• catsarebadpeople
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    4 months ago

    You’re right. It should say “most religions”. Jainists are the top example of a non harmful religion but very few Jainists exist. Sikhs do seem pretty cool but I haven’t done too much research on them. Buddhism is actually rife with violence and encourages masochism though the Zen sect is definitely better.

    I think the real point though is that saying, “I’m religious”, should be an embarrassing and negative statement. Not something that means the person should automatically be given the benefit of the doubt because a minority of religious people are just harmlessly misinformed. It’s like saying, “I’m a cannibal, but don’t worry, I’m part of a special Zen cannibal sect that only eats people after they die of natural causes and consented to being eaten because we think that it really helps the circle of life and the environment”. It’s not technically hurting anyone but it’s still weird and when you hear cannonball in general you should still automatically assume that person is dangerous.

    • androogee (they/she)@midwest.social
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      4 months ago

      Different person sticking their nose in, but I really respect what the Satanic Temple is doing. Like in general, but also specifically their stance that religion should not be ceded as the territory of superstition.

      Like it or not, religion is one of the fundamental building blocks of community. It provides gathering. At its best it encourages sharing, both of burdens and of blessings. Prayer is so often just meditation focused on helping one another.

      I was raised in Christianity, and I am downright resentful of so much of what they did to me. But god I miss the community. Kink is the closest thing I have found in secularism.

      No Satanic Temple near me unfortunately. I’d love to have something like that in my life.

      • Machinist@lemmy.world
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        4 months ago

        Holy cow! I have my TST card and everything. Kink has been incredibly important to my girl and I building a feeling of community.

        Was in the hospital once. My family organized prayer circles and shit and I had to shut off Facebook. Then they tried to do some deathbed conversion shit while I was on heavy opiates. I giggled at the guy they sent to my room and called him an alien. The kink community brought my girl, and our former partner, food and ran errands for us. Ran interference with the hospital over our poly realtionship. The kink community took care of my people when I couldn’t.

        Like any other community, it has its problems, but has been pretty wholesome.

        I bet you and I would get along well.

      • catsarebadpeople
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        4 months ago

        Agreed on all accounts. I hope that things like the Satanic Temple will be the norm someday where people can have a community without the lies and abuse that are currently synonymous with religion. Interesting about Kink. Glad it’s working out for you.