Indoctrinated, robot or slave?

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   mischeviousmeposted 12 years ago

   I read the comments of the christian writers on hub pages and I'm taken aback. The lack of self-criticism and their fear of having an opinion, is heart breaking. Their respective churches have erased whatever mind they started out with and left behind programable, robotic shells. It's one thing to propose a God/god, it's another to remove critical thinking. They become slaves to the idea, leaving behind good hard rational thinking. The church instilled the fear for free thought, giving people the idea that they were free to think only of God/god.

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      jonnycomelatelyposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      I am very much with you on this one, but hasten to point out that even "the church" is made up of persons.  It is persons that perpetuate a way of thinking and reacting.  "The Church" is made up of people like Barbara and other staunch christians who, as you say, get "The lack of self-criticism and their fear of having an opinion," mode.  A good expression -  "programable, robotic shells," describes them to a T.  I was in that mode once.  My robot was thrown out with other metal, for recycling.

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      getitriteposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      Yet I have seen believers who adhere to rigid dogmas, while simultaneously believing in UFO's

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         Insane Mundaneposted 12 years agoin reply to this

         Oh dear, are you telling me that you don't believe that there is life on other planets?  If not, how does the fact that there are anal-probing aliens out there in the cosmos with mad utensils (lube not included) and nifty flying saucers along with laser technology that could scorch a genital wart from 100,000 yards away with ease, effect earth-bound religions?
         You should know by now, most religions can expound and expand, when they need to...  It's part of the ambiguity of it all; LOL!

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            jonnycomelatelyposted 12 years agoin reply to this

            I have always suspected that the Aliens are all on Uranus!

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               mischeviousmeposted 12 years agoin reply to this

               I thought the aliens just crossed to border....

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            getitriteposted 12 years agoin reply to this

            With insanity, anything is possible.

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      Shinkickerposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      Well said mischievousme. Totally agree

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         mischeviousmeposted 12 years agoin reply to this

         It appears to be true, though I would never make such a claim, if I didn't see it as true myself.

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   Emile Rposted 12 years ago

   Interesting. So, let me get this straight. They read a book and decide it is real. Choose to follow it and they are therefore programmed robots. We'll set aside the fact that we can't provide proof that they all agree on everything....we'll simply take your word for it at this point.
   
   I don't see a lot of deviation in your opinion and johnny come lately's. It appears you guys agree on everything. Are you robots? Who programmed you two?

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      jonnycomelatelyposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      It's not in their reading of a book, and deciding it is real, and then choosing to follow it.  That is fair, reasonable and totally respected. 
      
      However, it's when a person becomes so "indoctrinated" in that book, and stops looking beyond the book to what else is so obvious in the world, that I think they resemble robots. 
      
      How many christians really appreciate the world in which we live.  How many devote their lives to protecting the natural environment and the plethora of living things that live beside us, each having a deserved place in the "grand scheme of things?"
      
      Christianity or, my preferred description christism, has become totally human-centered.  It's single-minded as preached by many christians.  In this respect, I do agree with mischeviousme.  The robotic mind has become the norm.
      
      There are, of course, exceptions and I respect those individuals, even if I don't agree with them.

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         Druid Dudeposted 12 years agoin reply to this

         Sure am glad I'm not one a them thar christians! Do they really eat their young?

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            jonnycomelatelyposted 12 years agoin reply to this

              Maybe in some branches of the church!  I don't know.  I would prefer a Mars Bar any day.

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         Emile Rposted 12 years agoin reply to this

         We may be talking and oranges here. Most people who live around here are Christians. They seem pretty normal, by my standards. Most everyone recycles and takes their own bags to the store.
         
         Could you tell me what you have done to reduce your carbon footprint? What you've done for the environment? What species have you single handedly saved from extinction? That information might help me understand where you are coming from.

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   jonnycomelatelyposted 12 years ago

   Sure, thanks for those questions. 
   
   "Most everyone recycles and takes their own bags to the store."  Well, that's a good start.  They could also look at the other plastics which are used with wild abandonment, like the stuff which gets dropped in the street and finds its way into the rivers and oceans.  There the garbage creates havoc with other animals and birds, when it gets sucked in or eaten or wrapped around the animals' bodies and causes them to die a horrible death.  All this happens because those people in charge of manufacturing don't give a damn, in many cases, because their main objective is quick, hefty profits.  I would see it as a duty, of every one of us, to think of the other living things as a part of this world.  We humans are NOT the most important species, yet we are the most destructive.  Christians, think on this!
   
   In my own small way, I try to leave a small footprint from my lifestyle.  I occupy a very small dwelling, befitting just a single guy.  I use solar power for most of my electrical needs.  I have 160 square feet of roof collecting area which gives me all the water I need.  I use a composting toilet, and obtain extremely good fertiliser for use in the garden, VERY safely, with no pollution of the environment.  My grey water is treated by nature, to give me further fertiliser and recycled water for the garden.  Yet my postings are not about me.  My efforts are a tiny speck in the ocean.
   
   I would asking anyone who proclaims his/her self as a christian, to stop worrying about any theoretical possibility of "life after death," and instead concentrate on caring for this beautiful world during the short time of physical life you are blessed with.  Anything less than this would, in my opinion, be the worst possible sin if there ever was such a thing.

