MowcherieThe real beef
Why would these things be equal?
In India, cows are revered as living deities. I know I don’t worship my dog. While both mindsets lead to a revulsion at the idea of eating said meat, I don’t think we’re talking about the same emotions at all.
I don’t think we’re talking about the same emotions at all.
Yes, we are.
Love and respect.
I know I don’t worship my dog.
So you would be ok with me killing it and serving it to you? (no, I never would)
Serving my dog? No.
Serving a farm raised dog intended for consumption like a pig or cow? Yeah I’d try it.
My personal oddities aside, I still disagree. I don’t think worshipping a holy entity is at all the same as loving your pet. Maybe it is for you, but I know I don’t feel commonality between what I feel for my pet dog and what I feel for God.
For example, I give my pet treats and teach him to do tricks. My relationship with God is one of respect and wondering. Would you say that’s similar or different?
Your relationship with your dog is much more significant since he probably cares about you, is a good companion and can be proven to exist (unless you’re making him up for the purpose of these comments). A relationship with god is a one-sided time/effort/focus sink that provides no benefit to anyone involved unless they’re in on the con and passing around a collection plate.
If someone doesn’t eat beef or tries to discourage others from doing so because it might be magic, they ought to lay off their bullshit. Stuff like that carves out a blind spot in peoples’ critical thinking where things like ayurveda, homeopathy, chiropractors and acupuncturists can hide and prey on the desperate. Accepting the less-harmful aspects makes it harder to reject the dangerous ones.
Do you have any data on this:
A relationship with god is a one-sided time/effort/focus sink that provides no benefit to anyone involved unless they’re in on the con and passing around a collection plate.
If you’re asking me for data to show that it’s a one-sided relationship with nobody on the receiving side of the worship and praise being directed at the idea of a god, I can’t help you with that. The existence of a god has yet to be proven but more and more of what has historically been answered with “god did it” is being explained by scientific inquiry. If somebody comes forward with high-quality evidence of a god, I’d be very interested in seeing it.
If you’re asking about data showing the benefits of having a daily routine and social interaction within your community, that’s something I believe I can find along with data that demonstrates a link between drinking an appropriate amount of water and not being dead. Making it a religious practice (daily prayer, regular church attendance) is unnecessary and adds nothing but an open door for manipulators and scam artists.
If you’d like to understand how receiving churchgoers’ money benefits the clergy selling the idea of a god, that one’s pretty obvious so I can’t say whether it’s been studied or what kind of data there is to present here.
Can you please clarify your question so I’ll have a better chance of addressing it if I haven’t already?
It’s a pretty straightforward question. Do you have any data that backs up what you claimed? I don’t see what other way there is to interpret that question.
Okay, please see my reply above where I’ve identified the parts of my statement I think you’re asking about. I’m asking you to specify because there are a few different (though related) ideas involved. I’ll restate them here so you can select one or more and, if you wish, refer to them by the letter before each sentence.
a.) A relationship with one or more gods is one-sided.
b.) Spending any amount of time, effort, focus (or other resources like money, for that matter) on religious endeavors is a waste of those things.
c.) A person who gives their resources mentioned above (in part b) to a religious organization or in the process of worship receives no benefit unless they’re working with the ones fleecing the other believers.
Let me know which of these you are interested in or if there’s something else you had in mind.