just what if

[Shrykull]

let's say you were absolute ruler of Earth with a clone Army of 2 billion soldiers, what would you have to do to make sure organized religion becomes dead and forgotten?

[Durandal]

The whole reason I'd like to see organized religion go the way of the do-do is precisely because it does exactly what you're proposing: enforce beliefs by force. I'd rather educate kids properly and have organized religion slowly die in favor of secularism than shove it down people's throats.

[haas mark]

Communism, in other words.

[Shrykull]

The whole reason I'd like to see organized religion go the way of the do-do is precisely because it does exactly what you're proposing: enforce beliefs by force.

I'm not proposing anything, just asking a hypothetical question, just what would need to be done to eliminate it, I'm not advocating doing it.

I'd rather educate kids properly and have organized religion slowly die in favor of secularism than shove it down people's throats.

But you would also have fundie Christian parents indoctrinating thier kids with thier dogma, you'd basically be playing tug of war with them, with you teaching them one thing (where? At school?) and them teaching them the polar opposite at home.

[Patrick Degan]

If I was the Absolute Ruler of Earth, I'd probably do what so many other rulers have done for time immemorial. I've got a primary tool of indoctrination at my grasp, and I'd bend it to my purposes.

Fundamentalist preachers and prelates, after all, are replaceable. Control them and you control the parents.

That is, if I was the Absolute Ruler of Earth.

[haas mark]

I'd be Peter Wiggin.

[weemadando]

You can easily eradicate ORGANISED and PUBLIC religion with a bit of brute force.

Eradicating religion totally is difficult because there will always be morons looking for meaning in the world.

[Raptor 597]

You can easily eradicate ORGANISED and PUBLIC religion with a bit of brute force.

Eradicating religion totally is difficult because there will always be morons looking for meaning in the world.

Exactly, but we must kill Church Ladies and stop Christain Reproduction, make the Pope give a life long oath of Chastity.

[Patrick Degan]

You can easily eradicate ORGANISED and PUBLIC religion with a bit of brute force.

But why bother when you can co-opt it?

Eradicating religion totally is difficult because there will always be morons looking for meaning in the world.

If it makes them less inclined to resist my beneficient ironfisted tyranny, I've got no problem with that.

[data_link]

Well first I'd tatoo my name on everyone's forehead and right hand...

Actually, that might not be a bad idea. Use my absolute power to steer Earth towards the conditions prophecised for the battle of Armageddon, prparing in secret a spectacular light-show for all who wish to watch. Except, at the end, Satan would win, and He would reveal that the bible is just a big fraud used by the christians false God to decieve the people, and He would personally hand His bible (which I would personally write in preparation for the light-show), out to the masses. Yes, it's replacing one fundamentaist dogma with another, but if the dogma isn't harmful (it wouldn't be, since I wrote it), and it helps me keep control of the people, then I'm all for it.

[Frank Hipper]

You can easily eradicate ORGANISED and PUBLIC religion with a bit of brute force.

But why bother when you can co-opt it?

Eradicating religion totally is difficult because there will always be morons looking for meaning in the world.

If it makes them less inclined to resist my beneficient ironfisted tyranny, I've got no problem with that.

Co-opting would be the only practical way, but to do away with it would take centuries of careful, subtle work.

[HemlockGrey]

If anyone tried to prevent someone from believing in their choice of religion(assuming the person is not a suicidal fanatic who flies planes into buildings), I'd fight them to the last.

[The Dark]

If anyone tried to prevent someone from believing in their choice of religion(assuming the person is not a suicidal fanatic who flies planes into buildings), I'd fight them to the last.

True that. It doesn't matter to me if you're Christian, Jewish, Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist, atheist, whatever your beliefs or lack of beliefs are, as long as you don't try to persecute me. As long as the person does no harm, religious beliefs are not a major problem in this world.

[Joe]

The whole reason I'd like to see organized religion go the way of the do-do is precisely because it does exactly what you're proposing: enforce beliefs by force.

