From: Samantha Atkins (samantha@objectent.com)
Date: Thu Aug 08 2002 - 12:38:00 MDT
Cliff Stabbert wrote:
> Wednesday, August 7, 2002, 5:54:04 AM, Samantha Atkins wrote:
> SA> I suspect their relgions are driven in part by the desires to
> SA> transcend the relatively dismal human lot that have been present
> SA> in the species from the beginning.
>
> This point raises another issue -- it can be argued that to a large
> degree, western religion (more specifically, western /organized/
> religion) is aimed at resigning people to the "relatively dismal human
> lot" by promising it'll all be fine /after they die/. Whether that's
> supported by the actual scriptures is a different question (e.g., the
> Bible's "on earth as it is in Heaven").
Sure. Actually many have argued that there are at least two
major currents in all religions as they are practiced. One
current is toward transcendence while the other current is much
as you say. Sometimes I think that the "accept everything
because it isn't important" current is a perversion of the other
current - a wishing so hard that transcendence is that it is
assumed to be automatic and to make much else irrelevant. This
twist is even visible in some people's relationship to the
concept of Singularity. But this last may have been colored by
existing religious cultural viewpoints.
>
> SA> Show them how to do that and
> SA> how to help themselves to social benefits and worldview cohesion
> SA> type things they also get from religion without the relgious
> SA> artifacts and I think you will get more than a few "converts".
>
> I'm not sure I follow what you mean by "worldview cohesion type
> things" -- that the idea of Singularity creates a more cohesive
> worldview, and so can fulfill some of religion's function?
>
I was being too terse and not very expressive at that. One of
the things people get from religion is a cohesive world view
that ties together sense of value, sense of well-being,
belonging, meaning, ethics, and is the organizing core for all
else. It is not automatic that all of these things that are
widely prized can be gotten from the idea of Singularity. I
believe it is doable to erect a rational framework that includes
Singularity that does address many of these apparent needs. But
this framework is not as automatically comforting, and imo
shouldn't be, as what most religions serve up.
- samantha
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