Your Own 2 Ears.

God will continue to exist no matter how much we atheists care to disprove it. *wry smile* As paradoxical as it seems, the all-wise and all-seeing god is created and sustained by the faith of ordinary homo-sapien humans. Thus we get the divine arising out of the normal heap we call society. Christianity is only as holy as it followers. It, and all religions, will never disappear. As long a single person still believes, it remains relevant and not yet relegated to history. So if you wish to preserve your faith, indoctrinate your kids, make sure they will do the same, and all their ancestors after them. Because remember, faith is nothing without you.

If you don't believe in any form of a deity, just relax and let the others do their stuff. You cannot swerve such a momentum-rich institution. What matters is what is thought between your very own two ears. Deal with the problems there before trying to fix the world.

Back to you...

WTF's Out There?

According to Scientology, there exists a Galactic Confederacy that has lasted for trillions and trillions of years in and out of our universe. When our species achieves a certain level of spiritual "wellness," we will be welcomed into this "galactic" fraternity. Yah, good luck with that Mr Cruise.

Moving on, this theme of an extraterrestrial presence watching our progress like parent may watch a child is pretty common. We tend to imagine all aliens as super advanced and peaceful. Literature, movies it is all the same.

However, far more likely is the idea that there is no Galactic Confederacy. No welcoming committee. No one to tell us what to do when we reach that stage. Now put that all aside for a minute and think.

What if we are the first? If we will win this first race? If we will be the ones peering down from the flying saucers? What if we create the Galactic Confederacy (you would still be wrong Mr Cruise)??? If we are the ones offering our friendship to other LESSER civilizations?

I think (hope) that we could fill this role. While we may be pretty war-like now, I think that as space opens up as a a new frontier, fighting will cease. Why fight over a thin strip of land between your two countries when you can fly TWO THOUSAND LIGHTYEARS away and colonize a planet.

That is our far-likelier future, and the one that I hope will happen.

Staging a Coup

In many science fiction books you read, society has taken strange turns and strange ways of governance. very few of these books go into any detail as to HOW these changes came about. Revolution? Conquest? A politi.cal party?

What I am trying to ask is this: If and when we realize that our society's system is flawed, how can we change it?

An example would be prudent: A Brave New World - written in 1932 by Aldous Huxley, tells of a world were people are manufactured to fit certain niches in society. There are the lowly epsilons, who preform most of the manual labor and are half brain-dead. Then we have the Alpha's, or even the Alpha double-plus's. They oversee and "govern" the world while partying and, shall we say, making effective use of contraceptives... I put govern in "quotations" because there is really no Big-Brother like figure who starts the whole thing. The system has become self-sustaining, without the need for a dictator to run it.

Could a change in how our society is run like this ever happen? It would not take place overnight, but perhaps over a number of years could we bring about such a large change?

A problem with coups is that they don't last. As soon as the dictator dies, in an assassination or through old age, god forbid; the revolution is OVER! Even if they appoint their own son or daughter, their values are different and society's change is gone. Evidently, a leaderless revolution is needed...

But where can we find one? What world-wide organization continues to gain new converts everyday all the while having no visible or provable leader? Doh, religion of course. So I propose that the only way our society could drastically change is through a revolution PIGGYBACKING on religion...

Through a jihad it would spread through the world and BAM, a whole new planet, ready to serve. So to all the revolutionaries out there: if you want your thing to succeed, get God on your side. He's invincible.

Anarchy WIN- -torwch

Pce ftw!

Of course, usually the people protesting war are whining to the wrong people. Take 9/11 for example. Everyone wants peace in Iraq. But don't tell us. Tell the terrorists who insist on blowing stuff up. America doesn't start wars. But they sure as hell finish them. It is wrong to assume that by asserting their status as a non-punching bag (i.e. France) that makes them war mongerers. And no, this wasn't about oil. Just stop that train of thought right there.

Touche

Ok. Let's step up the debunking here.

