It's time to let religion go

[Dixon Carter Lee]

Don't ban it, but tax it, vehemently strike it from legislation, and stop pretending that ridiculing magical thinking is blasphemous. It's time to let it go.

 

[Saint_Ann]

Not Buddhism. It's hardly even a religion.

 

[Dixon Carter Lee]

Not Buddhism. It's hardly even a religion.

It's more like Wicca but with more incense.

 

[KimGordon67]

I have to say that from the outside, it always seems strange how much religion is part of American political life. I actually do happen to know what religion our current leader is (or at least was), but only by chance really .... and no one batted an eyelid when her and her partner had a baby out of wedlock. (Do people even say 'out of wedlock' any more?)

 

[BeatMan]

if you remove religion something else will replace it. nature does not tolerate vacuums

 

[Dixon Carter Lee]

if you remove religion something else will replace it. nature does not tolerate vacuums

Atheists, Humanists, Secualrists, Deists and Agnostics do not live in vacuums and are statistically happier, more intelligent and better educated. We'll be fine.

 

[Dixon Carter Lee]

I have to say that from the outside, it always seems strange how much religion is part of American political life. I actually do happen to know what religion our current leader is (or at least was), but only by chance really .... and no one batted an eyelid when her and her partner had a baby out of wedlock. (Do people even say 'out of wedlock' any more?)

A holdover from our Purtian roots.

 

[Rotadom]

Don't ban it, but tax it, vehemently strike it from legislation, and stop pretending that ridiculing magical thinking is blasphemous. It's time to let it go.

Cool Vincent D'Onofrio avatar, bro.

 

[Dixon Carter Lee]

Cool Vincent D'Onofrio avatar, bro.

Luke Kirby as Lenny Bruce.

 

[BeatMan]

Atheists, Humanists, Secualrists, Deists and Agnostics do not live in vacuums and are statistically happier, more intelligent and better educated. We'll be fine.

wrong


https://www.independent.co.uk/life-...tion-mental-health-christianity-a8766376.html

People who follow a religion through active participation in congregations tend to be happier, according to a new study.

The study by Pew Research Centre, a nonpartisan fact tank, compared the lives of religious people and non-religious people by analysing survey data from more than two dozen countries including the United States, Mexico, and Australia.

According to the results, religiously active people are typically happier and more “civically engaged” – meaning they are more likely to do things such as vote in elections or join community groups – than adults who either do not practise a religion or do not actively participate in one.



atheists like to talk about God they don't believe in all the time. me who is not an atheist can go months without thinking about God and talking about God

 

[Dixon Carter Lee]

wrong

You're wrong about my being wrong.

 

[butters]

I have to say that from the outside, it always seems strange how much religion is part of American political life. I actually do happen to know what religion our current leader is (or at least was), but only by chance really .... and no one batted an eyelid when her and her partner had a baby out of wedlock. (Do people even say 'out of wedlock' any more?)

i was pretty shocked, too, coming over here from the uk... and this part of rural america (at least) still has a far larger religious footprint than i was used to. fortunately for me, H isn't a churchie.

 

[KimGordon67]

wrong


https://www.independent.co.uk/life-...tion-mental-health-christianity-a8766376.html

People who follow a religion through active participation in congregations tend to be happier, according to a new study.

The study by Pew Research Centre, a nonpartisan fact tank, compared the lives of religious people and non-religious people by analysing survey data from more than two dozen countries including the United States, Mexico, and Australia.

According to the results, religiously active people are typically happier and more “civically engaged” – meaning they are more likely to do things such as vote in elections or join community groups – than adults who either do not practise a religion or do not actively participate in one.



atheists like to talk about God they don't believe in all the time. me who is not an atheist can go months without thinking about God and talking about God

So this suggests that whatever function religion fulfills that has these results actually isn't replaced by something else for the atheists.

 

[Dixon Carter Lee]

If you read the study you'll find:

"While “striking”, the link between happiness and religion requires further study – as “the numbers do not prove that going to religious services is directly responsible for improving people’s lives,” according to researchers. Rather, the opposite could be true – that happier people engage in religious participation because they overall participate more in activities compared to unhappy people – as the surveys showed that many active religious people also reported voluntary involvement in other organisations."

Which means that people are happiest when they are engaged in activities that have nothing to do with religion, but everything to do with the things common to Humanism.

Which is what hundreds of other studies find. And the studies that ask more pointed questions statistically show the Godless as happier.