I'm not proposing anything, just asking a hypothetical question, just what would need to be done to eliminate it, I'm not advocating doing it.

I'd rather educate kids properly and have organized religion slowly die in favor of secularism than shove it down people's throats.

But you would also have fundie Christian parents indoctrinating thier kids with thier dogma, you'd basically be playing tug of war with them, with you teaching them one thing (where? At school?) and them teaching them the polar opposite at home.

They're not your damn kids. Let parents raise their kids however they want. Sometimes you're just going to have to live with the idea that people do stupid shit. This is called freedom.

[Asst. Asst. Lt. Cmdr. Smi]

I wouldn't eliminate organized religion, it would do nothing. People would still organize theselves in some way. Did prohibiton stop the consumption of alcohol? Or did it create more criminals and make mobsters rich and famous?

What I would do is sterilize the fundies, they're the dangerous ones.

[Joe]

In all honesty, Christian fundies don't scare me too much these days. Atheist, Marxist University professors with tenure terrify the shit out of me, though.

[Patrick Degan]

Co-opting would be the only practical way, but to do away with it would take centuries of careful, subtle work.

Not at all. The Nazis managed to co-opt the Church in a very few years. The sad fact is that most Churches accomodate themselves to the Ruling Power quite easily when they see it in their best interests.

[Darth Wong]

In all honesty, Christian fundies don't scare me too much these days. Atheist, Marxist University professors with tenure terrify the shit out of me, though.

Then your threat awareness systems are obviously malfunctioning.

[Patrick Degan]

In all honesty, Christian fundies don't scare me too much these days. Atheist, Marxist University professors with tenure terrify the shit out of me, though.

Yes, yes, thank you for quoting Jerry Falwell and Rush Limbaugh.

[Joe]

In all honesty, Christian fundies don't scare me too much these days. Atheist, Marxist University professors with tenure terrify the shit out of me, though.

Then your threat awareness systems are obviously malfunctioning.

*shrugs* I don't know, I just feel a lot more threatened by someone who advocates the forceful seizure of my property than I feel threatened by Christerbaters who won't shut their fat yappers.

[Joe]

In all honesty, Christian fundies don't scare me too much these days. Atheist, Marxist University professors with tenure terrify the shit out of me, though.

Yes, yes, thank you for quoting Jerry Falwell and Rush Limbaugh.

FYI, haven't listened to Rush Limbaugh in over a year. Have never read a Jerry Falwell column.

[Patrick Degan]

FYI, haven't listened to Rush Limbaugh in over a year. Have never read a Jerry Falwell column.

But you've sure got the programming down, haven't you?

[Joe]

FYI, haven't listened to Rush Limbaugh in over a year. Have never read a Jerry Falwell column.

But you've sure got the programming down, haven't you?

Not really. I don't recall hearing Rush Limbaugh ever use that phrase (haven't listened to the show since 9/11, it's become a mouthpiece for the Bush administration).

[Patrick Degan]

FYI, haven't listened to Rush Limbaugh in over a year. Have never read a Jerry Falwell column.

But you've sure got the programming down, haven't you?

Not really. I don't recall hearing Rush Limbaugh ever use that phrase (haven't listened to the show since 9/11, it's become a mouthpiece for the Bush administration).

Oh, please! Just because the Porcine One didn't use the exact same phraseology, he certainly used the same type argument (just substituted "tenured liberal" or variation thereof for "Atheist Marxist" and the sheep fill in the details). It's part and parcel with maintaining the fiction that the universities are "hotbeds" of leftist indoctrination; nevermind that this hasn't been true for twenty years. Assuming it was ever true at all.

And yeah, pity that Rush turned out to be exactly the shill for the Bush/GOP machine his critics long said he was. Must've been so disappointing to discover that he really never had any opinions of his own.

[The Dark]

The fundies definitely scare me more. I haven't met any tenured Marxist professors (then again, we don't have tenure), and the fascists in Europe frighten me more than Marxists anyway.