In the latest series of cases involving blasphemy laws in Indonesia, a TikToker with more than than 2 million followers is found guilty and jailed for two years for saying an Islamic phrase before eating crispy pork skin.
Religion is nonsensical - anyone claiming supernatural abilities or visions or prophethood today is rightly treated for a mental disorder
The only way to keep people under the influence of religion is to enforce it as the norm. It's like the horse tied to a plastic chair - once you see the reality of it all, you're free
Religion is nonsensical - anyone claiming supernatural abilities or visions or prophethood today is rightly treated for a mental disorder
It seems everyone is prone, though. Even those who are supposedly the enlightened. Just look at the religion of post-secondary education – promising supernatural abilities to magically increase one's income, even going as far as threatening to forever stricken you to the hell of flipping burgers at McDonalds if you don't give praise to the deity. Meanwhile the data clearly shows that the promises have never materialized. Incomes are stagnant, job quality has declined, etc.
Fascinating how the religious will try to 'defend' religion with silly non-sequiturs, purposefully ignoring the issues their religion has. I guess that's the very nature of religion.
Literally every study I’ve ever seen done on whether or not college is worth the money concludes that on average, it is and by a large margin
Is there a reason you didn't link to those studies instead, then?
All three of the linked studies only show that those with down syndrome will not go as far in life as those who were born highly capable. Which surprises nobody, but has nothing to do with post-secondary education. There is nothing in there to suggest that graduating from college will cure down syndrome, as neat as that would be.
Religion truly is strange. Now we even have the devout shouting "heretic" when their religion is called into question.
I get why you want to think that your deity creates all people as equals, only differentiated in whether or not they chose to attend college, but that's not how it actually works in the real world. There are huge differences between individuals. Many do not even have the capacity to graduate from college, no matter how much they want to. Those same struggles impact them throughout all of life.
To point out that those with such struggles do not make as much money as those with higher capabilities is interesting, I guess, if not blatantly obvious, but has nothing to do with post-secondary education. Again, there is nothing to suggest that graduating from college can cure what ails you.
Definitely still interested in the studies you spoke of earlier.
I agree that there are major issues with the cost of education, but I don't see similarities between belief in religion and belief that education is a worthwhile investment
I get the impression you are mixing up religion with "the church". The church can be quite valuable as a social community centre. Likewise, post-secondary schools no doubt offer similar community value. But we're talking about the belief system people have built up around it. One that often makes unfounded spiritual claims and threatens repercussions to those who do not attend church/school. That is where religion enters the picture and post-secondary education seems to be especially attractive to religious-types.
I'm talking about beliefs, including, but not limited to: people walking on water, filling a boat with a pair of every animal in existence, and travelling to heaven to negotiate, with God, the number of daily prayers required by a believer. None of these things have actually been witnessed, because they simply didn't happen
With respect to the belief that schooling can result in the obtaining of lucrative employment - many people, including myself, have witnessed students acquiring skills and experience in school that they used to obtain jobs that provide ample wages
They have. I have watched people walk on water. Of course, not in some magical way... all very explainable when you understand the underlying trick.
many people, including myself, have witnessed students acquiring skills and experience in school that they used to obtain jobs that provide ample wages
Likewise, simply watching someone go to college and get a job afterwards is not sufficient evidence that college is the reason for the outcome.
What we do know is that incomes have held stagnant through the rise of post-secondary schooling. This tells that some people always found higher paying jobs and other people always found lower paying jobs. What it also tells is that more people haven't found higher paying jobs after going to college. If the more and more people going to college were finding more and more higher paying work then the aggregate income mathematically could not be stagnant. But it is.
So, what you have is an extraordinary claim. Unless you just want to buy into a religion and believe everything you see at the surface level, extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence. What controls do you have to ensure that you've not just missed an underlying trick?
Frankly, I am unsure of how to interpret this ad homiem. Do you honestly believe it has relevance to the discussion, or is it intended as a "go away you heretic"?
It's a crude, and admittedly unbecoming act of disengagement
Please accept my apologies for my rudeness
This discussion isn't heading towards any sort of mutual agreement, understanding, or knowledge sharing, so let's end it and move onto more interesting things
This discussion isn’t heading towards any sort of mutual agreement, understanding, or knowledge sharing
Oh? Surely that would only be possible if religion is coming into play. And if it is that religion is coming into play, then we've still learned something – it being the topic of discussion.