List of agnostics
Ian Livingston
igrlivingston at gmail.com
Sat Jun 30 10:33:29 CDT 2012
Religion will persist because of human psychology. We all go through the
phase of believing, in some degree, that if we say our magic formulae just
right we will get what we ask for. Some people stay with that, many more
move along to finding solace in a group that reinforces magic thinking and
belief in myth as truth. Others continue along to faith in reason, science,
whatever. The move beyond god and devil is often terribly traumatic. "Let
me tell you about heartache and the loss of God. Wandering, wandering in
endless night," says Mr. Morrison. Of course, he was stoned, immaculate.
On Sat, Jun 30, 2012 at 8:15 AM, <bandwraith at aol.com> wrote:
> But if they knew they were immortal, they wouldn't work to preserve the
> past. Unless, they were convinced that their immortality was the result
> of a particular past, or pathway. That is, a specific series of choices
> made, or, in the case of "The Elect," predetermined, which will result
> in, or signify, their immortality. Religion is the sanctification of a
> particular history over a field of passed over, or "profane" histories.
> Only the sanctified path leads to immortality. The entrenched, the
> status quo, the crew of The Preserved, all of the social, political and
> economically empowered- soon to become the past with the sweep of each
> new generation- seek to pass along their privilege to those most
> willing to preserve their legacy. Religion persists because it
> persists. What better evidence of its truth?
>
> Of course, it helps to make "acid" and other heresies illegal, else why
> worry about the manicured lawns and the yachts, or the painted
> ceilings? Sorry, Doc, when the fogs burns away, The Angels will still
> be in control.
>
> ‘See, I am coming soon; my reward is with
> me, to repay according to everyone’s work.
> I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and
> the last, the beginning and the end."
>
> There's a fog upon L.A.
> And my friends have lost their way
> We'll be over soon they said
> Now they've lost themselves instead.
> Please don't be long, please don't you be
> very long. Please don't be long or I may be asleep......
>
>
>
--
"Less than any man have I excuse for prejudice; and I feel for all creeds
the warm sympathy of one who has come to learn that even the trust in
reason is a precarious faith, and that we are all fragments of darkness
groping for the sun. I know no more about the ultimates than the simplest
urchin in the streets." -- Will Durant
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