On 2/12/08 8:58 PM, in article 8LKdnSORVMpoCizaRVnyiwA@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
"Midwinter"
<midwinter_m@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote:
> bob young <alaspectrum@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> said :
>
>> OED 'SCAM' - a trick or swindle, a fraud.
>>
>> It is a scam because thousands preach to millons making claims on
>> subjects that have never been verified and claiming them to be 'facts'
>> . The swindle is worsened when it is perpetrated on children at an
>> age where they normally find the data becomes lodged in their brains
>> for the rest of their lives.
>>
>> If that is not a scam I don't know what is.
>
> Okay, so we presume that you're using a definition of 'religion' that
> requires preaching. That narrows the field a little and already
> invalidates your sweeping use of the word 'religion'.
>
> Still then, a fraudster usually hopes to make some material gain from
> fraud. So what material gain does a religious person seek? Bearing in
> mind once again that your answer would need to include *all* religious
> people.
Oh dear, Oh dear, fifty years ago one of the richest institutions
worldwide
was The Roman Catholic Church.
And it is not simply monetary, it is a question of satisfying a need to
have
control over others, it being one of homo sapiens basic instincts going
back
to the day when he went out obediently behind his group leader in search
of
food.
Later someone invented a god that became a welcome alternative to a group
leader who, on many occasions, could be a bit of a bastard.
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