Subject: Re: addendum to my previous comments
Date: Sun, 4 Jan 2004
From: Dr. Chic Schissel
To: Pantheists.org


Flash: You're making me think, to use my brain. Shame on you; that's not a fashionable activity these days. But I'll try.

Humans are animals, and social structures have evolved to moderate our behavior. Religion is part of many of these structures. Jeff Dahmer's behavior was kept in check until people like us convinced him there is no Hell. This, especially in the eyes of the ultra religious, makes us guilty for his crimes.

But we would prefer restraints on behavior that come from developed morality, altruism, and experience-derived social common sense. The utility of religion is suspect since religion is the major cause for a possible developing world-wide catastrophe. Bertram Russell called religion the prime roadblock to moral progress, and these days, with the fanatics gaining increasing access to the ability to destroy most of the world, it's even worse. I think religion has lost its utility, and I'm willing to trade the victims of the Jeff Dahmers for the victims of a world holocaust. (big of me, don't you think?)

Reading this over, I really sound grim. I apologize, and recommend my new religion: Escapism, with ritual Denial.

Best wishes, and Happy New Year - Chic Schissel

I'm also glad that you don't favor coffee enemas. They ruin the taste of the coffee.