of these questions. "The unexamined > life is not worth living," but insinuating that answering yes to > the questions above means that you are "under the influence of a > destructive group or belief system" is just ridiculous and offensive.
Erik replied:
I understand your point, and might even agree with you as to The Fool's point in posting this to the list, except for the context in which it was posted.I interpreted it differently. It looked to me like something that might be handed out by a psychologist for someone who is obsesively involved in a group or cult. Your interpretations were extremely general, and they kept switching around which "group" you were referring to.Try re-reading with a particular group in mind for every question. And take it more literally -- try to imagine yourself, for example, in college and having joined a particular group that demanded more and more of your time and money such that your parents and friends commented on it and convinced you to talk to a psychologist. (When I was in college, something similar happened to a roommate, who got involved with a really obsessive religious cult) Also, the quiz made a point of not saying what constitutes a problem. It just trys to get you thinking. My interpretation was that if you answered yes to a lot of those questions about the same group, than it is probably a good thing to think hard about that group.
A discussion is occurring in which one side says religions and spiritual beliefs are a bad thing, and the other side disagrees. The Fool, a person who has stated on multiple occasions that religion is evil, posts this series of questions. In the context of the ongoing discussion, I interpreted this as another argument against religion.
Kneem, if I'm wrong, let me know.
Even outside of that context, I have a problem with many of the questions. For example, that entire last group of questions, which I quoted as a group of questions, not individually, describe many normal teenage kids. That group of questions reminded me of what an extreme fundamentalist preacher once told the parents in his church were signs that their kid was becoming a Satanist: they are moody, want to be around their parents less, challenge authority, and play role-playing games. That type of reasoning and generalization was bogus coming from a religious fundamentalist, and it's bogus coming from an atheist fundamentalist.
Reggie Bautista
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