Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Path: utzoo!decvax!wivax!linus!allegra!eagle!mhuxt!mhuxi!mhuxa!houxm!hocda!spanky!burl!duke!unc!tim From: tim@unc.UUCP Newsgroups: net.religion Subject: Re: Views on Religions Message-ID: <5312@unc.UUCP> Date: Fri, 3-Jun-83 16:40:07 EDT Article-I.D.: unc.5312 Posted: Fri Jun 3 16:40:07 1983 Date-Received: Thu, 9-Jun-83 01:30:46 EDT References: ih1ap.151 Lines: 34 What bothers me about all religions is they always exclude instead of including people. Each separate religious order has either Scripture based or Pope based laws which ultimately divide all people into classes. Yet science seems to search for universal understanding that provides a basis for all things. This exclusion makes religions hipocriti- cal of their own beliefs. Please do not make unwarranted assumptions about all religions if all that you have known are popular religions. These thrive by feeding the lowest impulses of people and telling them that they are noble. That is how they get popular, by telling their members that the mere fact of membership is sufficient to make them superior to non-members. There are religions (mine, for instance) which do not require this attitude, in which our motivations are simply to appreciate beauty and bring it into our own lives VOLUNTARILY. Members of these religions do not necessarily desire all people to belong to their religion. There is also a strong brainwashing effects of re- ligion. Catholics, of which I was raised, place their children in sunday school at a young age and teach the Catholic view. This view is usually one of why it is so neat to be Catholic. It is unreasonable to expect members of a religion not to bring up their children within that religion. However, this need not involve brainwashing and jingoism. Your sweeping generalities are very insulting to people of all religions. Do not speak of "all religions" unless you know virtually all. Tim Maroney