Are you implying that all pursuits of religious and spiritual enlightenment are a form of brainwashing?
"The unexamined life is not worth living." -- Socrates
Spiritual enlightenment, no. Organized religious pursuits, pretty much.
For an agnostic such as myself, most organized Christian religions do seem to be really big on brainwashing and absolute conformity. It's pretty much along the lines of "You have to believe what I believe or you are going STRAIGHT TO HELL!". I've quoted Marx before, so I'll rely on my old dead pal again: "Religion is the opiate of the masses". But that, of course, was before the advent of television and the internet.
Don't get me wrong; I wasn't raised as a pagan. My parents made sure that I attended a Baptist church on a regular basis for the first seventeen years of my life. I duly memorized all the parables and verses that the leaders of my church though important. I attended all the various organized functions and joined the church-based "clubs" that the leaders thought important. I was fat, dumb and happy.
However, during the second twenty years of my life, I did an unthinkable and horrible thing in the eyes of the "church". I did some independent thinking and research. I found that religion has been used as a tool to subjugate the unwashed masses for thousands of years. Religion has been (and still is) frequently used to forward the agendas of various potentates, religious leaders and even some of the nuts right here on SI.
Wrap yourself in a religious cloak and you can claim (and do) anything . Murder, torture, theft, rape. You name it and somebody has done it in the name of God.
Well, I guess I'm just not a "Good Christian" and will burn eternally in Hell anyway, so detract away. |
