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The New Politics / Religion
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In my opinion, Theism, Atheism, Communism, Socialism, Conservatavism, etc etc are on the wane, and the new hybrid religion / politics is Consumerism.
Do you agree?
Do you agree?
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For more on marking an answer as the "Best Answer", please visit our FAQ.No can't say that I do tbh. I think there are people who like 'stuff'- there always has been- they think having a new whatever it is they want will make them happy, and indeed it might. There are also people who couldn't care less about stuff and hold other things more important- I don't care if I'm sitting on a $20k couch or an orange box, it's who I'm sitting with that's important. I don't think consumerism is any more prevalent today than it's ever been.
No, Theland, the new secular religion is Climate Change.
In the older version man is fallen, paradise is lost and the world turned into thorns and thistles.
St Paul: "For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now.".
The Christian view promises salvation (and a "New Heaven and a New Earth") by God becoming man and sacrificing Himself on the cross. An extraordinary doctrine to an atheist like me. But, at least it has the plausible premise that there is something flawed, and maybe necessarily so about ourselves.
In the new religion it is Man who becomes the saviour and ultimately the creator of the the "new heaven and new earth". The method for achieving this begins with the renunciation of capitalism. The importance of this crusade and the need for chivalrous knights to fight on its behalf excites the moral zeal of the young (and many not so young) and gives them a sense of purpose in the spiritual vacuum created by the death of God (to quote Nietzsche). It also puts the paladins at centre stage: they and they alone can save the planet. The other appeal of the new religion is that it's a Manichaean view which reduces possibly complex arguments into simple right/wrong ones, and the supporters of each cause ino simple sheep anf goat categories. Which I think you may be familiar with.
PS: rant apart, I'm sorry to hear about your continuing ill-health, Theland. Please assume I'm doing whatever the atheist's equivalent of "praying for you" is.
In the older version man is fallen, paradise is lost and the world turned into thorns and thistles.
St Paul: "For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now.".
The Christian view promises salvation (and a "New Heaven and a New Earth") by God becoming man and sacrificing Himself on the cross. An extraordinary doctrine to an atheist like me. But, at least it has the plausible premise that there is something flawed, and maybe necessarily so about ourselves.
In the new religion it is Man who becomes the saviour and ultimately the creator of the the "new heaven and new earth". The method for achieving this begins with the renunciation of capitalism. The importance of this crusade and the need for chivalrous knights to fight on its behalf excites the moral zeal of the young (and many not so young) and gives them a sense of purpose in the spiritual vacuum created by the death of God (to quote Nietzsche). It also puts the paladins at centre stage: they and they alone can save the planet. The other appeal of the new religion is that it's a Manichaean view which reduces possibly complex arguments into simple right/wrong ones, and the supporters of each cause ino simple sheep anf goat categories. Which I think you may be familiar with.
PS: rant apart, I'm sorry to hear about your continuing ill-health, Theland. Please assume I'm doing whatever the atheist's equivalent of "praying for you" is.
Seems to me there's a helofalot more available to consume then there was back when . . . which admittedly is not always necessarily a blessing. I try to be selective as much as I'm able choosing quality over quantity although if the maxim "You are what you eat" bears any credence then I'd be a clown by now.
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Shopping isn't a new religion and it certainly isn't the new politics (I'm struggling to see how you sensibly propose that it is).
There are nearly 70 million people in Britain. Observing people swarming to shopping centres may lead one to believe it is epidemic. But it isn't; it's just a small percentage who indulge.
There are nearly 70 million people in Britain. Observing people swarming to shopping centres may lead one to believe it is epidemic. But it isn't; it's just a small percentage who indulge.