"And if the people raise a great howl against my barbarity and cruelty, I will answer that war is war and not popularity seeking. If they want peace, they and their relatives must stop the war." - William Tecumseh Sherman
“The market, like the Lord, helps those who help themselves. But unlike the Lord, the market does not forgive those who know not what they do.” - Warren Buffett
What might those be? Is there a definitive list?We do have some basic drives...
Be well. Do good. Keep in touch.
The usual stuff...foraging, safety, shelter. The very basics.
Long story short, in order for a drive to be called an instinct, it has to be followed by every member of the species at all (applicable) times. There's quite literally *no* aspect of human behavior that can meet this condition. So, things like self-preservation that might *seem* like an instinct, actually do not qualify.
"And if the people raise a great howl against my barbarity and cruelty, I will answer that war is war and not popularity seeking. If they want peace, they and their relatives must stop the war." - William Tecumseh Sherman
“The market, like the Lord, helps those who help themselves. But unlike the Lord, the market does not forgive those who know not what they do.” - Warren Buffett
The lack of self-preservation might be an instinct, we are social creatures. There has never been a society without religion, religion is probably the most basic codification of law, since religions have the same themes everywhere the same rules are in place everywhere. How do you explain that.
"And if the people raise a great howl against my barbarity and cruelty, I will answer that war is war and not popularity seeking. If they want peace, they and their relatives must stop the war." - William Tecumseh Sherman
“The market, like the Lord, helps those who help themselves. But unlike the Lord, the market does not forgive those who know not what they do.” - Warren Buffett
Don't we? Religions always arise in organised society's, when man has to deal with man. All cultures have some variety of celebrating harvest and festivity for example, pretty basic if you intend to be alive, I would call the harvest and reproduction celebrations a product of our instincts, pretty basic instincts, it's just how we deal with it without getting killed. Everywhere.
To put it mild, if you believe in God here, you are seen as the village idiot.
In towns perhaps but towns are not the villages, scandinavia is a very very very christian place it puts our biblebelt to shame.
Last edited by Fragony; 10-22-2008 at 15:06.
That isn't the definition of instinct. Also, when babies go in the swimming pool they instinctively hold their breath.
Teaching religion is not mental abuse. If the parents are open minded rather than fanatical then no harm will come of teaching their children about religion or anything else. Some of them do have a "I must make my child a devout christian or else they will burn in hell" attitude unfortunately. As rvg said, just teach em a few things at a young age they'll still want to be like their parents, and at an older age they'll reject it if you push them towards it. That's the problem with religions that have a "hell" of some sort though, parents feel like it is urgent that their child follow the religion instead of letting them go their own way and just teaching them the moral principles.
That's a weird world view. We are, after all, just very clever primates and primates do have instincts.
The survival instinct. The procreation instinct. The altruist instinct etc, etc. The last one is the instinct that keeps us apart from the rest of the animal kingdom.
As for the OP, no, not mental abuse. Indoctrination yes, abuse, no. I brought my kids up with no religious perpective. When they both got to majority, it was up to them what they did. What I did teach them was to approach life with an open a mind as possible.
There are times I wish they’d just ban everything- baccy and beer, burgers and bangers, and all the rest- once and for all. Instead, they creep forward one apparently tiny step at a time. It’s like being executed with a bacon slicer.
“Politics is the art of looking for trouble, finding it whether it exists or not, diagnosing it incorrectly, and applying the wrong remedy.”
To learn who rules over you, simply find out who you are not allowed to criticise.
"The purpose of a university education for Left / Liberals is to attain all the politically correct attitudes towards minorties, and the financial means to live as far away from them as possible."
Humans have instincts....the thing is that instincts can be overridden or subdued by environment and upbringing.
Someone can be trained out of certain instinctual behaviors...we do it to animals all the time so I can´t see how this can be denied.
almost everyone hides something from society at large...be it a weird sexual fetish or simply the fact that you enjoy a tv show that your friends might find "geeky".......are all these people persecuted???
if you extend the definition of a word to mean everything....then it doesn´t mean anything.
and even if I accept your position....if all these people are being persecuted.....then who is the biggest persecutor?? Religion...I´m looking your way.
Last edited by Ronin; 10-22-2008 at 16:45.
"If given the choice to be the shepherd or the sheep... be the wolf"
-Josh Homme
"That's the difference between me and the rest of the world! Happiness isn't good enough for me! I demand euphoria!"
- Calvin
Too much censorship on these boards.
Last edited by Kadagar_AV; 10-22-2008 at 18:38.
"And if the people raise a great howl against my barbarity and cruelty, I will answer that war is war and not popularity seeking. If they want peace, they and their relatives must stop the war." - William Tecumseh Sherman
“The market, like the Lord, helps those who help themselves. But unlike the Lord, the market does not forgive those who know not what they do.” - Warren Buffett
Too much censorship on these boards.
Last edited by Kadagar_AV; 10-22-2008 at 18:38.
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