"Trevor Wilson" wrote in message
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"Robert Morein" wrote in message
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"Trevor Wilson" wrote in message
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"George M. Middius" cmndr [underscore] george [at] comcast [dot] net
wrote in message ...


[snip]

Moral guidance provided by religion
comes packaged in an assortment of superstitions, myths, demands for
fealty, promises of favor/forgiveness, distinction, exclusion, ritual,
and ceremony, which both you and I consider unpalatable. But this is
precisely what the vast majority of humanity requires, who are not
possessed of universal minds.

**Indeed. However, IMO, superstition is no replacement for understanding.
Education is the real answer to people's problems. They may not enjoy
those answers at a given time, but for humanity as a whole, true
understanding of the nature of this universe is the ONLY answer.
Superstition and gobbledegook merely leads to more superstition and
gobbledegook.

You have a higher opinion of humanity than I do. In my opinion, the vast
majority are marginally equipped to function as part of modern civilization.
It's in our genes, Trevor. Evolution stopped too soon.

The Communists had a similar notion early in the 20th Century; to make a New
Marxist Man, shorn of the hobbles of religion, governed by a rational
philosophy. It didn't work because humans are not fundamentally rational.
You seem captivated by the idea that the right ideology can conquer human
weakness. Marxism and Fascism tried with fanatical devotion and ruthlessness
to create the New Man. They failed, and for the time being, Mankind is not
endangered by an "ism."

Arny is an educated fellow. Yet inspite of all the rationalitiy he bestows
upon himself, he is driven by irrational desires. And he's not the worst of
what we have to deal with. How many people do you actually know with
below-average intelligence? We try to ignore their presence, but they
constitute half of humanity. They are scarily irrational, and unable to
grasp the modalities of thought you would like to gift to them.