And, no, atheists aren't mooning about God. It's like saying Jews are always thinking about Santa Claus.

 

[KimGordon67]

i was pretty shocked, too, coming over here from the uk... and this part of rural america (at least) still has a far larger religious footprint than i was used to. fortunately for me, H isn't a churchie.

It does feel strange, eh? Ideally, you would actually think the lack of separation of church and state would make politics a more kindly, empathetic place (y'know, like the actual ideals of most religions). Doesn't seem to be the case.

 

[Saint_Ann]

i was pretty shocked, too, coming over here from the uk... and this part of rural america (at least) still has a far larger religious footprint than i was used to. fortunately for me, H isn't a churchie.

Would it have really mattered?

 

[DeluxAuto]

wrong


https://www.independent.co.uk/life-...tion-mental-health-christianity-a8766376.html

People who follow a religion through active participation in congregations tend to be happier, according to a new study.

The study by Pew Research Centre, a nonpartisan fact tank, compared the lives of religious people and non-religious people by analysing survey data from more than two dozen countries including the United States, Mexico, and Australia.

According to the results, religiously active people are typically happier and more “civically engaged” – meaning they are more likely to do things such as vote in elections or join community groups – than adults who either do not practise a religion or do not actively participate in one.



atheists like to talk about God they don't believe in all the time. me who is not an atheist can go months without thinking about God and talking about God

You mean sheeple who don't have to make decisions on their own and just "leave things up to God" are "happier" than real adults? No way! Fucking Canucks.

 

[Saint_Ann]

It does feel strange, eh? Ideally, you would actually think the lack of separation of church and state would make politics a more kindly, empathetic place (y'know, like the actual ideals of most religions). Doesn't seem to be the case.

It's not religion that's what's bad about politics. It's greed.

 

[KimGordon67]

If you read the study you'll find:

"While “striking”, the link between happiness and religion requires further study – as “the numbers do not prove that going to religious services is directly responsible for improving people’s lives,” according to researchers.

Rather, the opposite could be true – that happier people engage in religious participation because they overall participate more in activities compared to unhappy people – as the surveys showed that many active religious people also reported voluntary involvement in other organisations."

Which means that people are happiest when they are engaged in activities that have nothing to do with religion, but everything to do with the things common to Humanism.

Which is what hundreds of other studies find. And the studies that ask more pointed questions statistically show the Godless has happier.

And, no, atheists aren't mooning about God. It's like saying Jews are always thinking about Santa Claus.

I was about to look at the actual study as well, but this save me the trouble. Nice example of correlation =/= causation.

 

[KimGordon67]

It's not religion that's what's bad about politics. It's greed.

I think you miss my point ... theoretically, making politics more 'godly' should lessen the greed, because greed is not part of the ideals of most religions. But, as I stated before, that's patently not the case. Rather, it just seems to result in politicians who feel comfortable having a distinctly moral element to their politics.

 

[BeatMan]

You mean sheeple who don't have to make decisions on their own and just "leave things up to God" are "happier" than real adults? No way! Fucking Canucks.

the Jesuit order invented Atheism

https://isr-legacy.fbk.eu/projects/jesuits-and-invention-atheism-china-european-enlightenment

it's not a coincidence that Atheism is strongest in protestant majority countries

 

[Dixon Carter Lee]

I was about to look at the actual study as well, but this save me the trouble. Nice example of correlation =/= causation.

Exactly. People who are involved with happy non-religious" activities that also happen to be religious means that religion is what makes people happy? lol The study acknowledges that it doesn't really quantify this properly. But they had to write a headline so...

 

[Dixon Carter Lee]

the Jesuit order invented Atheism

https://isr-legacy.fbk.eu/projects/jesuits-and-invention-atheism-china-european-enlightenment

it's not a coincidence that Atheism is strongest in protestant majority countries

Atheism isn't a philosophy that was "invented". It's like saying "You know that whole thing where you don't believe worms shoot lasers out their eyes? I invented that."

 

[Saint_Ann]

I think you miss my point ... theoretically, making politics more 'godly' should lessen the greed, because greed is not part of the ideals of most religions. But, as I stated before, that's patently not the case. Rather, it just seems to result in politicians who feel comfortable having a distinctly moral element to their politics.

Jews and Catholics would beg to differ.

 

[BoyNextDoor]

Start with taxing it like every other business.