Reason in Contrast to Religion as a Path to Enlightenment

by Oubliette 14 Replies latest members private

• 

  Oubliette

  Back in 2002 or 2003 I began to realize that there were major problems with this religion. Since then I have completely lost all faith in religion as a means to any kind of enlightenment or understanding. In fact, I have come to conclude that religion, and I mean all religion, has got to go if our species is to survive. Even that might not be enough. But that is another conversation for another time.

  My mind, as I'm sure your's does too, abhors a vacuum, and so I needed some way to make sense of things and find meaning in my life.

  I returned to a tool that I had sadly been persuaded to abandon upon joining the cult known as Jehovah's Witnesses. I returned to reason.

  Since then I have worked hard to hone my critical thinking skills and to learn and develop new cognitive tools. It's a lot of work, but it's very rewarding.

  I have also been able to share what I've learned with many of my students. It is gratifying to see them learn to think and reason. Hopefully this will help them to avoid some of the mistakes I've made.

  I'd love to hear your personal experiences in this regard. What works? What doesn't? How did you go about replacing religious belief with reason?

  To help get things started, I'd like to share a short video clip from Steven Pinker, Harvard professor of psychology, in which he describes how his personal philosophy is based on reason.:

  The Personal Philosophy of Steven Pinker

  He eloquently describes the importance of reason and a scientific way of thinking in pursuit of your own personal philosophy.

  Enjoy!
• 

  Oubliette

  Really? No takers at all ...
  

  I guess I should have started a thread saying "Science Will Never Contradict The Bible" and then gone off topic with pictures of my pet parrots!

  Go figure ...
  
• 

  Jonathan Drake

  I agree with all of this.

  And id also like to see your parrots.

  the issue is how to end religion. And I think the only way to actually be successful without being bloody is to breed it out. Use successful approaches to make people doubt their faith by all means; but breeding it out is probably the only peaceful way to succeed.
• 

  nicolaou

  Take heart Oubliette, sometimes the posts we're most passionate about are the ones that bomb. As you say, go figure.

  For me reason and rational thinking flowed naturally once the cult lost its grip on me. It was as though my real mind had been suppressed for 30 years, once the the Watchtower dam had been compromised my curiosity and appetite for reason could not be held back.

  I found a 1930 copy of Straight and Crooked Thinking in a charity shop and never looked back . . .

  Now, if you'd like to return the favour, my last topic almost sank without trace
• 

  LoveUniHateExams

  Using the scientific method to acquire knowledge is of upmost importance. The important and often life-saving advances in medical science have happened because of the use of the scientific method.

  Using one's reason and critical thinking skills is also very important. All ideas, philosophies, religious beliefs and political ideologies should be subjected to critical thinking. The parts that survive the process should be kept; the parts that don't should be discarded.

  I think that as long as religion is kept as a personal belief, in the home and at church, and as long as it doesn't affect others it should be tolerated. Eradicating religion is probably Richard Dawkins' wet dream, and totally unrealistic, IMO.
• 

  cofty

  I'd love to hear your personal experiences in this regard. What works? What doesn't? How did you go about replacing religious belief with reason?

  Great question. Marking for later - cooking!
• 

  LoveUniHateExams

  What works? What doesn't?

  Well, I realize I'm sounding provocative here but in terms of treating people well and expecting decent treatment in return, the Golden Rule isn't too bad a place to start from. When I've treated people kindly, they've rarely been rude in return.

  I know we've had threads discussing this in depth and pointing to some flaws with it but, confused sadomasochists aside, the GR has lots of things going for it in terms of everyday practicalities.
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  Jonathan Drake

  So as for what works, studying confirmation bias was big for me.

  i struggled with the book of revelation until last month. I couldn't unsee how it fits history and has come true and all of this nonsense. I had to make a post on Reddit to get help to untie this knot in my mind. Since then learning what confirmation bias is and how it works has helped me to recognize it and be able to vanquish it from my mind with real reasoning.

  another way I've used on myself is to take a once held belief that's strongly entrenched and read about what other denominations believe about the same thing, and how they acquired this belief. This helps because it shows you there are other people just as sure of their belief as you are of yours - but you can't both be right. So how could you prove which was correct?

  This is a great source of critical thinking exercise and will help dig out lingering doubts about anything you may have.

  i hope I understood your question correctly, you were asking what we found successful on ourselves correct?
• 

  Phizzy

  LUHE said " Using the scientific method to acquire knowledge is of upmost importance."

  I cannot think of another method that is not fraught with problems, in fact I cannot think of another method that actually, really, works.

  Pure reason alone is not sufficient, our reasoning may be faulty, but the Scientific Method of testable results, scrutinized by those who are experts in the field, and by sceptics, yields results that are peerless, in our time.

  I say "in our time" because the S.Method is not flawless, newly acquired knowledge may change our view.

  But does anyone have a better way than using the best available evidence and the best people on our Planet to guide us through ?

  It certainly beats using seven old, uneducated tricksters scamming us from WT Headquarters.
• 

  Oubliette

  Thanks for responding guys. You've restored by faith in humanity, ... or at least a very small portion of it!

  I'm at work now, but will be back later with some decent responses.