One of my friends has been trying to get me to convert to Christianity recently, but I'm hung up on how it seems to be derivative of older religions and not a sudden novel truth in itself. How far does the rabbit hole of religions rebranding themselves go in the Middle East?
magical thinking goes back well into prehistory, but the egyptian religion is probably the oldest one we have a full understanding of because it only went extinct in the 5th century AD, its well over 5000 years old.
I hate to break it to you anon, but as a student of history I've come to the conclusion that there is no true religion. All of man's religions were created by men as a means to explain the world and stave off existential dread.
Probably some shamans or something in mesopotamia are the first or among the first to have gods. Reminder that religion is for people who are too afraid to accept death *tips fedora*
>>3099877
Animism
How will poltards ever recover?
http://www.monitor.co.ug/artsculture/Reviews/Ancient-Egyptian-Pharaohs-related-to-Ugandans---DNA/691232-2419938-lf2y6h/index.html
The Nubians, who were sub-saharan Africans, conquered Egypt and ruled it for about 300 years. They weren't Egyptians, just foreign conquerors, but nevertheless black people did rule Egypt. Just like Romans, Greeks, and Turks ruled it for centuries at a time later on. That doesn't make any of those groups Egyptian, it makes them invaders.
>>3098612
>When DNA says they're near eastern and European(with zero corroborating archeological) "They're Egyptians"
>When DNA says they're african(which happens to have a ton of corroborating archeology) "They're invader"
Hmmm?
>.co.ug
embarrassing
Why does sex keep tricking people into having kids they don't wan't?
>>3116250
Because it feels good
because ppl are retards
>>3116250
because that's literally the intended goal behind sexual instinct. we're biologically programmed to propagate the species because DNA seems to be obsessed with doing that. this is like asking
>why does food keep tricking people into becoming fatasses?
because that's the whole point
>Person 1: I am a member of the religion X
>Person 2: Do you believe in everything that religion X teaches and follow its tenets?
>Person 1: No
>pic related
How do we destroy cultural faith?
>>3116223
how does one get to a point where it's worth getting angry about something like this? it's always been this way. religion, and spirituality by extension, is almost pure subjectivity. it doesn't take a genius to see that even within the same religion there are several branches that take their own approach to practice and the same could be done on an individual level. the only real difference between the role of religion throughout history compared to contemporary religious practice is that organized religion fulfilled the more functional purpose of unifying and empowering communities to grow in strength and size. in the contemporary world, there are a litany of technologies and social structures that carry out this function in place of religion, so practice becomes more personal than communal.
nbd anon. carry on
>>3116257
If you say you're a Muslim, and have a tattoo for example, or don't pray 5 times everyday, and STILL call yourself a Muslim, that is what makes me mad. Like just call yourself an atheist ffs
>>3116223
>destroy cultural faith
>Luther is no more
>welcome to Pope's domain, obey him
How does it feel to be a tool?
>if you dont atone for your sins, you will go to hell ~ says God
>if you dont pay taxes and get a job, defend your country and kill other humans for it, you will be homeless outlaw and an outcast ~ says the State
>if you dont exercise and look fit, you will die young ~ says Science
>if you dont have a gf, dont marry or have kids or even friends, there's something wrong with you ~ says Society
>if you stop learning and cut yourself from the world, you will fall into degeneracy ~ says the Society
>>3116150
They are not wrong tho
>if you don't focus on spending your time in a balanced pursuit of passion and fulfillment (duty) you'll end your short time on this earth with regret
Says reality
>>3116156
you meant capitalism and consumerism
>>3113534
>>3113534
This image is for you OP
I heard he was punished. What was his crime?
Apology
Imagine if he had a debate with Molyneux. Truly some philosophy kino.
Being white
Why did France end up winning the Hundred Years War despite England consistently defeating them in battle?
>>3111195
Because England only won during the first part of the war
After one point, England kept getting inflicted humiliating defeats (Patay, Formigny, Gerberoy...etc) until the decive one, Castillon, that ended the war in France's favor
>>3111195
What battles did the english won besides meme victories like Crecy?
>>3111195
>implying spending 100 years trolling the French before strategically retreating counts as a loss.
What are some wars which have been won primarily on the superior industrial might of one side over the other?
The most obvious i can immediately think of are the 2nd World War and the American civil War.
>>3115943
Every European versus native war ever.
The first Gulf War.
>>3115943
Second Sino-Japanese war i'd say
I miss oratory, /his/. What happened? Why are modern politicians just bumbling idiots?
look mom i learned a word
>>3115626
Teleprompters kinda lowered the speech skill threshold for being a politician.
David Hume actually wrote a very interesting essay on this (link bellow). He wrote about how modern people had developed on all of the great talents of the ancients (technology, philosophy and governance) except for rhetoric.
He argued two reasons why this might be the case; the first was that great orators tend to have a background in law/justice and in ancient times laws were relatively few and vague hence being a good lawyer or judge relied not on research ability and reason so much as charisma unlike in the modern legal system.
Hence without this central training ground for oratory the practice diminished in relevance and use.
The second and more optimistic was that society had matured and saw the dangers in and manipulation that flows from oratory.
The third and probably weaker argument was that there was less great/terrible events and opportunities to inspire great oratory.
http://www.econlib.org/library/LFBooks/Hume/hmMPL13.html
What would the West have been if the Dharma were introduced on it instead of christianity?
What could be the future of the West if an actual Western Buddhism (neither new age hippie nor tibetan zealot purism) is developed?
Don´t mean to hijack the thread, but if anyone can recommend me a book on what actual Japanese buddhists believed and how they practiced, as opposed to what they >should believe and how they >should practice according to blase, latte-drinking, atheist, Western academic converts?
>>3115624
i could see it now. probably new schools would develop and would syncretize with paganism. then varg would be critisizing it as indian influence on nordic european culture.
>>3115640
Buddhists are separated into two groups. Lays and monks. Lays only pay lip service. Monks are the real stream-enterers.
Mahanayana claim is even lip-service alone is better than nothing since that builds up over time, however small.
Tell me the history of 4chan!
>>3115163
>2018 4chan owners secretly sell the site to CNN for millions of dollars who immediately doxes thousands of /pol/ posters
>For the purpose of determining what is history, please do not start threads about events taking place less than 25 years ago.
>>3115204
Okay, so start from 25 years ago.
I have a problem. I feel like there's a need for spirituality within me, but I'm too rational. Faith is too much of a jump from atheism. What do I do?
>>3115115
Grow up.
>but I'm too rational.
pic related
Become one of those retarded Atheists who claim that you can be spiritual and rational at the same time, because life is all about lying in order to placate people.
>>3115115
>I feel like there's a need for spirituality within me
So you're telling me that you're terrified of how meaningless the universe seems? That's perfectly normal once you've come to such a blindingly obvious conclusion.
Just embrace Absurdism and make the most of the little time that you have in your life. Alternatively you could follow existentialist philosophies such as Nietzche's, but it's entirely up to you.
Faith that some mysterious, paternalistic supreme being is going to save you, will do you more harm than good and you know that.
Too much text or just right?
>muh board culture
>>3114992
Third one should be
>H
>R
>E
Which president was the worst and why is it pic related?
>>3114913
woodrow wilson was definitely worse
>>3114913
LBJ