Out of our 200+ Hominid "cousins" that we co-evolved with, only Homo sapiens made the cut. The most popular theory as to why this happened is that we were able to adapt better and faster, i.e., change along with environmental changes.

As for our troubling behaviors (war, etc.), there always exists the possibility for change.

Remember the old joke? How many therapists does it take to change a light bulb? Answer: It doesn't matter. First the light bulb has to want to be changed.

I wasn't trying to endorse any line of thought. I was simply stating that if we were all working at being better people (no matter what we believe or don't), all this other stupid shit becomes irrelevant.

I totally agree with you Gus!

Here's something somebody posted on Facebook (which probably doesn't have much to do with the discussion at hand, but I liked it).
"Religion is like a penis. It's fine to have one; It's fine to be proud of it; As long as you don't whip it out in public and wave it around and try to shove it down other peoples' throats!"
Amen!

Amen!

goofus, my point was to not diminish the ideas you mentioned,,,but in the context with so many other "lessons" from the bible for instance...was a source of confusion (for me)! i hope i am making sense!

zap, you don't mince words? :)

Agnes! I was not directing that towards you. Pretty sure Zap wasn't either...but that's just my take. If you look closely...some of what I said was based on the wisdom of your last post.

Oh...and just to clarify things. You are making sense. We would be richer if you were making as many cents as you are senses.

Edited to quantify things...

Nope, it wasn't. I just thought it was a pretty cool analogy. There are just too many religious types trying to cram their wankers down other people's throats.
George said it best: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Dq9NDRfb5Y

I didn't suggest you were endorsing anything, sorry if you thought I did. You did imply an endorsement for religion in terms of humility, tolerance and love. I was just pointing out that religions are not sincere in their creed of humility, tolerance and love. They have innate boundaries when it comes to these behaviors. So I was disagreeing with your assessment of religion. I was also just pointing out that this altruistic insincerity is a key part of the argument for a human predisposition to war.

Not sure why people conclude that what I say has anything to do with religion. I don't really give a shit what you believe. Not sure why you should care what I believe.

What I do care about is whether or not people are doing what they can to make this world a better place. You don't have to belong to any religion to do that. "All them gods are just about the same."* (Where the hell are you PSB?) Good and bad exist with or without gods. We are the people that can do something about it. If you want to bring a god along, fine. Doesn't matter. What counts is what we are doing (not to get in to heaven or hell) to help each other.

* John Prine "Pretty Good"

This is the line I disagree with. However, I do believe all those gods are just about the same...a fantasy.

I think you are confusing what I am saying. I don't believe the high level people in most religions are following those tenants.

I understood where you are coming from...but there is an underlying lack of sincerity in the "official" religious doctrines and its this contradiction that allows fundamentalism and ultimately dehumanization by all followers of the faith when the time is upon us. I do understand where you are coming from and I generally agree with you.

hello...... :)
well,,,i was wanting to say something, but...you guys have pretty much covered what i was going to say...in so many words...i think..but what i was going to say was...basically,,,
since we (we humans) are here and all...what we should be trying to do is figure out how we are messing things up,,,you know like, what are the root causes of poverty, war, stuff like that...and figure out how to fix it...but maybe that has been covered....pretty much...in what you were saying here

i agree with the part about the conflicting messages in religion..(like what i was saying in my previous posts)