Realitology
“The Study of Reality”
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Posted Politics, Religion, Society on Monday, July 2nd, 2007.
Comments(11)
A Government Based on Facts and Logic, Not Delusions, Superstitions and Fables.
In a perfect world, all decisions would be made based on logic and facts. To a large extent, government is the writing down and enforcement of a group of decisions that some humans have made. The ideal would be that all of the laws, decisions, and judgments made would be based on facts and reality, and that all decisions made would provide the greatest good for the greatest number of people.
However, I didn’t just fall off the turnip truck yesterday. I realize we humans are much more complicated and fallible than that. We know that’s not the way the world really works. Decisions are made based on selfishness, greed, bias, money, fear, anger, sex, jealousy, etc. with the occasional bit of logic thrown in if it’s not too inconvenient. By extension, politicians, kings, diplomats, dictators, and presidents all make decisions, policies, and laws with these same human flaws and weaknesses. It’s all too obvious that much of the things that government does is based on personal wants, cash payments, promises of jobs, kickbacks, family relationships, sexual favors, etc.
Generally speaking, when Joe Schmoe makes a faulty or illogical decision it usually doesn’t effect that many people. But when people in the government make faulty and illogical decisions, their acts are multiplied and can affect thousands, millions, or billions of people. With all of these things already corrupting human beings and the decisions that they make, why in the world would be want to add one more reason for idiocy, injustice, and illogic?
What am I talking about? I’m talking about making decisions based on "religion." In other words, NOT making decisions based on logic and fact, but rather making decisions that may effect billions of people based on the corrupted fables of superstitious, Byzantine-era people, or what a person believes that a magic sky fairy told them to do. Either way you slice it, it’s a recipe for disaster.
#1 – Basing decisions on near-prehistoric laws, customs, fables, and falsehoods just because they are written down in some book is insane. We have obviously learned orders of magnitude more about the universe in the last 100 years, than they did in the previous thousands of years combined. We have (hopefully) progressed a little from the barbaric practices of days past and hopefully have let go of the many superstitions and "explanations" that we used to accept as fact.
Imagine if 2000 years from now they dig up a copy of George Orwell’s book "1984" and decide that’s the sole basis for how the world should be. After all, it’s got an authority figure and all the rules for society laid out. What else would they need? It lays out the world as "god" (Big Brother) wanted it.
Hopefully we can see the insanity of doing that when we look into the future, so why can’t we see the insanity of doing it by looking into the past?
#2 – If a person is delusional enough to believe that an invisible man in the sky is talking to them, they should not be trusted to make decision for themselves, much less an entire country. In any other circumstance if a person admitted to "hearing voices" they’d be given a big dose of Clozapine or shipped off to the psych-ward. But if this troubled person says that the voices are from "god" then society gives them a free pass–a "get out of asylum free card" if you will.
Now that we know these "god delusions" (and other hallucinations such as near-death-experiences–"going towards the white light" and alien abductions) tend to be caused by temporal lobe disorders/epilepsy (citations below), this sort of talk and behavior should instantly disqualify someone for public office. Not that they should shunned or made to feel bad, after all this is a medical condition that deserves compassions and treatment. But in the same way that we wouldn’t allow a blind person to be a bus driver, we should not allow people with brain-disorders which distort reality to hold public office. It’s not logical and it’s not sane.
#3 – History is full of wars, death, persecution, and misery, caused by people who were certain that "god was on their side." They tend to fight with other people who are certain that "god is on their side" and calamity ensues. We can see that basing decisions on this insanity has caused incalculable horror and destruction and yet many people don’t want to free themselves from the shackles that bind them and cause so much misery. As they say, those who don’t know history are doomed to repeat it.
We in the West tend to look at the muslim theocracies (Iran, Saudi Arabia, etc.) as insane religious zealots bent on our destruction. We look at the "moonies", scientologists, hare krishnas, or the people at Jonestown as crazy religious nuts or cults. But the only difference in a "cult" and a "religion" is the number of people who believe it’s true. They are all 100% sure that they are right, that their leaders and writings are infallible, and that they have the only "true" path to god. It’s the same shit, different smell. That’s all. They’re all delusional, controlling, conniving, brain-washing, and destructive; and they need to be kept as far away from government as possible.
This post is part of the Blog Against Theocracy Blogswarm. More info here.
Act Now To Keep Religion and Government Separate
11 Responses to “A Government Based on Facts Not Delusions”
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Excellent post B. By far your best to date.
“If a person is delusional enough to believe that an invisible man in the sky is talking to them, they should not be trusted to make decision for themselves, much less an entire country.”
Classic. Couldn’t have said it better myself. Although I do have a sense of “God” it is not anywhere near the same as the Christians, Muslims etc. The idea of the “Big Poppa” is strange.
“or the people at Jonestown as crazy religious nuts or cults.”
I’ll try not to get offended by that one.
Gravy and grits
I meant those other nuts at that other Jonestown 😉
Huzzah! I really enjoyed that. Is this a great swarm or what?
HJ
Really, really offensive. Sounds like the same tripe I get from the religious zealots — everything’s OK as long as it’s done their way. A fanatic is a fanatic.
Nicely done and Thanks for sharing your thoughts!
Well, I wouldn’t say it was “nicely done.” Perhaps it is the nicest way anyone has ever told me I was delusional and therefore unfit to make any decisions of import because I believe in the Creator, God.
Thank you 😉
Yes and a rose is a rose and a frog is a frog what’s your point? Where’s the fanaticism that you imply? All I see are facts in that post. Please tell us which of those facts are wrong.
Contrary to what most religious types believe, just because you disagree with someone doesn’t mean you’re a fanatic.
Yes I pride myself on being nice. 🙂
Just to clarify…I didn’t mean to imply that religious people all have brain disorders simply because they believe in god. People believe all manner of erroneous things (religious and otherwise) because they’re taught them by schools, society, churches, families, governments, etc.
I was specifically referring to people who say that god is talking to them and/or are hyper-religious. Those things have been definitely linked to temporal lobe disorders. Even in a “normal” person if you stimulate their temporal lobe they will say they feel “god’s presence” and that sort of thing.
Some of the mysteries of the brain are being unraveled and it explains a lot of behaviors. And now that we know these things it becomes clear that people who are saying these things are having brain issues which alters their perception of “reality”. I don’t think that most people would want a leader with schizophrenia, paranoid delusions, or anti-social or borderline personality disorders (Stalin, Hitler, Hussein, etc) running a government would they? It’s the same with these delusions of god talking to someone. It’s taboo to say these things at this point in our society, but that doesn’t make them any less true.
Like I said, with all the issues that humans have, the more reasons for faulty behavior/actions we can eliminate the better.
But you know I still love you Chaddy 🙂
You know you’re still my best homey, too, even if you are a yak gelder sometimes! I’ll holla!!!
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