Countries and Religions...what's different?

It seems to me that there is no real difference between countries and religions. They are both dependent upon people being born within certain boundaries and words (constitutions) written by men who have a monetary advantage by the adherance to those laws (taxes). Without these borders and words, we would be living in a place in which every one born would only be called 'Earthling', not Protestant or Russian.

In religions, people are seperated by what they are told to believe, not what they feel they ought to believe.
In countries, people are told what laws they are to be held by, not what their conscience tells them they ought to live by.

Religions are organizations of the mind. A conspiracy!
Countries are organizations of the body. Also a conspiracy!

Get rid of countries and we free the body, get rid of religion and free the soul.

Any thoughts?

From 200 miles in space there are no boundaries. No countries, no different religions, etc. Just a beautiful blue orb GOD put us in charge of and we are doing a real crappy job of it.

I agree wholeheartedly about banning religion (the scourge of man) but in this day and age I do believe that we should have borders if only to stop overcrowding but then again I believe that there are too many people on the earth and if say a third/ half were wiped out/ moved to another planet then borders would not be required after all we are all humans first and foremost.

G

very nice sounding idea but humans will be humans for that idea to be working you would need to reset the collective memory of a few billion people and start from scratch , changing the "system" is not going to be enough i'm affraid

Of course it wouldn't work, but we can all dream cant we

Originally posted by Hvitserk

"reset the collective memory" and "start from scratch"

Sorry to pick phrases out of your post, but I think they are noteworthy.

I've been thinking for a long time that this has happened before, in the not so distant past. Great dynasties rise and fall, as demonstrated by the Maya, Toltecs, India, Crete, Romans, Early Kingdoms of Egypt, Eastern Europeans etc. I could go on for pages of examples in just the historical record.
Looking further back, it interests me that North america once had huge populations of giraffe, lions and elephant (among others) of which few living remnants survive. This leaves me to believe in the catastrophic events which have changed the fauna of continents.

I believe we are only scratching the surface of the history of this planet and, as geology and archeology begins to complete the jigsaw puzzle of the story of mankind, I think we're going to see examples of starting from scratch and resetting the collective memory.

I agree with you that it is going to have to be more than just changing the system, as you say, but I also think we are on the brink of just exactly what it is going to take.

You'll not be able to get rid of God, and that is the main desire of the wretched human.

Uh, yeah, great idea; let's get rid of the organized way we see to road upkeep, common defense, etc.

Wow! Too bad the world isn't so over-simplified, or you might have something. As it stands, no.

If we had no gods we would have far fewer conflicts, fights and wars, but people are too blind, as you suggested, to realize any of this.

Originally posted by Thomas Crowne
You'll not be able to get rid of God, and that is the main desire of the wretched human.

Uh, yeah, great idea; let's get rid of the organized way we see to road upkeep, common defense, etc.

Wow! Too bad the world isn't so over-simplified, or you might have something. As it stands, no.

I'm sorry to feel the need to answer on this, TC...but I do.

You say I'll not be able to get rid of God. In one way, I agree with you, since I'm a Pantheist. It would be difficult to get rid of the very stuff of which I'm made... I believe that all of creation is the Creator.

Also I'm a Deist and thereby consider the Creator to be seperated. Knowing how incompatible this may sound to you, let me explain...

A Deist will tell you that the Deity created the universe, figured it looking good, and left that universe to fend for itself. A Pantheist, on the other hand, will tell you that the Creator is dreaming the universe and that the universe is the Creator Itself, that every atom in the universe is part and parcel of the Creator.

In either case, we are left to fend for ourselves...what we do is written in the records of our souls (our souls being the stuff of the Creator).

I do not believe in a God that has a hand in current affairs on Earth and that is where we differ.

The belief you have is every bit as credible as mine and I respect your faith in it. We both believe in the truth of a soul and that is most important... because having that belief, IMO, makes us want to behave honestly to our conscience.

About the road upkeep and common defences, I would like to point out the fact that 'roads' were kept up before the European invasion of the Americas and that trade flourished (for ages previous) between the Algonkian tribes of the North Eastern quadrant of the North American continent and the Central American peoples. These roads may not be 6 lane freeways built for 18 wheelers, but the paths and waterways at that time did the job just as well, if not as fast

The reason for this thread, as first laid out, was to point out that religions and countries both shared the same basis. Both were contrived to encompass the masses in order to keep their neighbours at bay through the threat of war.

I have no desire to push my beliefs on others, including you, but I hope you will respect my beliefs as I respect yours.



[edit on 20-8-2005 by masqua]