This man has decided to use a master lock, which means we really don't need any tools at all. We're simply going to hit the lock in this one spot and we'll be in their house
Seriously how often has the "What's the biggest scam" question appeared and how many people have said "religion"? This question just feels kind of lazy.
I dont have any idea what my karma is much less the account on some post I'm scrolling by. Hell, I dont even know what the account/karma is of this thread i have commented on at this point. Fuck, I couldn't even name a redditor account if my life depended on it.
Frigging children have waaaayyyy too much time on their hands.
I would bet 99% of the accounts with the most karma are bots or fragile humans just reposting stuff. It's not difficult or creative- you set up an algorithm that just reposts most popular posts, over and over and over til there's a decay then use historical data to fine-tune how long before you post it again.
Point being its ironic you used "trust" in your description - the accounts with karma would be the ones I trust the least. Wither because they're just reposters OR because they're so desperate for karma that they just post what they know people will agree with. No critical thinking, challenging thoughts, or intelligent debate going on. They just comment with what they know everyone wants to hear. Nothing risky, no boundaries pushed.
It’s not just the biggest scam in the world, it is also the most harmful one. The priest cast of each of the big religions has not just fooled people for more than 2000 years, it has also caused wars, witch hunts and atrocities of the worst kind. Additionally, whenever they are strong enough, religions suppress dissent, science, critical thinking, and women’s rights.
Have you read the Bible, or any scripture, religious people do not in anyway follow these, they use them as an excuse to make themselves seem high and mighty,
I've read the Bible cover to cover. Let's just say if religious people do follow it chapter and verse it doesn't make it any less abhorrent. The Bible is chock full of God slaughtering people including babies just 'cause.
What they are trying to say is, the people who have commited those atrocities, condemning others for their religion, or are doing horrible deeds in the name of god, are actually twisting the words of their scripture, or straight up creating it out of thin air, and not actually preaching the word of their god.
I think this is one of the most powerful arguments against the christian bible as well. For the idea that this book is “god’s word”, and for the more extreme of them, “perfect”, but yet I could improve upon it in 5 seconds: “Thou shall not have slaves”.
If a human can improve on it so easily, doesn’t seem like some perfect paragon of morality.
...and IMHO the promise of an afterlife makes believers comfy to endure any shit in the present, means it torpedoes any motivation to risk something (revolution etc.) and helps to cement the status quo.
It’s no coincidence that what is currently happening in the US political system was architected by the Heritage Foundation, a Christian political think tank.
I mean most of America is becoming atheist/agnostic/non-practicing at this point, not like it's a reddit specific thing people on here are just younger and therefore even less likely to be religious
Yup. If I’m religious, why would I bother engaging with that? That’s not someone looking for a discussion through listening and understanding, Thats someone trying to pick a fight.
While I completely agree with your statement about them looking for an argument, there are plenty of people that have nothing better to do than exactly that.
Backing up your perspective a tad. It's an evolution thing. A community that cooperates and works harder is more fit to succeed in their environment.
It's no wonder the most successful religions are the ones that tell you to work hard and have compassion for people you don't know.
"Work hard, play nice and you'll go to the special place when it's all over" is a pretty powerful tool in getting every ounce of work out of an individual.
Now, we're at a place in modern society where we can understand why caring for others is important, we should probably keep teaching that so we can back off from the easily corruptible religious way of thinking.
The biggest scams always involve giving people confidence in the existence some form of magic. You can call it all kinds of things; Spirituality, souls, reincarnation, sin, prophecy, curses, spells. All different ways of saying magic. But magic always ends up being a lie.
Well if your intention is to challenge the claim, it's important not to get too emotional about the wording.
IDK if you're feeling defensive about religion or fancy yourself a budding debate lord, so maybe you can share more about this scenario. but for me deep conversations about ideas like the whole point of religion can be very revealing, interesting and savoury. It's a chance to get to know someone and how they tick.
You could try focusing the response to questioning what is meant by "scam". Get on the same page about what that means in specific terms.Just remember, dont be defensive or sensitive for your ideal while this other person waxes on about the connection between religion and scamming.
I for one, like many here do entertain that there is an indelible link between religion, religious institutions and their failings to deliver on the central message of distilling loving kindness for the world, but it doesn't stop me from also holding out hope that religion can provide some good.
but maybe that just makes me a mark for the scam hah
I would agree with the speaker.
At its best, religion is crowd control. Mostly it's just another way to form groups, consolidate some power, and then unleash it on people. Anything good that can be identified flowing from religion could be had without it, too. And if there was no religion, there would be no clerics. What a wonderful world that would be. Hold your spirituality closely. Learn to think for yourself. Eschew religion in all its forms.
