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Name one thing you like the most and hate the most about each of these cultures. Please be sure its respectful and compassionate criticism (though harsh is ok), but hate speech and slurs will be blocked on site.
1. Atheists
2. Christians
3. Muslims
4. Jews
@mike805 while I dont 100% agree (thats the point) all good answers!
@freemo Of course those do not apply to all or even most people of any of those faiths. But if you have to ask which characteristics of each faith have done good and harm to the world as a whole, those would be my picks.
Now we need to add Buddhism (and Eastern enlightenment seeking in general) to this list.
@mike805 I went abrahamic this time around for a reason.
I was thinking earlier about Christianity and how the Virgin Mary is such an important figure in Christianity.
The “a virgin shall conceive” line is not an accepted part of the Jewish canon (it can from a mistranslation in the Septuagint apparently). That’s a fact that any Jewish scholar will assert in interfaith debate.
1 / ?
2 / ?
Continuing, to my knowledge, in Judaism, a prophetess or a woman who was a judge of Israel was never expected to be a virgin. And Judaism and the Jewish people have never had a religious order of celibate nuns.
But Virgin Mary and celibate nuns are a very important part of Christian civilization and serve an important social purpose. The nuns were (and are) surrogate mothers to the children in orphanages, and teachers in the Catholic schools.
From whence comes this?
The hint comes from the mistranslation in the Septuagint itself. I’m told that the word parthenos (something like that) has been used to refer to the vestal virgins who served in the Roman shrines and temples.
The vestal virgins had the authority to pardon and spare convicts from execution.
I believe this has influenced the Christian doctrine of grace and the role that Virgin Mary serves in the Catholic tradition.
@Sioctan It isnt asking about factors that apply to all members of a group, that wouldnt be possible. I am asking about properties for the various groups that are bad and good (at the extremes) and common among the religion or a characteristic of the organized religion (the authorities in control) if it is one.
Alright. I am keeping it short.
1. Atheists
Good: The ability to live life without the need to find answers or accountability in and to a higher power. Humans almost need this. So this shrinking group in the world is still managing to hold on.
Bad: This gap however gets filled with other stuff. State religion, weird new-age and spiritual things, self-destructive behaviour, politics being their new religion.
Ugly: r/atheism during the 2010s
2. Christians
Good: Ability to become liberal and secular over time, something seen with the moderates.
Bad: Sometimes it is a bit too much and they allow for their religion to be subverted by the politics of the day.
Ugly: Inability to create anything original or that is good. ReliRap, White Metal, I dunno. Its just all so atrocious.
3. Muslims
Good: Not having a flexible back when it comes to contemporary western politics.
Bad: Still a lot of muslims holding on to their faith as if it was 400 years ago in Western countries
Ugly: Moderates not outraged and on the streets when the extremists shit the bed.
4. Jews
Good: Showing the importance of a strong familiar structure with education is a winnings strategy in the long term BTFOing the rest.
Bad: Generally unable to recognize the horrible history of the state of Israel.
Ugly: Schrödinger’s Minority comes to mind.
@Sioctan @freemo
Sounds really good.
I must add one (bad) thing with atheists I've been witnessing personally: science being followed so dogmatically as if it were a religion, or the absolute truth.
One example that comes to my mind is a physicist explaining on YouTube, that free will pretty much scientifically doesn't exist, going on with weird conclusions that criminals can't do otherwise and some other weirdness along the lines of "minority report" being an imaginable / good idea etc. Or at least I understood her that way.
And I have had some very unfunny encounters with some German doctors at the local university clinic recently, which is s very very atheist place. It's the university clinic of Heidelberg. I won't go into details but they have a history of starting some weird stuff (have you ever Wikipedia-d Germany? they started it). Oh and that physicist lady is German too. Ok there's a pattern lol. bye.
Having recently seen a discussion between Matt Dillahunty and some Muslim, matt was being a dismissive a-hole based on "logic". Sure he was technically correct, and he was right. Being a PITA isn't going to win someone over, or change a world view, no matter how dogmatic somebody is.
Maybe this is just me. But yeah, I recognize that feel.
@freemo {1,4} and {2,3} are closely related. {2,3,4} existed alongside each other and {1} was at least somewhat common to hear about in the Golden Age of Islam. They could all be considered to be Abrahamic. With {1} it would be difficult to argue that point except for the beliefs and customs of {2,3,4} influencing {1} where it adopts or rejects them. [Just wait for the end.]
In the modern world, {1} is largely a product of {2,3,4} and they should be included in a larger set(foreshadowing). The cultures of all 4 are rich. They have nurtured science in different ways. The idea of a god being an alien isn't explicitly denounced. This would make an argument for {1} being in {2,3,4} as it's not a god but not necessarily as it would be a higher power.
So let's take the set T as {2,3,4}. The Powerset P(T) is {{0},{2},{3},{4},{2,3},{2,4},{3,4},{2,3,4}} and this is the set of all subsets of T. It's Abelian Group(Ignore the numbers) so it contains an identity and the sets are their own inverse when using symmetric difference. The number of subsets is 8 including the null set. Could {1} be considered like the null set? Look at the Elements of T and of P(T). What would a null set be if it's the identity element? So e / a = a and a / a = e. So why does {1} fit the description of the null set. It does essentially because I said so and typed this up for a point.
It's not possible to be proven with Mathematics but the patterns of the Powerset resemble the influence of religions on each other. Some are unchanged and others are combinations. Why the weird Mathematics? The Null Set and it being the identity. In P(T) there is one element that doesn't appear apart from itself. It essentially means that it has nothing in common.
The most interesting thing about {1,2,3,4} is that {1} can be viewed as the null set which it would fit the definition for. This also means the set of all subsets of {2,3,4} would include the null set which would be the identity element. So within the set of religions there would be a non religion sub set.
@freemo 1: (Good) Tend to think things through from first principles. (Bad) Downright dogmatic in their rejection of any possible spiritual reality.
2: (Good) Developed human rights and modern civilization (Bad) Everyone else is going to hell, and that was used to rationalize bad actions.
3: (Good) Strong cultural immune system, charity is built into their faith (Bad) explicitly allowed to war against nonbelievers.
4: (Good) Respect for education and brains (Bad) Allowed to exploit outsiders.