thread: 2006-08-31 : I think my expectations are screwed
On 2006-09-06, Vincent wrote:
Sydney, you're treating your own tradition as the only tradition; please stop. You're invoking "Darwinian logic" without reflection; please stop.
Meg's religion has an older and more distinguished tradition than yours does, with a stronger history of doing good in the world. Mainline Christians burned Unitarians at the stake 500 years ago. (And I'd rather follow the burned than the burners, I'd a thousand times rather. Your people are bullies and have always been.)
Your own tradition is a product of massive picking and choosing. Every single holiday you celebrate was a pagan holiday first, picky-chosen into Christianity by some human beings who liked some ideas and didn't like others. Your entire theology came piecemeal from other sources.
Religious dissent has always been a good idea, with a tradition going back to the morning after the first religion was first founded.
What I am concerned about is that people will screw up their lives—principally by damaging their personal psychological health and their relationships with others.
My personal experience and an informal mental survey of my friends and acquaintances strongly suggests that traditional religion will screw you up way worse than either nontraditional religion or nonreligion.
