this post was submitted on 16 Nov 2024
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[–] FlashMobOfOne@lemmy.world 55 points 21 hours ago (4 children)

Really wish our species could evolve past this moronic, religious bullshit.

[–] just_an_average_joe@lemmy.dbzer0.com 12 points 16 hours ago (2 children)

Its not about religion, its politics. A few years ago the Pakistani military overthrew a very popular prime minister who publicly said that it was the military behind his removal. Then slowly and gradually there was more and more evidence behind military involvement which as a result, made the public anti-military. They have been kidnapping and torturing anyone critical of them.

But the more they oppress, the more people become anti-military. It got to the point that in february the government blocked access to twitter because of anti-military sentiment, so people started using VPNs. Now this "religious body" which is government appointed claims to block VPN because "people are watching immoral things via VPN". But in reality, it is to stop people organizing protests.

Also a governmental body can not decide what is islamic or not, thats not how islamic law works. It has to come from islamic scholars and there needs to be consus on it.

I don't think any major islamic scholar who lives inside pakistan has signed or approved this message even though they want to stop porn they know its not about stopping porn, its about making it difficult to criticize the military.

[–] maplebar@lemmy.world 5 points 15 hours ago (2 children)

Its not about religion, its politics.

It's about religion. In a theocracy religion is politics, and law, and culture too.

Religion isn't something that empowers people to do more or live more freely. Religious dogma is nothing more than a set of arbitrary laws and norms, written and decided by man, but given the weight and authority of god(s)--the fear of eternal damnation in the afterlife being the only way that people knew to keep others in line in a world devoid of secular laws.

How did we convince women that they were lesser beings throughout human history? Why do we consider some forms of consensual adult sexuality to be morally wrong? Why do we believe that human beings are destined and entitled to live on this planet forever no matter how poorly we treat it?

The answer is religion. Religion is mass delusion, used mainly as a tool of oppression. Socrates was sentenced to death by a jury of Athenians for thought crimes against Athena, showing that religion, democracy and justice simply do not mix. Thousands of years ago (or more) gods and religious law were the inventions that ushered humanity into the post-truth world that we live in today.

Look we can criticize religion for its issues all we want but in this specific case, they are using religion as a tool to get what they want. If it weren't for religion, they would use something else.

"Terrorists are using VPNs to evade law enforcement"

Or maybe something racism related

Fascist/authoritarian governments always use something to control the public.

[–] infinite_ass@leminal.space 1 points 14 hours ago* (last edited 14 hours ago)

Call it "stories that people are taking way too seriously". I'm sure that you can think of other stories that people take way too seriously too, that have nothing to do with religion.

I think that we might be seeing the power of propaganda there. Consider that the science of propaganda is very old. Thousands of years old. There's population-control psychology there. It's got hooks.

(On the flipside, imposing a set of rules for moral behavior is a good thing. People can be animals. And if you need to cite an old story about gods and wizards to give those rules some oomph then so be it.)

[–] prole@lemmy.blahaj.zone 1 points 16 hours ago (1 children)

No, it's definitely religion. Always has been.

[–] hungryphrog@lemmy.blahaj.zone 3 points 15 hours ago (1 children)

Do you understand that they are using religion as an excuse? If that wasn't an option, they would just use something else.

[–] hemko@lemmy.dbzer0.com 1 points 14 hours ago* (last edited 14 hours ago)

That's exactly what organized religions are designed to do in action, crowd control

[–] PanArab@lemm.ee 3 points 13 hours ago* (last edited 13 hours ago)

Thing is privacy is protected in Islam, this has nothing to do with religion.

[–] infinite_ass@leminal.space 2 points 14 hours ago* (last edited 14 hours ago) (1 children)

It serves a need. Get rid of the need and you'll get rid of the religious bullshit. But if you get rid of the religious bullshit without getting rid of the need, some other kind of bullshit will crop up.

[–] Kbobabob@lemmy.world 0 points 14 hours ago (2 children)
[–] Saik0Shinigami@lemmy.saik0.com 4 points 13 hours ago (1 children)

Religion isn't the need. Social interaction and the feeling of belonging and belief are the needs. Religion can and does fill that for many.

And before you attack me, I'm atheist.

[–] PapaStevesy@lemmy.world 0 points 12 hours ago (1 children)

But other things can and do too, so religion isn't necessary. That's the point.

[–] Saik0Shinigami@lemmy.saik0.com 1 points 11 hours ago (1 children)

Nobody said it was. Just that it does meet some needs.

Until you somehow convince those who have those needs that religion isn't the correct way to meet those needs, you're not going to get anywhere screaming that religion isn't necessary. Those people firmly believe it is as it meets those needs for them and don't have something else to do so.

[–] PapaStevesy@lemmy.world 0 points 11 hours ago (1 children)

Nobody said it was.

Well that's just not true, but ignoring that...

I didn't scream anything, neither did the OP that started this. They stated it calmly and plainly. Obviously religion serves a function in society, but so does slavery. I'm not trying to convince anyone to give up their long-held beliefs, I'm simply defending my interpretation of reality as objectively as I can. Just like coffee, alcohol, and black market sex rings, no one needs religion. The only reason I could think of that you would want to argue against that position is if you believed it wasn't true. But it is. 🤷‍♂️🤷‍♂️🤷‍♂️

[–] Saik0Shinigami@lemmy.saik0.com 1 points 9 hours ago

Well that’s just not true, but ignoring that…

No. Let's not ignore that. If you're going to call someone a liar, own up to it. The comment that spawned this chain says verbatim

It serves a need.

It being "religion" and "a need" would imply another, different "need". Otherwise it would have been simpler and more direct to say something like "Religion is a need".

I didn’t scream anything

Coming back and repeating the same shit that I just addressed from the previous comment ... Constant repetition is literally someone shoving fingers in their ears and scream "LALALALALALA". You even did it again in this post by stating "no one needs religion" when I already addressed that and even agreed with that sentiment, but wanted to specifically caveat why religion would count for "It serves a need".

Nobody said that anyone "needs" religion. Quite the contrary. The statement is "religion fills needs" to put it another way. I even clarified and made it clear that if you can find something else that fills the needs for those people that you could likely replace religion. But for some reason you keep trucking forward with your comments acting like someone said something they didn't.

The only reason I could think of that you would want to argue against that position is if you believed it wasn’t true.

What the fuck logic is this? So I must believe that Religion is a need then? I'm atheist. I stated that outright from the beginning in my first post on this thread. Fuck "God", "Yahweh", "Mohammed", or any other god that you or anyone else believes in, they're all fake. I clearly don't believe that religion is a "need".

[–] infinite_ass@leminal.space 0 points 14 hours ago (1 children)

Given its vast popularity, I expect that some would argue otherwise.

[–] PapaStevesy@lemmy.world 2 points 13 hours ago (1 children)

Painting baby toys with lead was pretty popular for awhile, so was filling your house with asbestos. Don't confuse popularity with necessity, you might get cancer.

[–] infinite_ass@leminal.space 1 points 13 hours ago* (last edited 13 hours ago) (1 children)

The lead paint and the asbestos both served a need. For colored toys and insulation, specifically. And then we found a better way to serve that need. It isn't a dumb need.

Don't assume that everybody who sees things differently is an idiot.

[–] PapaStevesy@lemmy.world 2 points 12 hours ago* (last edited 12 hours ago)

I didn't call anyone an idiot, I just made the point that something being popular in society doesn't even make it good for society, much less necessary. Just look at fentanyl, or network primetime television.