Irony?
So, I went to church today. And the Pastor’s reading was Matthew 29-36 (I think, could be off by a verse or two). Which she used to explain that we always needed to be ready for Jesus to come back, based specifically on 24:36 ” But of that day and that hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only.”
However, just two verses earlier it says this: “Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled.”
Matthew (not really written by him, but let’s play along for a bit), clearly quotes Jesus as saying that he (Jesus) will return before the people he is talking to, die.
And now they are dead. And have been for (according to the story) nineteen centuries. So, that does not make sense. Now, you can come up with varying excuses for this, but then that is admitting that the bible is not the word of god.
And if it is not the word of god, then it must not be the be-all, end-all of knowledge/morality/truthiness/etc.
And is just another reason why I think all religion, including Christianity, is crap.
Creationism/Intelligent Design [sic] is debunked by Evolution.
The earth is NOT flat.
The earth DOES rotate around the Sun.
Being “possessed” is a chemical imbalance in the brain, not demons.
etc
etc
I think this also ties in well with your previous discussion with Ltl on education, and subsequently, the abuse of power.
Religion itself isn’t dangerous, any more than a superstition is dangerous so long as you recognize it as a superstition.
Organized religion ceases to be useful when it allows people to choose to stop asking “Why?”
Organized religion becomes dangerous when certain individuals within the organization recognize the signs their believers have stopped asking, “Why?”
Organized religion becomes actively destructive when those within the organization use their position of respect to manipulate their followers. On a small scale you have Koresh or the Kool-Aide-drinking Reverend Jimmy Jones cult.
On a large scale you have…
well – take your pick.