Yes, but not all ways are equally healthy. If you need to believe in falsehoods to be happy in life, that’s objectively a less productive coping skill than one that doesn’t involve that. Personally, as a society, I strongly feel we should be setting the bar higher. It should be an embarrassment to have such beliefs.
Mind you, I would never an am not advocating anything like legislature to enforce anything. Cultural change can’t be legislated. I just firmly believe in such change.
I mean, if falsehoods are the only way you can cope with the shit world we live in and be happy and you’re not pushing it on anyone else go for it. I’m not religious but it’s not like I’ve found an alternative. Best I can do is drink to shut off the part of my brain that’s constantly ruminating on shit. That’s not particularly productive either.
The main problem I have is that it normalizes lazy, magical thinking. And this leads to shit like anti-science, anti-vax, anti-intellectual shit and people suffer and die because of it
The entire problem there is that we all keep trying to shut it off instead of joining together with others who are also suffering to change society for the better because we have become so isolated from our communities.
Churches and religion offer this community but instead of making it better they just manipulate you into thinking the suffering is divinely ordained.
The problem precedes this point. If the social safety net is failing you and you’re going to a church for relief, or your family and friends have abandoned you and you’re going to a cult for communion, or you’re a college kid away from home and the only social organ with open arms is a religious one - we’ve got a lot more problems on the table than the existence of religious folks.
If you found happiness through religion, good for you. Everyone has their own ways.
The problem starts when you think happiness can only come from religion.
The problem actually starts when magical thinking becomes acceptable, and people start suffering on large scale because of it.
The problem starts when you think that other people need your religion so you can be happy.
Yes, but not all ways are equally healthy. If you need to believe in falsehoods to be happy in life, that’s objectively a less productive coping skill than one that doesn’t involve that. Personally, as a society, I strongly feel we should be setting the bar higher. It should be an embarrassment to have such beliefs.
Mind you, I would never an am not advocating anything like legislature to enforce anything. Cultural change can’t be legislated. I just firmly believe in such change.
I mean, if falsehoods are the only way you can cope with the shit world we live in and be happy and you’re not pushing it on anyone else go for it. I’m not religious but it’s not like I’ve found an alternative. Best I can do is drink to shut off the part of my brain that’s constantly ruminating on shit. That’s not particularly productive either.
The main problem I have is that it normalizes lazy, magical thinking. And this leads to shit like anti-science, anti-vax, anti-intellectual shit and people suffer and die because of it
The entire problem there is that we all keep trying to shut it off instead of joining together with others who are also suffering to change society for the better because we have become so isolated from our communities.
Churches and religion offer this community but instead of making it better they just manipulate you into thinking the suffering is divinely ordained.
The problem precedes this point. If the social safety net is failing you and you’re going to a church for relief, or your family and friends have abandoned you and you’re going to a cult for communion, or you’re a college kid away from home and the only social organ with open arms is a religious one - we’ve got a lot more problems on the table than the existence of religious folks.