Comments on Badtux the Snarky Penguin: Religion as behavior modification

Badtux, the war on drugs is business, nada mas, an...

2009-01-15T19:49:00.000-08:00

Badtux, the war on drugs is business, nada mas, and the US is funding both sides of it.

You might hve labeled this post

Badtux the asking for disagreement penguin.

As a point of historical accuracy, Stalin's mother...

2009-01-15T11:20:00.000-08:00

As a point of historical accuracy, Stalin's mother was a religious fanatic and his last formal education was in a seminary with his mother hoping for him to be "called".

He also opened all the churches during WWII to inspire the masses to die for Mother Russia.

He may not have been personally religious, but he knew how to use it.

Have you watched Bill Maher's film Religilous? He ...

2009-01-15T08:15:00.000-08:00

Have you watched Bill Maher's film Religilous? He basically comes to the same conclusion you've stated.

I dig that Johnny Cash song.

I don't know... I think it could be argued, as you...

2009-01-15T05:57:00.000-08:00

I don't know... I think it could be argued, as you pointed out, that even those supposedly RELIGION-less (well-informed agnostics *giggle*) aren't the most 'action oriented' people around. I think it all really comes down to one's level of laziness, willlpower, and confidence. Being to lazy to get off your butt to help the prisoners the sheriff is hurting is pure laziness, no matter what you beleive. Him going to hell is just an excuse to BE that way. Or you could be afraid of taking action, maybe becaus eyou wouldn't know where to begin or how to go about getting justice.

I dunno if RELIGION is the cause, but I think this deffinately says soemthing about human nature.

I think you'll enjoy this song as well: http://www...

2009-01-14T22:20:00.000-08:00

I think you'll enjoy this song as well: http://www.imeem.com/stoneymcgee/music/neINKk3v/john_butler_hand_of_the_almighty/.

I'm an enthusiastic atheist, and I'm going to disagree with you about religion. While I agree that the arguments against religion as a punitive measure are right on the money, I think that for some people, religion is aspirational rather than punitive -- they find that religion gives them a reason to want to improve themselves. It's not that God will punish them for being bad, it's that being good will bring them closer to their sky wizard.

These are the folks who don't abstain from drink because it's evil -- they're the ones who have a tall one after they come home from a shift at the soup kitchen and thank their god that they're not the ones needing the free food. Would these same people be good, generous people without religion? Probably. But religion gives them a framework to make sense of their impulses towards kindness.

My own opinion is that religion reinforces what people already are: generous people give more, judgmental people judge more, angry people have more to be angry at when god comes into the picture.

Keep the drugs, lose the religion, say I!Mixter

2009-01-14T19:51:00.000-08:00

Keep the drugs, lose the religion, say I!

Mixter

You have hit on one of my great frustrations with ...

2009-01-14T14:51:00.000-08:00

You have hit on one of my great frustrations with religion. The idea that I should be motivated by the fact I will be rewarded or punished by some great sky wizard is offensive to me. When I was young, the idea that I might get a spanking if I misbehaved definitely shaped my behavior. As I got older, I internalized the ideas of right and wrong; I no longer need behaviorist feedback to analyze the consequences of my actions. If I HADN'T gone through this maturation, I doubt any kind of feedback (or threat thereof) would really constrain my behavior- at least if I thought no one else was looking.

Perhaps one way to look at it is that thousands of years ago, we needed that threat hanging over our head to motivate ourselves to behave like moral and responsible adults. Now religion simply serves as a rationalizing excuse to remain immature and childish- the only reason to act well is that God'll gitcha if you don't. So they try to get away with as much as they think they can when no one is looking.

So now we know the real reason for the War on Dr...

2009-01-14T14:16:00.000-08:00

So now we know the *real* reason for the War on Drugs, hmm? Because drugs have the same effect as religion on the human psyche, and thus are a possible competitor to religion as the opiate for the masses. Hmm...

- Badtux the Cynical Penguin

I disagree, religion does have a positive affect o...

2009-01-14T13:49:00.000-08:00

I disagree, religion does have a positive affect on humanity.

Religion causes people to be so delusional that they may become optimistic even in the most cynical situation.

Other than that it sucks.