Thanks. Interesting group and discussion. Notice many subject similarities between groups. LOL

But are their underlying principles also "bullshit?" Can we learn anything from some religious principles or have many "thrown out the baby with the bathwater?"

@josephr we don't need no stinking religious principles, just common sense principles, accepting this crap that only religions have "principles" is acceping that one cannot be moral without religion, a crapload of bullshit! wnat to meditate, do it, but don't call it a buddhist principle, want to live right, do it but do not call it taoist or zen, who made them "owners" of these common sense practices. I call bullshit when I see it.

@BruceAdrian a proof? I have plenty of evidence but don't be so fucking lazy and Google it. You didn't even post the original posting nor is your name Joseph, yet you stick your nose asking for "a proof"? Lufe ain't that easy dude!

I didn't know tequila could do that. LOL

@josephr it is a spirit.

@Shawappa44820 Naturally. No one calls on god when they’re feeling well.

@Shawappa44820 Ah yes, the 'old making offerings to the Porcelain God rituals,' I remember doing many of those myself in my younger days.
Here Australia the 'Porcelain God' is often known as 'George' since that is sound made during the making of offerings to him, i.e. One is known to 'Calling out to George'....LOL

Why reinvent the wheel? LOL

@josephr To make a better one?

@Normanbites Starting from scratch says to me that nothing about what was is working the way i want it to work. Easy is best so i start with editing or adjusting, leaving reinvention as a final approach if everything else fails.

I also always remember that what i see may not be everything that is.

@josephr My immediate ancestors liked a dish called Haggis and taught me how to cook it.

It would have been "easy" to continue this tradition, but I didn't care for it. I "reinvented" my cuisine and I am much happier for it.

I expect, in fact know, that I've done the same with their "philosophical" teachings with a similar result.

I highly recommend "rolling your own".

And to fortify this recommendation, I would like to call to your mind the "Running of the Bulls" in Pamplona, Spain .... a long standing tradition. And I will remark, "Just because something has always been done that way, doesn't mean it isn't incredibly stupid".

@Normanbites From what you wrote i understood that you reacted to your dislike of Haggis (i agree with you about that) and responded by creating a new tradition to replace it. Am i mistaken?

When i evaluate something which doesn't feel right (or taste right LOL) i first focus on the principles, or what would be accomplished by my action(s). The genius may be in the details as Einstein suggested, but he also agreed that without underlying principles we have no map or directions.

I totally agree that "Because something has always been done that way, doesn't mean it isn't incredibly stupid." This is a theory which has defined much of my life, and to which i've responded since i was about 10. My questioning everything and anything made my parents and their friends observe that i was young to have such a chip on my shoulder. LOL Like i cared.

In time, i also learned that i could learn from others, including what they did both right and wrong, so i didn't have to always reinvent the wheel.

Many have observed that there are no new ideas, only new perspectives on old ideas. I love how Mark Twain put it.

@josephr Adapting prior ideas is fine with me. It is the concept of "gurus" or "wise men not to be questioned" that stirs my ire.

You mentioned the 10 commandments .... about 1/2 of them are based on the most pure fertilizer I can imagine.

Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord in vain. That is very wise. Just look at all those Evangelists who do just that and who do such harm. This form of egotism is one of the scourges of our country.

So you think we need religion to curb our bad instinctual impulses that would otherwise diminish us.
And religion helps people function constructively in a social context. That's TOTALLY NUTS

@dermot235
It's totally nuts if you allow the corruptors of religion, the religious literalists, to define what religion is. But if you look at religion from an anthropological, that is to say, a scientific rather than a popular view, you can see it in a less polarized light. To say we need it is way too teleological for science. To say that is how it has been used by H.sapiens, I think, is a scientifically accurate statement.

@skado Religions at their core are an explanation of the world by ignorant bronze age peoples because there was no science to speak off. You don't have to organise a religion for it to be Daft.

@dermot235
I see you are convinced of that.

@skado I'm convinced by the Facts and the evidence. That's why I have respect for science and not religion

@dermot235
I'm not certain I have been exposed to every fact.

Wow, what a broad question. I'm not sure i can encapsulate the answer.

Off the top of my head where hair used to grow, these came to me.

I live life without a plan but with self-directives.
I accept that whatever happens to me is meant to happen.
There are opportunities in everything and anything.
I do what i can to ensure a satisfying life.
If something feels good after, ican do it again.
Do no harm.
And finally, and as attributed to many others, "f**k 'em if they can't take a joke. LOL

That's the best i can do before coffee. LOL

A simple one: Cause and effect. Therefore, we are responsible for our reality.

Then - problems are our gifts. Meeting them head on and overcoming makes us stronger. You can't solve my problem for me. That belongs to me. But you can support me. You can cheer me on.

We never slander anyone...especially ourselves.

We speak and think positively, thereby creating the reality we strive for.

That's an interesting perspective, but peaceful protests have not always succeeded, and two of your three examples were murdered. I believe in peaceful protest and effecting positive change, but we've also had the Stonewall riots, the Watts riots, a Revolution, and a Civil War to establish the rights we are slowly losing.

I know Woody Guthrie claimed his guitar was a facist killing machine, but may I suggest that the M-1 Garand, SMLE, and Mosin-Nagant 91-31 were much more effective.

A wise leader once said, "Those who make peaceful protest impossible, make violent revolution inevitable."

@JimG "but peaceful protests have not always failed" is a confusing comment since I never claimed a failure or success rate.
Other then that I agree.

@Willow_Wisp Yes, it was confusing because I am a addle-brained dolt. Now, it says what I meant.

@JimG Human societal change, at least since the 19th Century, has generally required 3 catalysts; militancy, which is sometimes violent, peaceful protests in great numbers, and patience. Once the tipping point has been breached, then we have seen changes happening.