Quote from: maledoro on Jul 26, 2011, 02:24:42 PM
Quote from: Keg on Jul 25, 2011, 11:04:34 PMOn a small scale I think its great. As an example, my grandmother (who is Italian and Roman Catholic) prays every night for every member of her family, alive or dead, and she says each name in her prayers. It takes her almost half an hour to do it every night and to me that is crazy. But for her it makes her happy and gives her a little bit of comfort. On that level its quite sweet and its what religion should do for people, not make them fanatical morons that wont hear it any other way.
I'm in no way saying that she is, but would you consider your grandmother to be a "fanatical moron that won't hear it any other way" if you told her that she's taking comfort in something that lacks evidence?
No not at all. Because she doesnt do that because she has been told to do it, or because she feels if she doesnt ill will come of her and her family, she does it off her own back because she chooses to. She grew up in a religous family and its her own choice that she does that. She doesnt tell me or other members of the family that we should be doing it as well and I wouldnt tell her she shouldnt be doing it because I think its pointless. I just wouldnt even go there. She respects that I'm not interested and she wouldnt question that, and I wouldnt question her on it for the same reason.
For some reason, of which I am ignorant, it gives her a little pbit peace of mind, and if that works for her, who I am, or anybody else to say otherwise.
Thats the part of religions I like. The little day to day things that keep people like my little auld nana happy
No harm in that at all. Religion doesnt have to be so black and white as you seem to bluntly put it Mal. you make it sound like my nana mustnt be religious because she doesnt take the entire Bible and live every facet of her life by it. If people are taking the good messages out of it and living their lives by it then thats a positive thing in my mind.
And your point earlier about saying it is religions fault if somebody who follows it devoutly does so to the point of becoming a fanatic I disagree with. Sure these religious texts might lead people to be fanatical and hate on others but who wrote them in the first place? Man did. Its in our nature to fight and be territorial and that just comes across in our various religous texts down the years, not the other way around. We arent violent because religion tells us to be that way to get rid of "infidels", we are violent because we are violent full stop and we wrote those texts to begin with.