More or less yeah. Religion itself was an inevitable byproduct of evolving to the point of having existential questions with limited ability to answer them. The moment someone decided to channel that desire into rituals that required some sort of material contribution to an entity that didn’t need it was when it became a scam.
The biggest issue with religion is that there are too many for them all to be right. The fact that kings and emperors have been able to create/swap religions shows how nonsensical it is. Not to mention the religion people ascribe to is based largely on geography. Then, even within a religion, there are factions at odds with one another. Science and human ingenuity are the only things worth pursuing.
It bothers me that so many people on reddit are anti-religion. The religions of the world are so diverse, and there are so many beautiful ideas, practices, and beliefs that are contained within them. Many religious people just want to love God and do good to others. Of course there are bad parts in any religion, and people of all religions do bad things, but that doesn't mean all religions are evil. A person's connection to their faith is often personal, comforting, and meaningful. There is a lot of beauty in religion, but I feel like people can't see that because they only see the bad actions and ideas of a couple ones.
Look Im saying this as an atheist, Why must we be so against religion? It is unfair to point to the bad actors and say that the entire thing is evil. yes megachurches are evil and people use it for hate but I know from personal expirience that people also use it to guide themselves and do good. And also the entire thing about "Science vs religion" is just unnecesary because both I dont see how science could interfere with it and because ironically the church used to be a great sciencetific force in the past, I see everything about how evolution is fake or that vaccines are bad and I know that that isnt what religion is or should be.
If you need the fear of eternal damnation to do good, you're not a good person by definition. You're just afraid. And that's what religion is doing. It scares people into doing good.
And people who have done bad shit in the past probably sleep well regarding the afterlife, if you don't believe in God the Devil and all that, just a void after death, then eternal damnation is a bridge to be crossed only if its proved to be true.
And morally just people have morals without the ten commandments and similar saying what not to do.
And yet it usually has the opposite effect. They think they have to “get out of jail free” card and it allows them to do the most horrible things like raping children.
Because all in all, religion causes more harm than good. Every time religions get the smallest bit of leverage, they use it to persecute people who don’t believe in the same thing, and also people who believe (under cover of "your life is shit now because of us but just wait for the afterlife").
Religion just holds us back as a species for the profit of elites.
As an agnostic agree 100%, so many cases of the whole "I'm only good because I'm afraid of hell" poison the barrel but some religious people are genuinely good. Sure they use the guiding principles of their religion to be good but you can tell they're also the type to be just as good people if they were atheists. My best friend is one of those, and holy shit the fucking celebration I would throw if they eventually deconstruct because the hurt they get from the other ""holy"" fucks is deserving of the hell they're all so afraid of.
Religion is an inherent component of human psychology and its hatred is largely rooted in Marxist or Nietzsche's philosophy both of which are worse than the religion being criticized 95+% of the time.
The hatred of religion is "justified" without any type of comparative analysis to alternative systems, when comparative analysis is fundamentally required to call something harmful. I would rather work with the practicing muslim, christian, jew or buddhist than the Marxist adherent or the egoist following Nietzsche.
"who are you, and how did you get into my house?"
Im a locksmith and I’m a locksmith.
New fear... unlocked....
Hello, I am lockpicking lawyer and in this episode we are lockpicking this man's house.
Subscribe
This man has decided to use a master lock, which means we really don't need any tools at all. We're simply going to hit the lock in this one spot and we'll be in their house
Hello, A. Locksmith! Now, get the fuck out!
That’s Mr. Locksmith to you.
r/unexpectedpolicesquad
Don't Smith my lock please.
Sir, this is a Wendy's.
“It’s…it’s you! The Hero of Kvatch! This is truly an honor!”
You're asking reddit, I think you know the answer lol
Seriously how often has the "What's the biggest scam" question appeared and how many people have said "religion"? This question just feels kind of lazy.
Or it's karma farming.
It is. OP’s account is less than a month old and the only posts it’s made are on this sub or askreddit style posts on its own profile.
Might even be a straight up bot.
Also notice that all of their posts were posted twice. 100% a bot.
I was going to say (with satirical intent) “isn’t religion just karma farming in the real world?” But then I realized that…maybe it actually is.
Or Palantir, compiling a list.
Oh, that sweet, juicy, invisible internet points. Am I missing something - what vskue is reddit karma?
Some people sell their accounts on 3rd party websites. More karma = more trustworthy account = more value
"Trustworthy" to the algorithms or to humans?
