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Originally Posted by 333
I wrestled with this idea quite a bit, too. Not just in the sense of religion, but parental and societal influences in general. At one point, I realized that I've had very little control of my life. My parents never pressed their religion (buddhism) on me, but I chose to practice with them up until a few years ago. Even if they didn't, their personalities, habits and lives will forever be an influencial factor in mine - consciously or subsonsciously. Not only that, but the environment and society I was exposed to had definitely shaped me in some sort of way. It was not until I was 17 years old that I realized I was able to rebel and be my own person. I still, to this day, struggle with the idea that no thoughts are original (not even these). What we argue, say, express, fight for has been done before. Life is the epitome of "History repeats itself." Though some of what we say is worthy of repetition, with it comes the whole picture, including religion, war, power and poverty.
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I view it as my parents having the right to raise me however they saw fit. All people question their beliefs at one point in their lives... it's just a part of becoming an adult. When I have kids I will raise them catholic as I believe it's good to instill some set of moral values/belief system in the child and when they reach a certain age they can make up their own mind with it. I would never say to them "this is what you MUST believe" I would leave it as... "this is what I was taught to believe and you have the ability to decide for yourself what you choose to do with this knowledge" or something to that effect. It doesn't have to be so dramatic as to call it a "crime" that children are raised to believe in a particular religion.
I agree with you on nothing we are saying here is original thought, still... it's an interesting debate that kills time
Quote:
Originally Posted by Veridical Fiction
I think the general feeling is that Christians serve God without question as a result of blind faith, whereas non-religious folks, if you apply what you said just now, require money (in today's world) as a result of necessity and needs of survival.
Those are two distinctions that need to be made.
I'm just saying all that to clarify the perspective you're speaking of.
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Understandable... which is why I said "Sheep-Like". The idea that most everybody wakes up and goes to work is sheep-like... wouldn't you say? The idea that you and I need to pay the bills and alter our wants in order to do something we might prefer not to do... is sheep-like. Technically the only non sheep-like people out there, that I can think of, would be the homeless man that requires only the true basic needs for survival... food and shelter. Money is a man made concept, it's not a basic need although as you put it, it is a necessity in today's world if you don't want to become homeless