I don't believe in Mormonism, don't care for organized religions, and would rather live humanely. I agree with the words of Bertrand Russell: http://www.users.drew.edu/~jlenz/whynot.html

From the section "The Emotional Factor":
"You find as you look around the world that every single bit of progress in humane feeling, every improvement in the criminal law, every step toward the diminution of war, every step toward better treatment of the colored races, or every mitigation of slavery, every moral progress that there has been in the world, has been consistently opposed by the organized churches of the world. I say quite deliberately that the Christian religion, as organized in its churches, has been and still is the principal enemy of moral progress in the world."

From "Fear, The Foundation of Religion":
"Religion is based, I think, primarily and mainly upon fear. It is partly the terror of the unknown and partly, as I have said, the wish to feel that you have a kind of elder brother who will stand by you in all your troubles and disputes. Fear is the basis of the whole thing -- fear of the mysterious, fear of defeat, fear of death. Fear is the parent of cruelty, and therefore it is no wonder if cruelty and religion have gone hand in hand. It is because fear is at the basis of those two things. In this world we can now begin a little to understand things, and a little to master them by help of science, which has forced its way step by step against the Christian religion, against the churches, and against the opposition of all the old precepts. Science can help us to get over this craven fear in which mankind has lived for so many generations. Science can teach us, and I think our own hearts can teach us, no longer to look around for imaginary supports, no longer to invent allies in the sky, but rather to look to our own efforts here below to make this world a better place to live in, instead of the sort of place that the churches in all these centuries have made it."

If there was a "sermon" I read, listened to, and agree with today, it was Russell's words written in 1927 about the reasons he's not a Christian.

Edited: Subject line wasn't as specific as I wanted it to be.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/21/2013 03:30PM by toto.

I couldn't agree more. Churches and religion is about fear. In fact, all control is. If the Church can get you scared of something, they exercise more control. Just like governments, when they instill fear and hate, you turn to them more, building up their power.

Two thoughts: First, I am hard-pressed to find anything that Mormonism has given the world except for Warren Jeffs, the Osmonds, Under the Banner of Heaven, some wierd federal laws in response to polygamy, and the Book of Mormon Musical

Second- It's amazing that great thinkers have been working all these things about for 100+ years!! Meanwhile I was stuck, born inside a wierd cult inside "God's Kingdom" shielded from The Englightenment. Wild wacky stuff