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Religion is totalitarian. All islamojudeochristians are fucked because of original sin. You are born into sin and you can only try to seek redemption. Abraham, the father of the people of the book, was going to kill his own son. His son did not ask for that. So instead he mutilates his penis. Then he goes on to mutilate the penises of his slaves, who did not agree to the supposed covenant with god. You ever hear of the expression "slave of allah"? Christ claimed that the kingdom of heaven can only be entered through him. The free will claim was made by jesuits after the printing press was developed. People started reading the bible and saying "hey bishop, the stuff you said isn't even in this book. What are you trying to teach us?" So the jesuits learned to argue their asses off to confuse people and keep them in the catholic church. The ones who didn't became protestants. That is why jesuit schools like Georgetown university produce so many lawyers and diplomats. Clinton was jesuit trained. He got to stand there and ask for the definition of what is is.
Religion and culture and arbritrary rules. You can argue that prohibitions against eating swine, shellfish, lobsters and such helped prevent illness in desert situation with inadequate food storage. So religious rules incorporated that as a protection. However, religions do not evolve. Now we know that pork is just as safe to eat as other meats . But a religion cannot admit it was wrong, because it would be evolving. So eating pork is still blasphemy. There is your arbitrary bullshit made up rule.
Your comments about religion not seeking to control show a clear lack of understanding of the motivations of the religious institutions, their propensity for power grabbing and consolidation, and their willingness to sacrifice others for their own gain. Stop pretending that religions are based on a real supernatural force and instead look at the reasons religions exist. Power, control, the ability of the few to manipulate the many. Follow the money.
Other than that, I have no more to discuss. Nitpick every little point you want, but the thrust of my message is there.
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