Religion, sex, and politics have a long history of being intertwined. One might say they are part and parcel of being human.

Politics - the act of achieving power and influence -- is part and parcel of being human. That's how rulers got to be rulers, some realized it was much better to be king than to be a peasant.

Religion has been used by the political ruling class to support their power. Most ancient civilizations viewed their rulers as diety. Even today, in "godless" North Korea, the attributes ascribed to the 3 generations of its latest leaders can only be described as godlike. For example, being born on a sacred mountain, bowling a perfect 300 and golfing spectularly on first time doing so, etc. Even in America, one can argue politicians are using the religion of "mother earth" to garner power vis a vis climate change and its likes.

I have to throw in sex because it's been there all along with the first two. In Greece, temple prostitution was part of the prevailing religion.

To ask would the world be better off without religion is the same as asking would the world be better off without people. When you have people, you get politics, religion, and sex.

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Originally posted by Rey HRH:
Religion, sex, and politics have a long history of being intertwined. One might say they are part

To ask would the world be better off without religion is the same as asking would the world be better off without people. When you have people, you get politics, religion, and sex.

Funny you put it that way. I have often expressed the view that I'm OK with God, we get along just fine. It's God's children who give me the vapors.

Other times, I realize that if everybody always acted and talked like I believe they should, I would have had to go to barber college. So I'm grateful for that.

Mark Twain wrote at some length how in the Christian depictions of heaven, there is no provision for sex, no mention.

quote:

Originally posted by Rey HRH:
Religion, sex, and politics have a long history of being intertwined. One might say they are part and parcel of being human.
...
To ask would the world be better off without religion is the same as asking would the world be better off without people. When you have people, you get politics, religion, and sex.

Excellent point;
And also related to the tenuous validity of those atheists who claim they can be "moral" without invoking a deity. The very concept of what we consider "morality" is influenced by being emersed in cultures that have all been dominated by religious beliefs throughout all of human history.
So it is sort of like asserting that "I can kill my children without having to have it be a sacrifice to Baal."
I don't know if that anaolgy really captures the meaning, but it is like they claim they can do what religion advocates without admitting that religion is the source of the reason society considers it "good".

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