I dont have any idea what my karma is much less the account on some post I'm scrolling by. Hell, I dont even know what the account/karma is of this thread i have commented on at this point. Fuck, I couldn't even name a redditor account if my life depended on it.
Frigging children have waaaayyyy too much time on their hands.
I would bet 99% of the accounts with the most karma are bots or fragile humans just reposting stuff. It's not difficult or creative- you set up an algorithm that just reposts most popular posts, over and over and over til there's a decay then use historical data to fine-tune how long before you post it again.
Point being its ironic you used "trust" in your description - the accounts with karma would be the ones I trust the least. Wither because they're just reposters OR because they're so desperate for karma that they just post what they know people will agree with. No critical thinking, challenging thoughts, or intelligent debate going on. They just comment with what they know everyone wants to hear. Nothing risky, no boundaries pushed.
Im not trying to argue with you, im telling you how it is.
Some people sell their accounts, and older accounts with a lot of karma sell for more money.
No, that's never the top answer actually. That's the point of op being direct this time. Link me such an example if you're so sure.
It’s BuzzFeed looking for story ideas
As an atheist, I would probably just say "woah, nice one Sherlock!"
At least the sass is fun.
The echo chamber has spoken.
Reddit don't reflect the majority of the population
Thank goodness for that because can you imagine if everyone was as neurotic as us?
Or as hubristic
Or autistic
"Jarvis I need karma, ask the redditors about religion."
Jarvis jork it a little
Jarvis make it jiggle 5 percent more
Jarvis make it pink
Jarvis… make her 8 feet tall
And give her a tail
And the sky is blue
It’s not just the biggest scam in the world, it is also the most harmful one. The priest cast of each of the big religions has not just fooled people for more than 2000 years, it has also caused wars, witch hunts and atrocities of the worst kind. Additionally, whenever they are strong enough, religions suppress dissent, science, critical thinking, and women’s rights.
“Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities,"-Voltaire
my man voltaire spitting bars🔥
I didn't realize Voltaire was in Rage Against The Machine.
Have you read the Bible, or any scripture, religious people do not in anyway follow these, they use them as an excuse to make themselves seem high and mighty,
I've read the Bible cover to cover. Let's just say if religious people do follow it chapter and verse it doesn't make it any less abhorrent. The Bible is chock full of God slaughtering people including babies just 'cause.
You should revisit the book, I fear. There are quite a few atrocities committed or commanded by god. The bible isn’t innocent.
?
What they are trying to say is, the people who have commited those atrocities, condemning others for their religion, or are doing horrible deeds in the name of god, are actually twisting the words of their scripture, or straight up creating it out of thin air, and not actually preaching the word of their god.
Ok thanks. I wasn’t comprehending. It’s the No true Scotsman Fallacy.
Which is not true at all. God straight up says slavery is okay in Leviticus 25
I think this is one of the most powerful arguments against the christian bible as well. For the idea that this book is “god’s word”, and for the more extreme of them, “perfect”, but yet I could improve upon it in 5 seconds: “Thou shall not have slaves”.
If a human can improve on it so easily, doesn’t seem like some perfect paragon of morality.
...and IMHO the promise of an afterlife makes believers comfy to endure any shit in the present, means it torpedoes any motivation to risk something (revolution etc.) and helps to cement the status quo.
It’s no coincidence that what is currently happening in the US political system was architected by the Heritage Foundation, a Christian political think tank.
Perverts created religion so they could have access to power over vulnerable people like children. It’s all just a power tool.
And water is wet.
Stop fishing for attention
I'd say they're right lol
"Religion is the biggest scam in the world"
Yup.
Reddit leans atheist, this question is going to get mostly atheist answers.
Almost like an echo chamber
Talking about echos; churches often have a nice acoustic to them
Perfect place to sing the theme song for Halo.
Almost like an echo chamber
Almost like an echo chamber
Almost like an echo chamber
almost like an echo chamber...
In the same way that people believing in evolution is like an echo chamber sure.
I mean most of America is becoming atheist/agnostic/non-practicing at this point, not like it's a reddit specific thing people on here are just younger and therefore even less likely to be religious
Reddit is antitheist
Correct
"I agree completely!"
Humans created God in their image
i prefer my god in the image of a godzilla like creature enjoying a good book while at a starbucks listening to yacht rock.
You just now figured that out?
Majority still haven't
Don't forget that millions if not billions of people haven't. Give OP some credit.
Walk away. Worded that way they are looking for an argument. No one has time for that kind of nonsense.
Yup. If I’m religious, why would I bother engaging with that? That’s not someone looking for a discussion through listening and understanding, Thats someone trying to pick a fight.
While I completely agree with your statement about them looking for an argument, there are plenty of people that have nothing better to do than exactly that.
