Arthur, it's one set of people perceiving themselves as different from (and by implication superior to) another
Yes, but the problem is that nearly all religions actually encourage people to perceive themselves as different, or superior, if they belong to that religion.
if man hadn't used religion as an excuse for this despicable behaviour, we'd have used something else instead.
Really? So the Crusades, for instance, would have still happened if there wasn't a religious basis for it? I doubt it very much.
I don't believe we need to cite historical evidence for Clarke's statement. We're supplying plenty in this thread. Sure, a flame war hasn't erupted, largely due to the fact that the majority of/. readers are a bit more mature than that, but the comment obviously ruffled some feathers.
I think that's what makes Clarke's statement relevant. The trouble isn't religion itself, it's the way religion has become so embedded into our brains. To generalize, to hear religion challenged is abhorrent to everything we know. And often, it's taken as a call to arms.
I good/. parallel would be a post defending MS's abuse of their monopoly.
Lots of things can be "mind-virii"... religion is one of the most universally (or, at least globally) prevalent examples, again, not necessarily due to the violence it's sparked, but because so many of us have hard-wired our brains with it. The violence (et al.) is the reason for the clarification 'malevolent,' not the term 'virus.'
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Re:Scooby Snacks: Think of the butter
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SCOoby Snacks
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Q.E.D. the SCO company are perfectly justified in demanding recompense for their stolen butter.
I read your post and I appreciate your point of view, but what does Quantum Electrodynamics have to do with making a cake?
On to the issue at hand... I read this book a couple months ago, and I enjoyed it immensely. I haven't had the chance to read The Da Vinci Code yet, but it's on my list.
I hadn't, however, made the connection between the Golden Ratio and Postmodernism, which is odd since I'm an Existentialist myself.. (before the lot of you make "Waiting for Godot" jokes, I've heard them already, I'm not a terminally depressed Existentialist.:P ) But s20451 makes a valid point with his assertion that reality is socially created... I would go a step farther and say that reality is individually created. This is what I believe, but I won't go into detail here. To be brief, the paradox of this idea is this: There is no absolute truth, but to state that there is no absolute truth is to state an absolute truth.
To those who would say "The sky is blue, and that's an absolute truth, whether I want it to be or not"... How do you know what "Blue" is?
Reality = Perception.
I'm going to have to read that book again now, thanks a lot for interrupting my reading list! *grumble...*:)
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Yes, but the problem is that nearly all religions actually encourage people to perceive themselves as different, or superior, if they belong to that religion.
if man hadn't used religion as an excuse for this despicable behaviour, we'd have used something else instead.
Really? So the Crusades, for instance, would have still happened if there wasn't a religious basis for it? I doubt it very much.
I don't believe we need to cite historical evidence for Clarke's statement. We're supplying plenty in this thread. Sure, a flame war hasn't erupted, largely due to the fact that the majority of /. readers are a bit more mature than that, but the comment obviously ruffled some feathers.
I think that's what makes Clarke's statement relevant. The trouble isn't religion itself, it's the way religion has become so embedded into our brains. To generalize, to hear religion challenged is abhorrent to everything we know. And often, it's taken as a call to arms.
I good /. parallel would be a post defending MS's abuse of their monopoly.
Lots of things can be "mind-virii" ... religion is one of the most universally (or, at least globally) prevalent examples, again, not necessarily due to the violence it's sparked, but because so many of us have hard-wired our brains with it. The violence (et al.) is the reason for the clarification 'malevolent,' not the term 'virus.'
I read your post and I appreciate your point of view, but what does Quantum Electrodynamics have to do with making a cake?
Then say, "Why did you do that?"
:)
:P ) But s20451 makes a valid point with his assertion that reality is socially created... I would go a step farther and say that reality is individually created. This is what I believe, but I won't go into detail here. To be brief, the paradox of this idea is this: There is no absolute truth, but to state that there is no absolute truth is to state an absolute truth.
... How do you know what "Blue" is?
:)
Ours is not to question why...
On to the issue at hand...
I read this book a couple months ago, and I enjoyed it immensely. I haven't had the chance to read The Da Vinci Code yet, but it's on my list.
I hadn't, however, made the connection between the Golden Ratio and Postmodernism, which is odd since I'm an Existentialist myself.. (before the lot of you make "Waiting for Godot" jokes, I've heard them already, I'm not a terminally depressed Existentialist.
To those who would say "The sky is blue, and that's an absolute truth, whether I want it to be or not"
Reality = Perception.
I'm going to have to read that book again now, thanks a lot for interrupting my reading list! *grumble...*