From: Mike (mikew12345@cox.net)
Date: Sat Jun 05 2004 - 13:20:16 MDT
> On Jun 2, 2004, at 2:32 AM, Eliezer Yudkowsky wrote:
> >
> > Let me toss your question back to you: What do you think a devout
> > Christian should be said to *want*, conditional upon Christianity
> > being false?
>
It's easy for us who've shrugged off the religious brainwashing to say
that everybody should be so enlightened. However, I know that for my
mother (and many more like her), religion is an integral part of her
life. It wouldn't matter if you could prove to her, as simply as 2 + 2
= 4, that there is no God. She would go on believing. And if you could
adjust her thinking to remove all traces of belief, it would still leave
a huge hole in her life, as large as if you removed mathematics from
your own life. So to answer the question of what a devout Christian
should be said to *want*, the answer is "anything they want to want".
Who are you to force a different belief on them? Or is that just an
"acceptable" consequence of saving the world? You wouldn't be the first
to use the "ends justifying the means" excuse to justify brutal actions.
But as you indicated in another post, you're not all that concerned
about the effects on individuals, it's the group volition that is
considered. Consider that most of the world believes in religion (and
flying saucers, etc).
[Unapproved speculation] The group volition will very likely force
religion back onto the rest of us.
[/Unapproved speculation]
Mike Williams
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