Is Hedonism the new religion?

[Specforces]

he·don·ism

Philosophy. The ethical doctrine holding that only what is pleasant or has pleasant consequences is intrinsically good.

Isn't this considered a dogma by many people nowadays ? Saying you don't believe in hedonism is as much a taboo as being an atheist was in more religious times.

The purpose of hedonism is comparable to other religions, too. Religions were a tool for the upper class to keep the people from revolting. If you believe in life after death, it doesn't matter much if your life sucks.

Capitalists are the upper class today, and they use hedonism to let people put their minds off of their depressing lives. In stead of comforting themselves with an afterlife they comfort themselves with the notion that at least they had pleasure in their lives.

Just as religion leads to ignorance, pleasure does so, too. In the mind of the hedonist, all other ways of life seem absurd. Pleasure is the new God.

Specforces

[Anonymous]

*thinks about it for a significant amount of time*

...and power by nature brings pleasure; so yeah it pretty much all comes down to that.

[alainbryden]

why the hell do I keep getting logged out?

[Laharl]

Re: Is Hedonism the new religion?

Just as religion leads to ignorance,

HAHAHA BULL$HIT.

Let me see... If religion leads to ignorance, then that would mean religious people are ignorant, right?

Why is it that the most intelligent kids I've ever met are highly religious people? I'm willing to bet that out of the top 25 kids in my graduating class at my high school, all but 3 of them were Mormon or Catholic, and devout ones at that.

You might try and put it off as just being "booksmart", but yet again, I'm not using intelligent in ONLY that manner. My father is one of the wisest men you'll ever meet, and guess what? He's a pretty damn religious fellow. Many of the people revered throughout the annals of mankind for their smarts were religious people. Darwin, for example, was a devout Catholic and thought that his survival of the fittest thing he found through study was an absolutely genius thing for God to have done. IIRC, Einstein believed in a higher power. The man commonly considered to be the smartest man currently alive, Stephen Hawking, believe in God. Were these ignorant people?

I didn't think so.

Have a great day.

[Specforces]

Well just as there are always a few people that exceed the norms of a sample, these individuals were indeed exceptional, but if you look at the majority of the people that worship devoutly, you would be singing a different toon. Don't quote a couple of rarities in a world full of idiots. Just because the cereal box was infested by ants, doesn't mean the whole box is screwed up, just the majority of it.

Cheers,

Specforces

(I had to steal it once.)

[alainbryden]

just because they are intelligent, it doesn't mean they aren't ignorant. An ignorant person isn't necessarily stupid. But religion has the purpose of recruiting through brainwashing and bargaining the same way a monopolist has the goal of maximizing profit.

[Laharl]

It's funny how both you guys have proved how ignorant you are yourselves with your claims. *sighs*

OMG U R TEH BRIANWSAHED!!!11

Hmm... let me think a second... I'M not brainwashed. My best friends in my religion aren't "brainwashed". The good majority of truly devout people are ones like me, that went and found out on their own whether what they believed was true or not.

This goes back to my whole popular atheism thing.

[Specforces]

I'm not athiest, agnostic. Big difference.

[alainbryden]

I'm not athiest, nihilist. Not as big a difference.

And if millions of people beleiveing in something with no proof, that never manifests itself in any way whatsoever, just because they've been brought up to isn't brainwashing?...