The Root of All Evil

Most, if not all, forms of religion project a perception of reality as other than it is.

 

All religions/philosophies are bundles of thoughts and like any mental contruct can't encompass reality. True reality is experienced in the absense of thought.

 

So, would you agree that religion is part of what ails us when it comes to understanding reality?

 

Looking from the perspective of your secure relationship to and amidst real things. You can perceive a thing as threatening but that perception's only effect is to compromise your situational awareness. A fearful thought is no measure of actual things but only of imagined potential.

 

Only certain aspects. So not by definition.

 

In order to "understand reality" we should first try to define the scope of the reality we're trying to understand: are we talking about universal reality or personal reality?

If we're talking about universal reality: the only acceptable answer with restect to our understanding at this time is 'unknown.'

If we're talking about personal reality: the reality is subjective so there will be possibly as many understandings of reality as there are people.

 

Knowledge is being shared.

Personal reality and universal reality are not really meaningful distinctions. Subjective reflection is part of universal reality.

 

Thinking is what ails us and reality can't be understood by the mind. Reality is a state of being.

 

He couldn't, they would kick him out of the Union.

"Fair" is moral judgement too. From societies standpoint, it would be necessary.

 

I agree that religion that impedes understanding could be an ailment when it comes to understanding reality.

Would you throw out spirituality too?

As long as things pertaining to reality are unknown there will always be competing ideas seeking to fill the void. One problem there is being dogmatic about the unknown; the atheist is not immune from this error.

 

Monkey Boy,

It would seem that there are no solutions without first thinking about the problems that ail us.

 

Outthere

I wouldn't throw out spirituality. In fact, that can't be done. But I might throw out out institutionalized religion.

Competing ideas pertaining to physical reality have a different impact on people's minds than do ideas pertaining to something like the details of the afterlife/afterdeath.

 

Thedope is right. All is a whole. Each is not apart from the whole, but a part of the whole. And as such, there is no line between universal reality and personal reality.

Like it or not, the aliens are our brothers and sisters.

 

Captain Obvious,

I forgot about the Union. And even absent a Union, there is something like the serial killer's creed, which is identical to the vampire's creed when it comes to killing one of your own. They can beat up another of their kind, but that's where they draw the line.

How do we decide what is necessary for society? And how do we decide whether what we do is coming from a sense of fairness or from a sense of need?

 

Well, not really. You changed the subject from "understanding reality" to "reality."

The human act of understanding reality is subjective. It is based on or influenced by personal feelings, tastes, or opinions of individual persons.

Reality is objective. It is not influenced by personal feelings or opinions but represents facts.

Do you see the difference?

 

Just for the record Dawkins didn't want this to be called the Root of all evil, but it was put as that title to be controversial.

 

The mind uses thought to label certain circumstances as problems. It also amplifies pain and creates much unneeded suffering. When thinking stops there is reality and peace.

 

Outthere,

Well, not really. The post from which you pulled that quote from me was a statement of agreement with something the thedope had said.

Do you see the difference?

 

Yesterday I saw this video of a man getting his head cut off in Tunisia for converting to Christianity..

The executioner was chanting some Islamic prayers and it lead me to believe that maybe religion was the culprit.. the creation of all this hate. What baffles me is the fact that people can blindly follow their religion but won't dare to accept another who believes in a different religion. Not all are like this, mostly radicals but still..

I see some christian fanatics in this country who just don't see the fallacy in their religious logic.

 

Yep. Simplistic over-generalizations tarring whole categories of thought or people can be "controversial".