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Question 63
What do you like/dislike about theism/specific theist religions?
- I dislike the claims that they have the truth, and that they take
the right to drive everybody's lives. (toto (otto) #1286)
- The one thing that I really dislke about most religions is the "one true path" assumption that they carry with them. Christianity is the
worst with its singleminded evangelism bent, but the overwhelming sense of not-one-of-us that comes from these groups and their oppressed/oppressor status has convinced me that every single one of them is the result of primate politics and not much else. (Elf M. Sternberg)
- Likes: Nada. Zip. Zero. Zilch. Niente. Nothing. SFA.
Dislikes: everything.
Specific bleaterisms I can't stomach: christerism, islamic turbanheadism, any religion that ends with 'm', any religion that has any followers, any religion that posits anything supernatural, any religion that has any dogma, any religion.
Did that about cover it? :) (Stix #12)
What, you want reasons for the above? Fine. Read it in the sig:
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"Mysticism is a disease of the mind."
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- Besides the inhumanity, dishonesty and the hypocracy? The institutionalized scapegoating and the dodging of personal responsibility. This is not only seen when a mistake/mistakes are made, it is also seen when a goal is reached, or a change in oneself is made.
It starts out right at the start with the xtian psychopath blaming others [adam and eve] for his fuck up and condemning, everyone through out time, to a death sentence. It then continues with the destruction of the individual and then that when they make a mistake they aren't to take responsibility and rectify their mistake but are to 'confess and pray' for 'sin' to be washed away.
When a person has the guts to reach a goal or make a change in themself they see as necessary, they are told to give the credit and 'thank' an imaginary critter that just sat on its ass drinking beer! (Stoney #9)
- Well, what I dislike about Xianity is the blind adherence to dogma,
the black-and-white separation of the world, sexism, homophobia, xenophobia, desensitization to pain and suffering in this world, sheep-
like behavior of its adherents...
I kind of like Wicca. Flirted with it for a couple years before coming
out of theism once and for all. It's a pretty cool religion. I especially like its strong environmental ethic, and its basic moral guidelines ("An
it harm none, do what you want".)
Aside from those two... Can't really comment. I don't know other religions well enough. I don't mind theism per se, either in general or in a person. It's what they do with that belief that may become an issue.
(Nicolas P. Demers #155)
- Here's what I dislike about theism:
Senseless rules and restrictions; bleaters; holy wars; intolerance; prayer; hatred; anti-gay, anti-choice, anti-science and anti-freedom sentiment; mysticism; doorknockers; the god concept; authoritarian rule, etc. etc.
Here are my likes:
The architecture (the interior of St. Peter's Basilica blew my mind), art (Michelangelo et al.) and music (aahhh, Bach) that religion has produced.
Here are theisms I particularly dislike: Any fundamentalist xianity, Islam, Scientology, the Moonies.
Here are religions I have particular respect for: Unitarian-Universalism, Baha'i, Society of Friends, Buddhism. (Chris Nelson #135)
- know its been said before by someone else, but I'll say it again. The only thing I can at least partially admire about some religions is their ability to survive/endure. That takes some amazingly strong beliefs, misguided or not. However, I'm not to keen on the idea of the followers
of said religions happily allowing others(me) to die for *their* beliefs.
(Shawn Allen #383)
- Generally, their claim to the Truth(tm). I hate anything that closes off an area to questioning, that alone, I believe has held us humans back tremendously. Also, many seem to encourage a lack of thought on the part
of their followers. (Perhaps that is why they are called 'followers?')
Specifically, I hate xtian proselytizing, and their assumption that what
is good for them is good for everyone, thus trying to force the religion
on the state. Although Islam seems to share this latter trait.
What do I like? It gives many people comfort when they need it. It was a unifying force for my ancestral culture, although it also caused them many problems. And it can motivate people to do great things. Yes, other
things can provide these things for people, but religion has done so, and
I have to give it some credit for that. (David J. Devejian #1247)
- I dislike the way most religions promote tribalism, ostracism, racism, homophobia, etc. and yet still claim to be "moral" (and anyone who disagrees with them is therefore immoral, or lacks any morals).
I dislike those theists who proselytize to those who aren't interested
and who think they have the right to do so since they hold the "truth".
I dislike the creationists/fundamentalists who deny the fact of evolution, claim every word of the holy babble is "the truth", and yet fail to see that then makes their god a psycho whose doesn't have any morals, acts
like a spoiled little child when he doesn't get his way, kills on a whim,
condons incest, rape, murder... (Keith Brannen #713)
- What do I dislike about theism?...Let me count the ways...
I dislike the hypocrisy,
the corruption,
the greed
and the lies.
I dislike the veneration of ignorance,
the glorification of idiocy,
the wild-eyed hatred of progress
and the fear of education, which send the faithful shrieking,
vampire-like, from the light of knowledge.
I dislike the way in which prejudice
is passed off as piety.
The way superstition is peddled as wisdom.
The way intolerance is raised to the lofty heights
of "Truth".
I dislike how hatred is taught as love,
how fear is instilled as kindness,
how slavery is pressed as freedom,
and how contempt for life is dressed up and adored as spirituality.
I dislike the shackles religions place on the mind,
corrupting, twisting and crushing the spirit
until the believer has been brought down to a suitable state
of worthlessness.
So lost and self-loathing, so bereft of hope or pride,
that they can look into the hallucinated face of their imaginary
oppressor and feel unbounded love and gratitude for the additional
suffering it has declined,
as yet,
to visit upon them.
I dislike people's need for a communal delusion,
like drug addicts who unite just to share the same needle.
I dislike the way reason is reviled as a vice
and reality is decreed to be a matter of convenience.
The way common sense and ordinary human decency
get re-named "holy law" and advertised as the sole province
of the faithful.
I dislike religions' wholesale theft of any number
of ancient mythologies,
only to turn around and proclaim
how "unique" their doctrine is.
I dislike how intelligence is held as suspect
and inquiry is reviled as a high crime.
I dislike the pillaging of the impoverished,
the extortion of the gullible,
the manipulation of the ignorant
and the domination of the weak.
I dislike the invention of sins
for the satisfaction of those who desire to punish.
I dislike the demonization of unbelievers,
The ill-concealed hate of proselytizers,
The hysterical rants of holy rollers,
The wigged-out warnings of psychic healers,
The dismantling of public education via religious school vouchers,
The erosion of civil rights by theocratic right-wingers,
The righteous wrath of gun-toting true believers,
The destruction wrought by holy warriors,
The blood-drenched fatwas of ayatollas,
and the apocalyptic prophesies of unmedicated messiahs.
Most of all, though, I dislike the certain knowledge
that religion,
in one grotesque form or other,
will be with us so long as there is a single dark, cobwebbed corner
of the human imagination
that a believer can stuff a god into. (Alikhat #757)
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