Yet another religious cult raided

[kandrathe]

If they were mine of course I would. Once they are 18 years old they can do what they like but before that they should obey their parents and I would do anything in my power to stop them from being brainwashed by some priest.

You have a double standard. You say "they should obey their parents", but you are opposed to parents having the right to teach their own children their belief system when their beliefs are in conflict with yours.

And, when you say "brainwashed by some priest", you assert some teaching is brainwashing and some is not. Why is the knowledge pumped into a young person at the University not brainwashing, how about the public school? How will we know when we are being brainwashed, as opposed to being taught?

When Voltaire said, "If there were no God, it would be necessary to invent him." he was reflecting on a phenomena of human existence observed by many philosophers and psychologists, that is in general, people sense a basic need for God. Freud described that people feel powerless and insignificant in the face of the vast universe in which they find themselves, and thus, humans invent God within their imaginations to calm their fears. In contrast, philosopher J. P. Moreland states that "atheism is a result of a desire to kill the father figure (in Freudian language) because one wishes to be autonomous." Man's two greatest drives are his thirst for God and his desire to be autonomous. Man has a void that can only be filled by God. Still, man wants to be his own king. The Christian chooses God over autonomy. The atheist, on the other hand, chooses his own autonomy.

Regardless of my own beliefs, I'm more comfortable with a society that believes in the Christian God, because that limits the extent that they would choose to dominate each other. This is why I emphasize Lockian natural law as the basis of American government. And why most of the founders of America, whether deist, atheist, or theist all went along with the notion. If we are all equal under god, then we each can exert freedom within the constraint of God's laws. When we are each of us Gods, heaven help us.

It is my cynical view on the necessity of religion to provide a structure for civilization, and without this type of structure I feel we are destined to consume each other in endless violence. If you want each person in society to feel autonomous to the society, then promote atheism. If you want each person in society to be subservient to the society, then promote belief in a Higher power, or at least Lockian natural law.