luka
Well-known member
Are the kinds of the behaviour linked to climate change activists specifically religious? Is the willingness to martyr oneself for a cause specifically religious for instance? My instinct is to say no, it's not.
After the lockdown ...
- Thread starter sufi
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Are the kinds of the behaviour linked to climate change activists specifically religious? Is the willingness to martyr oneself for a cause specifically religious for instance? My instinct is to say no, it's not.
padraig (u.s.)
a monkey that will go ape
compared to 1300s Europe, it is absolutely a far more mundane time
mundane may not be the best word
what I mean is the Black Death occurred at a time that had no experience with a scientific mindset
i.e. there was no way to explain what was happening other than God's wrath or judgment or whatever
I'm not saying that we live in a time of uniform or even widespread individual rationality
but we know what a virus is and how it works
that doesn't preclude God etc as an ultimate cause for believers, but it's a massive buffer
mundane may not be the best word
what I mean is the Black Death occurred at a time that had no experience with a scientific mindset
i.e. there was no way to explain what was happening other than God's wrath or judgment or whatever
I'm not saying that we live in a time of uniform or even widespread individual rationality
but we know what a virus is and how it works
that doesn't preclude God etc as an ultimate cause for believers, but it's a massive buffer
padraig (u.s.)
a monkey that will go ape
if we were talking about a 30-60% like the Black Death, then sure, all bets are off
the plague swept through Europe repeatedly for next several hundred years after that in lesser but still sometimes devastating outbreaks
it doesn't seem to have inspired any particular religious fervor, and possibly the opposite. it was a fact of life.
the plague swept through Europe repeatedly for next several hundred years after that in lesser but still sometimes devastating outbreaks
it doesn't seem to have inspired any particular religious fervor, and possibly the opposite. it was a fact of life.
pattycakes_
Can turn naughty
the problem with a new religion or 'way' is that we're all too individually segregated now. there is almost no true 'us' anymore in the developed world. there will be endless fighting over tiny details on what it should be about etc. and it's exactly that lack of a collective that makes it so easy to manipulate people en masse and sucker so many people into religions and sects because i think we innately need to belong. if you can tend the strings of the consensus, you're pretty much god
padraig (u.s.)
a monkey that will go ape
not all fervor is religious, also
environmentalism largely lacks the spiritual/supernatural element of religion. even when it does exist, it's not intrinsic.
Joan of Arc claimed to have been inspired by visions of angels. Greta Thunberg obviously isn't. it's a bad comparison.
environmentalism largely lacks the spiritual/supernatural element of religion. even when it does exist, it's not intrinsic.
Joan of Arc claimed to have been inspired by visions of angels. Greta Thunberg obviously isn't. it's a bad comparison.
luka
Well-known member
I don't know about this. I think, if we re going to indulge in this thought experiment we have to assume that there will be signs and these will be interpreted in a uniform way across a large body of people. I don't think the best way to imagine this is as something invented in the way Mormonism or Scientology seem laughably invented by an individual human idiot.
pattycakes_
Can turn naughty
idk if l ron hubbard is an idiot. seems pretty shrewd to me. pulled the wool over many an eye
luka
Well-known member
Trump is devilishly shrewd and also an idiot. These things are not mutually exclusive.
pattycakes_
Can turn naughty
what kind of signs do you think could emerge?
pattycakes_
Can turn naughty
hubbard thought up some pretty intricate stories to keep his followers busy with though. he was a sci fi writer afterall
luka
Well-known member
There were the flagellants. And bear in mind this all happened within the context of a society which was already uniformly religious.
luka
Well-known member
A pattern and therefore an implied meaning, real or imagined, to who survives or who dies for instance. Or to what countries are affected. Or miracles associated with whatever... People returning from the brink of death and attributing that to whatever
IdleRich
IdleRich
Yeah this sounds like that "science is a religion cos they get dressed up in special clothes and meet in a building like a place of worship" - sure there are similarities but there are much more important differences.
Anyway, new religions, when Communism collapsed in Russia there was a growth in religion. Sure Christianity came back with a vengeance - and Putin was shrewd enough to enlist it as an ally instead of fighting it like his predecessors - but lots of little cults and stuff flourished for a while which is maybe not known so well if you are outside Russia. Not necessarily new religions but new to Russia and people were signing up to them all over the shop... looking for something to fill the void of the collapsed belief system I suppose. Now i don't think that this situation is going to result in the collapse of Capitalism (whatever that means) but it seems reasonable that some individuals might have their belief in it as a system shaken or destroyed and might also be looking for something to fill the void that leaves.
padraig (u.s.)
a monkey that will go ape
I should've been more clear maybe, I don't mean no new sects will arise. they very well may.
new sects are always arising. they will as long as people seek answers to unanswerable questions, so likely for as long as human existence is a thing.
I just don't think there will be - barring a massive jump in death toll - a large swell of religious faith/zeal, or anything like the flagellants.