Quote:
Originally Posted by lagtight
1. Is it immoral to be divisive? If so, why? (n.b. Boldly declaring a controversial truth is ALWAYS divisive.)
2. What makes something immoral?
3. Is it morally wrong to be cynical? If so, why?
4. Who decides what makes something evil? You? Me? Popular vote? Might makes right?
5. 11 of the 12 apostles were martyred. The other one died in forced exile. Please tell me how they benefitted from their "divisive" beliefs.
1. Good philosophy, and therefore good religion, is inclusive.
2. Morality of course is rife with complications. To cede it to primitive man who imagined that stoning children was the good, and therefore attributed it to their god, is the height of folly. Passing it off to one of the uncountable gods is to forfeit agency.
3. Yeah cynicism is immoral. It's insincere and counterproductive and anti-life.
4. Once again, because morality is complicated, many just default and say "Some invisible god will tell us. Hey, the same one that talked about stoning children, killing homosexuals, killed millions, beat your slaves who are your property for life is all cool ... the same one who supposedly created man with a need for psychological sovereignty but is an utterly authoritarian god," just lol at the contradictions.
5. They benefited by joining the cult which is what they wanted to do. Just like cult members everywhere. It is mankind who is affected detrimentally by divisiveness. Philosophy is for the benefit of the human race, not the one's "chosen" by somebody's favorite god. The guys who flew the planes into the WTC and Pentagon were martyrs ... and they have the exact same justification, that god told them to do it and is behind them, that every other religion does. Which would be zero justification.
6. The whole "they died for it" claim as an argument for a religion's truth is also a zero. A cult died recently, voluntarily, thinking that a spaceship was coming to get them behind that comet. All the martyrs for religion are bullshyt, not just "all the ones but mine." Every religion under the sun says theirs are the just and true martyrs. Is there a problem with that? Is there a problem in the world because of that kind of thinking?
7. Whatever. People change their religion if and when they want to. I'm against deceptive apologetics tainting what is such a fascinating inquiry into the reality of the situation. And no, it wasn't solved by illiterate superstitious people thousands of years ago nor in anyone's Sunday School kindergarten class.