China regulates reincarnation

wavefreak
Theist
wavefreak's picture
Posts: 1825
Joined: 2007-05-10
User is offlineOffline

inspectormustard
atheist
inspectormustard's picture
Posts: 537
Joined: 2006-11-21
User is offlineOffline
Yeah, those kooky CCR are at

Yeah, those kooky CCR are at it again. I can't blame 'em for wanting power over who becomes the next lhama though. Tibet was way worse with the monks in power. You know they had feifs, with the monks as supreme rulers? Eye gouging and all that stuff too.


MattShizzle
Posts: 7966
Joined: 2006-03-31
User is offlineOffline
Pretty silly. Yes it was

Pretty silly. Yes it was worse - at one time they executed any foreigner who entered the country.


Randalllord
Rational VIP!
Randalllord's picture
Posts: 690
Joined: 2006-04-12
User is offlineOffline
Wavefreak, this story

Wavefreak, this story demonstrates that a government will use it its power to control people by manipulating the publics irrational beliefs.

Religion is regarded by the common people as true, by the wise as false, and by the rulers as useful. - Seneca


wavefreak
Theist
wavefreak's picture
Posts: 1825
Joined: 2007-05-10
User is offlineOffline
Randalllord

Randalllord wrote:
Wavefreak, this story demonstrates that a government will use it its power to control people by manipulating the publics irrational beliefs.

 

It also shows that abuse of power is not restricted to theocracies.


Randalllord
Rational VIP!
Randalllord's picture
Posts: 690
Joined: 2006-04-12
User is offlineOffline
Abuses of power is a human

Abuses of power is a human thing, not a theist vs non-theist thing. 

Religion is regarded by the common people as true, by the wise as false, and by the rulers as useful. - Seneca


wavefreak
Theist
wavefreak's picture
Posts: 1825
Joined: 2007-05-10
User is offlineOffline
Randalllord wrote: Abuses

Randalllord wrote:

Abuses of power is a human thing, not a theist vs non-theist thing.

 

Sadly, this is true. 


Brian37
atheistSuperfan
Brian37's picture
Posts: 16424
Joined: 2006-02-14
User is offlineOffline
wavefreak

wavefreak wrote:

Randalllord wrote:
Wavefreak, this story demonstrates that a government will use it its power to control people by manipulating the publics irrational beliefs.

 

It also shows that abuse of power is not restricted to theocracies.

Worship of anything is bad, be it a celebrity, politician, state or country or god.

But that has nothing to do with superstition or god belief being provable fact. In the history of humanity far more many dictators that were theists of some sort.

You could not call the the polytheism of ancient Rome or Greece secular. It was tollerant as long as the minorties didnt make political waves and were often scapegoats when times got tough. Dont confuse their form of voting goverment with lacking dogmatism and superstion.

Hitler was not an atheist. He believed in the  god of the bible. How you would want another human to behaive does not change what that person thinks in their brain. There is a differance between what you want, and what they think. Two different subjects.

So worshiping Sadamn who cheerlead for the Sunni version of Allah, or worshiping Stalin who wanted you to worship the state, is the same thing. That is true.

BUT, it is still a seperate issue than proving the existance of God/Yahwey/Allah/Vishnu. Right now the majority of the planet believes in one of these superstions. So if it is unwise to worship a politician who can become Hitler or Stalin, wouldnt it be just as unwise to worship Hillary or Bush when they claim they believe in Jesus? Doesnt it stand to reason that if you are going to make such an argument, you should apply it to yourself?

And in any case saying that an atheist can be a dictator is irrelevent. While that can be true, it does not default to a god existing by any name.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

"We are a nation of Christians and Muslims, Jews and Hindus -- and nonbelievers."Obama
Check out my poetry here on Rational Responders Like my poetry thread on Facebook under Brian James Rational Poet, @Brianrrs37 on Twitter and my blog at www.brianjamesrationalpoet.blog


wavefreak
Theist
wavefreak's picture
Posts: 1825
Joined: 2007-05-10
User is offlineOffline
Brian37 wrote:

Brian37 wrote:
wavefreak wrote:

Randalllord wrote:
Wavefreak, this story demonstrates that a government will use it its power to control people by manipulating the publics irrational beliefs.

 

It also shows that abuse of power is not restricted to theocracies.

Worship of anything is bad, be it a celebrity, politician, state or country or god.

But that has nothing to do with superstition or god belief being provable fact. In the history of humanity far more many dictators that were theists of some sort.

You could not call the the polytheism of ancient Rome or Greece secular. It was tollerant as long as the minorties didnt make political waves and were often scapegoats when times got tough. Dont confuse their form of voting goverment with lacking dogmatism and superstion.

Hitler was not an atheist. He believed in the god of the bible. How you would want another human to behaive does not change what that person thinks in their brain. There is a differance between what you want, and what they think. Two different subjects.

So worshiping Sadamn who cheerlead for the Sunni version of Allah, or worshiping Stalin who wanted you to worship the state, is the same thing. That is true.

BUT, it is still a seperate issue than proving the existance of God/Yahwey/Allah/Vishnu. Right now the majority of the planet believes in one of these superstions. So if it is unwise to worship a politician who can become Hitler or Stalin, wouldnt it be just as unwise to worship Hillary or Bush when they claim they believe in Jesus? Doesnt it stand to reason that if you are going to make such an argument, you should apply it to yourself?

And in any case saying that an atheist can be a dictator is irrelevent. While that can be true, it does not default to a god existing by any name.

 

 


 

 

Huh?

 

I never implied that any of this was evidence for anything