On Thu, 31 Jul 2003, Tony Sivori wrote:

Jonathan Silverlight wrote:

In message <bg7494$lea9r$1@ID-140514.news.uni-berlin.de>, Tony Sivori
<TonySivori@yahoo.com> writes:

I'd like to think that religion is a passing fad. I certainly can't see
it surviving the third (Christian) millennium, and it's only been a
serious handicap for certain faiths and only the last 5 thousand years
or so.

Most of us need to believe that death is something other than oblivion, and
that the injustices and misfortunes experienced in life will be redressed in
an afterlife. I don't thank that will change any time soon.

But consider that _progress_ (for most values of progress) comes only when
people realize that death is oblivion, that this is the only chance we
get, and that injustices and misfortunes need to be actively prevented,
not just put up with because the priest/pastor/witch doctor said so.

There's a very good reason why most defenders of the status quo are big
promoters of religion.  Even the Soviets took a much friendlier line on
the "opiate of the masses" once they realized they couldn't afford most of
the more expensive drugs.

Conrad Hodson