I agree Jgnat. I think many people are like my mother in law. She is in her eighties, she is a founding member of the congregation established in the sixties. She is not really sure God exists, but she feels that the church adds a lot to her life, if she dies and that's it, so be it. If God exists and their is an afterlife, well she did her best to live by Christian principle. The church is very liberal, being an Athiest is not a problem. There is good social support, anyone who is sick is taken care of, sermons are relevant to today's life. She sings in the choir. I have a hard time seeing how this is hurting her in any way, quite the opposite. There are many lonely older people out there.
10 Reasons You Should Never Have A Religion
by What is Truth? 39 Replies latest watchtower beliefs
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cofty
Cofty, I wonder if animals are superstitious.
Interesting question.
We descend from a long line of ancestors who were quick ascribed agency to random events - those that didn't got eaten. False negatives are safer than false positives.
I don't know if that qualifies as superstition but it probably explains its origins.
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perfect1
cofty,
I agree, that does seem likely. At the same time I have never observed anything like a superstitious animal, except maybe in studies where animals avoid pain and the seemingly related stimuli that accompany the pain.
The thing about superstition, and perhaps religion too, by extension, is the promise of a positive outcome, not just avoidance of a negative one, and I wonder if that might be uniquely human.
Example: lucky underwear, etc.
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ballistic
I've listened to about 10 of his videos since this thread was posted;
I like the fact it is just uplifting easy listening. A bit disconcerting that he doesn't tell you what it's leading to or who he is affiliated with. He ocassionally throws a curve ball, like ,you need to be a vegetarian. And as an ex-jw, you have to face the question, "Is this just another cult?"
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LisaRose
As far as animals being superstitious, I think it's possible, especially among chimps and apes, they have been taught sign language, and seem to have some more complex thoughts.
I have a cat who is crazy smart, it wouldn't totally surprise me if she was superstitious. She sometimes acts out little dramas when playing. She will pretend to be startled by her reflection in the mirror, her hair goes up, her back arches out, she growls, then goes running out of the room like a bat out of hell. She will sneak up behind the couch and bop me on the head, then walk away like she is tired of the game, then sneak back and get me again.
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ballistic
Your cat sounds intriguing.
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LisaRose
She is very different from other cats I have known. Sometimes I can't believe what I am seeing, other times I have no clue what she is doing. She has a cat toy, it's a stick/string/feather thing. She is crazy for this thing, she used to drag it all over the house and bring it to us so we would play with her. So one day I saw her get up on a chair, carefully position it on the seat so that the string was hanging over the back, then get down, lay on the floor and bat it around.
Another time she found a little fabric bag with a small Christmas ornament. She went to the top of the stairs with it in her teeth, and swung it with her head back and forth, until she had sufficient momentum, then flung it down the stairs and chased after it. Another game that had me perplexed was that she would sling herself over the back of the chair (front to back) and wiggle around. I finally realized she was trying to grab her tail from between the slats.
It took me awhile to figure out why sometimes she would sit up right behind the TV. When we watched The Phantom of the Opera I figured it out, the speakers are back there, she like the music. She stayed near the TV the whole two hours, sometimes with her head only a few inches from the speakers. Who knew that cats can appreciate music? I wrote our local pet columnist in the newspaper, she responded today in the paper, that yes, some cats do like music. Go figure.
Well that's a few of my Lizzie stories
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What is Truth?
Great comments everybody, I like how this thread went into the concept of spirituality, such a confusing word it has undergone such change I feel it is better to use more modern terms or invent your own to describe our world and its forces. Right off the top Prologos stated the sense I was trying to express about religion. That all religions I know of are systems of control over others. Parasitic systems even, how the clergy lives off the regular people and many other perks. Like pain killers they can be comforting for a time to help us get back to health. If one continues to rely on pain killers though, often the problem gets worse or they become an addict. This is about helping to free humanity from beliefs and jerks that no longer benefit us. Thank you Dis_Member for the WS quote. I like your suspicion Ballistic, Ralph and now myself just sharing some points that have helped along our journey in life.
Nice WTWizard, Now a days I find the only helpful books of the Bible are those attributed to Solomon, pursue Knowledge my friends.
WIT?
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Vidiot
LisaRose - "Who knew that cats can appreciate music?"
Not at all surprised. When I was a teenager, I had a dog who liked to listen as I practiced my piano lessons. If I'd get up to go to the bathroom or whatever, she'd lift her head up off her paws and look at me like, "why are you stopping?"
And a friend of mine told me a story about being unable to find her wedding ring and mentioning it to her cat, the cat left the room, went to her own space and retrieved the ring from where she'd apparently put it (shiny?), brought it back in her mouth, and dropped it on the floor in front of my friend.
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FlyingHighNow
I think that is what makes people resist Atheism.
As if atheism is something that has to be resisted.