On 04/26/2011 02:58 AM, turquoiseb wrote: > Like collecting stamps or bottle caps. Or memorizing baseball > statistics. Or gardening. Of fixing up old cars and turning > them into hot rods. Or bird watching, or trying to read all > the books by a certain author. > > Almost no one would give anyone who did this any grief, or > become upset at their hobby. Yeah, we may not be able to > "get" what interests them in their hobby, but hey!, one > hobby is as good as another, and we all have hobbies of > our own, which by some people's standards are as odd as > we think memorizing baseball statistics is. The fact that > someone chooses to devote hours to their chosen hobby or > become somewhat...uh...fanatical about it doesn't make > people around them uptight. The worst that happens is > that a few people laugh at the bottle top collectors and > they, in most cases, laugh along with them because they > understand that their hobby is a tad silly. > > But call it religion, or "spiritual practice," or a "path" > in life, and people on both sides of the equation lose it > heavily. The hobbyists assign a certain "seriousness" to > their hobby because it's more *important* to them than > just a hobby. And they expect others to *respect* that > seriousness. Their hobby becomes something that no one > around them is allowed to laugh at or poke fun at, even > if their religion is *much* sillier than collecting > bottle caps. > > I think the world would be a much better place if we got > rid of all this "seriousness" crap that has built up > around religion or one's choice of a spiritual path. > Who fuckin' CARES whether someone spends their time > chanting the names of Krishna or praying to God or Allah, > as long as they don't make too much of a spectacle of > themselves while doing it, or harm other people. It's > right up there *on exactly the same level* with collect- > ing bottle caps or memorizing baseball statistics in the > Why Should I Care What This Guy Does With His Time > category. > > Most of us who view religions *as* a form of hobby would > have no problem with this. Interestingly, I think it > would be the religionists who'd have a problem with > their hobby being considered one. To them it's more > than that. It's *important* to them, and they want > everyone around them to consider it important, too. > And, like the guy at the bar trying to convince every- > one how cool collecting bottle tops is, or trying to > impress them with his memorized baseball statistics, > that's just not gonna happen. > > :-)
As I've stated here before I view religions as a mind control device invented by kings to keep their minions under control. It was cheaper and more reliable than having a bunch of thugs running around to keep the minions in line. Besides the thugs might turn on the king. Just tell the minions that if they don't behave they'll go to some imaginary place with fire and brimstone. Or there is some guy in the sky keeping track of everything they do like Apple and Google. Will all of that is bullshit. So let's go depose the king.
