December 2, 2007

• case in point

  http://orz.4chan.org/n/src/1196631476783.jpg

  if the link is not working, copy-paste the following line into the URL:
  http://orz.4chan.org/n/src/1196631476783.jpg

  one cannot say that religious fanatics are irrational. if a few premises are accepted, each of their actions becomes fully logical based on those premises. most of us would consider the behavior shown in the picture to be irrational. however, what if one believes fighting for god's glory will secure heaven and eternal happiness for oneself and one's family? and what if one believes religious freedom will endanger loved ones by turning them away from the presumes true god, consigning them to eternal hell? suddenly, it makes sense to fight, or even kill, these presumed enemies. it is not that muslim militants are illogical. it is the "logical" conclusion they have come to based on their mistaken premises, the mistaken premises that come from the qu'ran. to end the violence of the photo above, it is the premises that must change.

  that said, see how few are captured in the photo? each one is capable of killing five people, estimated conservatively, fifty or more with the right weaponry. how many more share their beliefs, but are not shown in the picture? how many of these would feel the slightest regret to kill the "europeans" and "british" of their posters? think how much destruction a few people can cause! there are very forces as powerful and deadly as religion.

  surely now, someone will argue that religion drives people to help others and society as well. but, in my perhaps naive optimism, i hope that people would help others for empathy, instead of for the promise of heaven. regardless of race, religion, and culture, humans feel miserable when they think of others suffering, for pious and atheistic people alike are saddened by misfortune, for example, physical abuse or car accidents. i'd like to think that people do not need the bribe of eternal heaven to help others.

  a guest speaker once said that two of the most fundamental tenets of faiths: "if you follow this religion, you will go to heaven" and "if you don not follow this religion, you will go to hell," which have their corollaries in christianity, judaism, islam, and most other monotheisms, can be reduced, respectively, to bribery and extortion. use heaven as a bribe to lure in "believers," use the threat of damnation to keep in "believers." surely humanity is better than this.

  • 7:28 pm
  • 3 Comments