Does Christianity preach violence? Answer me that. I have yet to hear of a single Christian in the last 100 years (Let's face it: people in general were pretty savage back then.) who has openly defied society as you said. Plus, if they had, you could bet that s/he would be as publicized as Hitler or George Bush. (Yet strangely not Che or Stalin.) Besides, Is Christianity really that diehard? I hardly consider going to Church on Sundays, Easter, Christmas, and a few other occasions as "follow us or else". The best answer, my friend, is a melting pot. That, or a strong Christian society like that of many, if not most successful societies. You can't argue with history.

...but only to a certain extent.

If one lets religion get too powerful, it will over through the government.
Religion is fundamentally a way of appealing to a higher authority.
If the people don't like you, they will pray to god and bring you DOWN.

A peaceful religion, like Buddhism, in which there are few priests and no supreme gods, are the best and the most beneficial to the people. These religions let people follow them casually, rather than enforcing a rigid "Do This Or Else" policy.
Plus they don't preach violence, so the government can ignore the needs religion and do the job it is supposed to: Govern.

...Yes It Can

Religion is not, as you said, a rebellion. Its is more of a searching for an explaination for what cannot be explained. With that said, a religion is not utterly neccessary for a country, but is rather a stablizer for what might be a boring and worthless existance. Let's look at the Middle Ages again. The peasants of Europe were dirt poor (actually, they probably can't affford dirt), and they had to perform back-breaking labour all day. So what did they have to look forward to? Heaven. And how do you get into heaven? Being a good Christian. Therefore, each day was worth living because of the effort you put into getting to eternal paradise. See where I'm going? Religion soothes the drudgery of everyday life.

Oh? But many horrific things have been done in the name of religion? Like? The Crusades? I think that you will agree with me in saying that the knights of Europe wanted the Holy Land just because the Seljuks did, not because of any real violence associated with their faith.

My point being that the things that were done for religion are more likely than not to have been truely motivated by greed or bigotry. That is why I propose Christianity as the main religion. why? Because there is nothing wrong with it. Don't get me wrong, All other religions are perfectly fine, maybe even more so. How exactly do I say this without being racist... Judaism seems to be the biggest target of crap from others in the world (Israel, for example) and many others promote certain aspects that are not acceptable with current activists and judges. (Polygamy. yay or Nay?) therefore, I go with what works, again, not to say that the others don't.

By the way, please keep all hate mail to a minimum, as I have absolutely nothing against any faiths or followers of said faiths.

Can a Country be Built on Religion?

I will start off with some questions: Can a country be run by a religion? Should the head of state and the head or the church hold the same power or position? What consequences does doing this impose?

Religion and Ruling seldom go hand in hand without intervention. During the Medieval age, kings were often seen as being "chosen by god," while this did increase their power to dietial (?) heights, it did limit them in some of the more *frivolous* activities. Some nobles got so pissed off that they formed their own religion solely to promote their aims. Henry the VIII of England (link) found it necessary, because of his 6?!?! wives to slaughter off most of the Protestant followers, preach the virtues of Catholicism to all who would listen, and declare himself the both the spiritual and political leader of England. He wasn't very committed though because on his deathbed, he converted back to being a Protestant.

Henry the VII, a fat vain king who never seemed to find the right lady.

Religion is usually seen as a form of rebellion. A sort of appeal to a higher authority. Here are some examples:

• Christ, in his day, was seen as many things. To his followers he was a martyr, to his family (yes he did have family) he was the miraculous child, and finally to the leaders of those days, he was a rebel. That is why they crucified him later.
• Muhammad, also a rebel, is said to have been met with criticism when he first began to preach. He, like Christ, was forced out of several cities because of his views.

For this reason, I believe that a stable country does not need to have a widely-practiced religion. A small order of monks that people may join by their own choice would be perfect. So, after that very long-winded post, I put forward the Dalai Lama and Buddaism as the best approach to religion.

That is how religion would look like in my ultimate country, only without the exile and occupation part...
torwch