What is Your Worldview?

Phatboy asks:

quote:

---

In essence, what do any of you base your beliefs on?

---

I base mine on what I can either witness or reasonably conclude from known facts. I don't much like religion because it requires that I put aside rational thinking and believe in fairy tales. Why is it necessary that I believe virgin birth is possible in order to avoid an eternity in hell? Why must I participate in a ritual of drinking human blood and eating human flesh? Why must I believe in things like global floods or a sun that can stop in the sky in order to save myself from hellfire?Most of what Christianity teaches doesn't make sense so I don't believe it.

Ifen writes:

quote:

---

I am remembering the title of the book as: 1066 the Story of a Year, but not finding it so I'm misrembering it. Anyway, check out that year and the battles in England, especially the battle of Hastings. That was a time when the Kings stood with their armies and fought and died on the field of battle.

---

Not as I recall. It was unusual for William (or any king or war leader, for that matter) to charge into battle with his troops. He did so only after his first assault had failed. His forces suffered heavy casualties when Harold's army turned out to be stronger than expected. William's decision to join his troops on horseback was a maneuver born of need, not a protocol.I know there have been many major battles in which kings and generals have fought alongside their troops, but it has never been the norm unless I am very much mistaken.

contracyle writes:

quote:

---

Christianity is a religion of hate and violence - as in fact are ALL the religions of the book. And christians, as I remarked earlier, share one abiding consistent feature: murderous hypocrisy.

---

Wow! It isn't often than I run across someone more cynical about religion than I am.I agree with the gist of your point, but I think you've grossly over-generalized. I don't think mainstream Christians (at least not those of today) can be called hateful and violent. Many of the Christians I know are very peaceful people who try to be non-judgemental of others. Some of them are opposed to the war in Iraq on Christian grounds. To characterize them as murderously hypocritical would be terribly unfair.Of course, there is a large segment of Christianity that is exactly as you describe. I detest that group of Christians every bit as much as you do, but I try to remember (although I often forget, as you seem to have done here) to identify them such that I do not seem to condemn all Christians.

contracycle squirms:

quote:

---

I refuse to answer such a loaded question; its off topic anyway.

---

Actually, I think it's one of the best challenges I've seen Phatboy put forth. I can't see how the question "What type of a Utopian society do you envision?" can be called off-topic in a thread entitled 'What Is Your Worldview?'.You've only partially answered the question. Marxism, as I understand it, is far more concerned with economics than religion. Yes, religion is anathema to it, but how is the free-market system, which is the real enemy of Marxism, derived from theism?