Reading between the lines to support your own point of view…
I did not say religion is stupid. I said treating women as chattel, a tenet of the Abrahamic religions is stupid. These religions have made second class citizens of women since the “light” first shone.
I understand and appreciate the need for myth. It brings the ignorant comfort when they lack the intellect or knowledge to understand the universe around them. I don’t mock that. Our brains are wired to accept cultural fables and other stories of miraculous individuals as our version of superheroes. We need heroes.
I also thought you might be implying that I am an atheist when I professed my aesthete nature. I don’t know if there are gods and I don’t care. If she exists, she’ll understand my peaceful nature unless she is so irrational she needs me to worship her, then I’m sure I’ll be in immediate disfavor ‘cause that ain’t gonna happen. But I sure love beauty.
Every religion has much to respect and some to abhor. That’s the nature of free thinking. We like things that suit us and are uncomfortable with things we find distasteful. And yes, every way of thinking about god/no god has assholes. But when you describe a relevant percentage of a population I believe the correct phrase is per capita.
You also mention liberals and binary thinking. Why is that? Do you think I’m a liberal? I’m not. I’m an inclusionist. To me, everyone, including women, have as much right to life as everyone else. What followers of various philosophies don’t seem to agree upon is how to teach children to make up their own minds, and not be saddled with the cultural biases of their community before their minds have a chance to open up.
Do you think all my thinking is binary? It’s not. I try to see the myriad of viewpoints around each important aspect of our lives. Take sex.
I’m a heterosexual male, but I try to understand both the feminine perspective and other approaches that describe our proclivities when it comes to something everyone thinks about. I’m not binary.
If you understand the word tenet, then you’ll know I’m not condemning jews, christians, or muslims. That’s a broad brush stroke, to use your phrase. I’m simply pointing out the concept of purity is an ideal, that crushes spirit, and builds walls around cultures that, like all walls, eventually crumble in the wind.
And lastly. Hypocrisy is universal?
No. Peeing is universal. Breathing is universal. Dying is universal. Those are traits that are shared by all humans. Though there are from few to many hypocrites in different belief systems, I would suggest the majority of believers eschew hypocrisy, even if their book of runes is fraught with commands that force some followers to hypocritical behaviors.
Nice chatting with you…