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      Emile Rposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      Hey. I'm impressed. That's a big step you've taken. I think you probably outstretch the rest of us.
      
      And I agree. Whatever may, or may not, lie beyond is of little importance to the here and now. This planet is all we can know for a fact that we've all got. We should do everything we can to take care of it.

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      Hollie Thomasposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      I'm not a christian Jonnycomelately, but I really like this post.

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   vector7posted 12 years ago

   Not a single Christian here and I still get all your attention?
   
   Sweet. I don't even need to say anything anymore, just keep my profile right and the unbelievers keep me and mine in the spotlight.
   
   Thx.
   
   God bless you all and I love you, you crazy people you. 
   
   

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      mizjoposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      What's started all this Christian-bashing?  Has there been a revival of the Inquisition I haven't heard about?
      Have you heard about the number of religions adhered to by this country of maybe 300 million, give or take?  At any time, if you stand in a street corner and see an adult just drop his empty bottle or paper bag on the ground while a few steps away there is a trash can, does he have a cross on his garment, or a Star or David or a crescent moon?  Maybe a print of Krishna, a chant to Manitou, a statue of Buddha? How about a large red picture of Beelzebub with horns and tail?
      Who did Johnnycomelately say was indoctrinated?  If firm honest belief in your religion is indoctrination, Johnny, are you one of the free non-indoctrinated people with no beliefs at all?  What does that make you?  I am religious enough not to label you; it's against my religion, which teaches me to be generous and kind.  And yes, I am a Catholic, therefore a Christian, or follower of Christ.
      Long before 'recycling' was a popular word and a worldwide phenomenon, I was a recycler.  Things like a milk gallon jug saw several uses before being discarded when too broken down to be useful any more.
      To Mischievousme:  does this make me a 'robotic shell', with no capacity for 'hard rational thinking'?  And no, I am not free to 'think only of God'.  I also think about the poverty in the world, the state of this country, the next election, the abortion issue, and the pathos of the free-thinker.

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         A Troubled Manposted 12 years agoin reply to this

         Christians, of course.
         
         
         
         The Inquisitions were the results of the actions of Christians.
         
         
         
         Sane.
         
         
         
         Sorry to hear that.

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         getitriteposted 12 years agoin reply to this

         Most likely mischievousme was referring to matters of the unexplained.
         
          
         
         And do you think GOD has a hand in all of the things you mentioned above?  Is Christ the answer?

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         jonnycomelatelyposted 12 years agoin reply to this

         WOW!

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            Druid Dudeposted 12 years agoin reply to this

            I am a willing servant. Should I choose to serve no longer, well, that's fine too.

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         jonnycomelatelyposted 12 years agoin reply to this

         Yes, mizjo, you are right, partly.... I have tarred "christians" with the one brush, sorry for not saying "some" christians.  I am sure there are a goodly number of believers who are trying to do the right thing, to the best of their ability.
         
         I heard someone on the radio today, saying something similar to what I have written, my short-term memory is a bit lacking, so I can't remember the exact words.  However the gist of their words was, stop wasting time arguing about what the bible says, instead concentrate on cleaning up your back yard.  This could and should apply to each and everyone of us, regardless of beliefs.

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   knolyourselfposted 12 years ago

   There is all kinds of robot indoctrination. Class, culture, education, progressive elitism, economic, or any people who hold themselves separate from others justify with indoctrination.

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   mischeviousmeposted 12 years ago

   http://youtu.be/sAq2NY0Tjf8

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   mizjoposted 12 years ago

   Johnnycomelately, I presume Christians are the only people you know where you live, and that some of them must have hurt you because of your preferences. I am very sorry for that. You seem to me to be a responsible, earth-loving person, as am I.
   
   I believe in loving this our earthly home, I believe in the next home in the after life, I believe in God, I believe in Christ's teaching, that Charity is the greatest Commandment of all.
   
   A Troubled Man, sorry for your troubles. If you think having no beliefs is being sane, you need to look further than your nose.
   
   Christian-bashing was started by Christians?  Would those be you and the other smarter-than-thou's on the page?
   
   Sure, of course the Inquisition was started by the Christians, specifically the insane, extremist Catholic clergy. The history of the western world is bound up in the insanity of the extremists in every religious faction, Catholic, Church of England, Puritan, Hitlerist. I include the last because that devil was regarded as a god-head by his sybarites. They have all invented the most sadistic instruments of torture possible to inflict maximum pain on humans. None of them is excusable, comprehensible or condonable. I am very ashamed of the part played by the Catholic Church.  I would like to believe the perpetrators are paying for their excesses in the after-life. Yes, they believed in the after life.
    
   But should Christians burn their Bible because of what their ancestors practised hundreds of years ago?  Should we all abandon the many works of charity we do to help the poor because centuries ago we might have beheaded their ancestors because they practised a different religion from ours?
   
   If you really want to study Religion and Philosophy, go join some discussion group and stop talking so spuriously about a serious subject. Aliens, robots, flying saucers - leave them to children.

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   mischeviousmeposted 12 years ago

   http://youtu.be/Xbp6umQT58A

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