I would agree wholeheartedly
"k"
This person is looking for someone to react. Whether you agree with them or not, it's best not to engage at all.
It's someone karma farming off the known hate for religion on reddit. Super lazy. It's comical reading all the children / bot responses.
"Tell me something I don't know"
Agree
It was developed to keep us all in check.
Religion has killed an insane amount of people tho
Yeah, and that kept the rest of them in check.
Exactly, it keeps the rest in check.
Religion wasn't developed. It's a result of human psychology. Seeing patterns and wanting someone to be responsible.
And then it transformed into something to keep us in check, but it only works because of the psychological stuff
Backing up your perspective a tad. It's an evolution thing. A community that cooperates and works harder is more fit to succeed in their environment.
It's no wonder the most successful religions are the ones that tell you to work hard and have compassion for people you don't know.
"Work hard, play nice and you'll go to the special place when it's all over" is a pretty powerful tool in getting every ounce of work out of an individual.
Now, we're at a place in modern society where we can understand why caring for others is important, we should probably keep teaching that so we can back off from the easily corruptible religious way of thinking.
Personal beliefs are a result of human psychology. Religions are developed to take advantage of those personal beliefs people have.
I think I believe in time travel now...
Your comment was made 41 minutes ago, in response to a comment made 37 minutes ago. What?
and make a shit ton of money in the process
I do not view religion as a scam, but rather as a tool for controlling the masses.
Correct.
Sounds about right
That's, just, like , your opinion man.
Posting this after Autralia attack..
No agenda here🙄
I'd be more interested as to why it took them so long to realise this.
K
I’d refer them to /r/im14andthisisdeep
Everyone else in this thread too
With applause 👏🏻
The biggest scams always involve giving people confidence in the existence some form of magic. You can call it all kinds of things; Spirituality, souls, reincarnation, sin, prophecy, curses, spells. All different ways of saying magic. But magic always ends up being a lie.
"Sir, this is a Wendy's."
"Less a scam, more an authoritarianism means of control through manipulation"
I would say, "Agreed."
“Duh”
I'd say a bigger scam would be an insurance policy that never paid out. Oh, wait a minute....
Yep. True.
And water is wet
No, water makes things wet, but it isn't wet itself.
I would not disagree.
"I agree with you"
Well duh!
"wow aren't you the intellectual titan!"
I'd say, everyone has their opinions. So, where are you from?
Religion is a tool that can be used in many different ways. Being abuses for money unfortunately is one of them but dont think it is the only use
And?
Agreed.
Next topic.
Well if your intention is to challenge the claim, it's important not to get too emotional about the wording.
IDK if you're feeling defensive about religion or fancy yourself a budding debate lord, so maybe you can share more about this scenario. but for me deep conversations about ideas like the whole point of religion can be very revealing, interesting and savoury. It's a chance to get to know someone and how they tick.
You could try focusing the response to questioning what is meant by "scam". Get on the same page about what that means in specific terms.Just remember, dont be defensive or sensitive for your ideal while this other person waxes on about the connection between religion and scamming.
I for one, like many here do entertain that there is an indelible link between religion, religious institutions and their failings to deliver on the central message of distilling loving kindness for the world, but it doesn't stop me from also holding out hope that religion can provide some good.
but maybe that just makes me a mark for the scam hah
Nod. "Mhm, tell me something I don't know"
I'd agree.
I'd agree
Yep. Grass is green, Dogs hate cats, and forks are usually found in the kitchen.
straight facts
It’s pizza sizing, then religion.
"Yes it is".
With a nod.
I would nod and agree.
I would agree.
True, but don’t underestimate the mental crutch it is for many.
Well it's true. Not much to discuss.
"Tell me something I don't know".
Always has been, and always will be
You don't. They are right.
I say that all the time. React, see if I care.
Do you want to be friends ?
I'd say "yeah I agree with you".
Agree wholeheartedly
High five m8
I agree.
I would nod my head affirmatively.
I would agree with the speaker. At its best, religion is crowd control. Mostly it's just another way to form groups, consolidate some power, and then unleash it on people. Anything good that can be identified flowing from religion could be had without it, too. And if there was no religion, there would be no clerics. What a wonderful world that would be. Hold your spirituality closely. Learn to think for yourself. Eschew religion in all its forms.
Hear hear
Id say are you just figuring that out?
I would agree
More or less yeah. Religion itself was an inevitable byproduct of evolving to the point of having existential questions with limited ability to answer them. The moment someone decided to channel that desire into rituals that required some sort of material contribution to an entity that didn’t need it was when it became a scam.
I'd fist bump them and say "hell yeah".
I wouldn't. It is probably me saying it
I know.
Agreed!
"You only figured that out NOW?"
My response : “wait until you hear about Fiat currency! I’ll go first, have a seat. So, let’s start our story on Jekyll island…. “
Right on!
I’d be the one saying it…
I'd say, you are correct
No, religions definitely are in one way or another. All are a ways to control the people.
"I agree with you"
Agree
I’d shake my head in agreement and walk away…
Agreement.
I’d agree?
"I agree"
“100%correct…next question…”
Hand them a beer because they get it.
true
I think it’s more complicated than that. For some it may be a scam but for others it has given them genuine meaning.
You're right sir, but this is a Wendy's.
Eh...valid
And the opium of the masses, yup.
“The only difference between a cult and a religion is that the leader is dead” - someone
To borrow from Craig Fergusson:
“Who hurt you?”
Welcome to being a teenager. Mind the drugs and try not to cut yourself on all your edge.
'If you think religion is the biggest scam, just wait until you learn about government!'
At least from the government you get something in return
Right, because religious people dont get anything from religion. What a dumb thing to say.
Cries in taxes...
as much as it hurts, some countries show that taxes actually used right can be a good thing. Even high taxes, look at scandinavian countries.
Yup, you get economies of scale & if services are delivered in-house you get the bonus of not having profit extracting from the system.
"I agree"
"Correct"
The biggest issue with religion is that there are too many for them all to be right. The fact that kings and emperors have been able to create/swap religions shows how nonsensical it is. Not to mention the religion people ascribe to is based largely on geography. Then, even within a religion, there are factions at odds with one another. Science and human ingenuity are the only things worth pursuing.
It bothers me that so many people on reddit are anti-religion. The religions of the world are so diverse, and there are so many beautiful ideas, practices, and beliefs that are contained within them. Many religious people just want to love God and do good to others. Of course there are bad parts in any religion, and people of all religions do bad things, but that doesn't mean all religions are evil. A person's connection to their faith is often personal, comforting, and meaningful. There is a lot of beauty in religion, but I feel like people can't see that because they only see the bad actions and ideas of a couple ones.
Look Im saying this as an atheist, Why must we be so against religion? It is unfair to point to the bad actors and say that the entire thing is evil. yes megachurches are evil and people use it for hate but I know from personal expirience that people also use it to guide themselves and do good. And also the entire thing about "Science vs religion" is just unnecesary because both I dont see how science could interfere with it and because ironically the church used to be a great sciencetific force in the past, I see everything about how evolution is fake or that vaccines are bad and I know that that isnt what religion is or should be.
nuance in my reddit comments?? how dare you
If you need the fear of eternal damnation to do good, you're not a good person by definition. You're just afraid. And that's what religion is doing. It scares people into doing good.
And people who have done bad shit in the past probably sleep well regarding the afterlife, if you don't believe in God the Devil and all that, just a void after death, then eternal damnation is a bridge to be crossed only if its proved to be true.
And morally just people have morals without the ten commandments and similar saying what not to do.
And yet it usually has the opposite effect. They think they have to “get out of jail free” card and it allows them to do the most horrible things like raping children.
I think you need to look towards other religions than (americanized) christianity before you talk on religion as a concept.
This is Christianity, not all religions or religious ideas.
Because all in all, religion causes more harm than good. Every time religions get the smallest bit of leverage, they use it to persecute people who don’t believe in the same thing, and also people who believe (under cover of "your life is shit now because of us but just wait for the afterlife").
Religion just holds us back as a species for the profit of elites.
You just summed up the entirity of what politics has been for the past twenty years between the right and left. Politics is the new religion.
As an agnostic agree 100%, so many cases of the whole "I'm only good because I'm afraid of hell" poison the barrel but some religious people are genuinely good. Sure they use the guiding principles of their religion to be good but you can tell they're also the type to be just as good people if they were atheists. My best friend is one of those, and holy shit the fucking celebration I would throw if they eventually deconstruct because the hurt they get from the other ""holy"" fucks is deserving of the hell they're all so afraid of.
Religion is an inherent component of human psychology and its hatred is largely rooted in Marxist or Nietzsche's philosophy both of which are worse than the religion being criticized 95+% of the time.
The hatred of religion is "justified" without any type of comparative analysis to alternative systems, when comparative analysis is fundamentally required to call something harmful. I would rather work with the practicing muslim, christian, jew or buddhist than the Marxist adherent or the egoist following Nietzsche.
If you need a religion to guide you to be good then you have other issues
If someone needs religion to be good, then I’m glad they got religion.
Completely agree.