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Great answers, all of them. I do not disagree with any that these are very destructive lies that affect humankind. I will try to post more when I've given your replies some thought. Thank you.
I disagree I would not say that the above are all myths there are some truth especially in the last one. I have seen this happen Karma does exsit.
Disagree, I've met some truly evil people and they lived a long happy life & the living
have not suffered any consequences (btw we are talking about serious issues like
breaking laws, tax fraud, cheating, abusing others........).
What is the most harmful myth/lie that can be perpetuated by humans to humans?
I really hope to get some answers in this thread. Please feel free to explain your answer at length or if you just want to leave a short answer - that's good too.
The most harmful myth / lie that can be perpetuated by humans to humans is that liberalism is the best (or only acceptable) way to run a country. (In America, that includes "government knows best".)
This lie has irreversibly damaged American society, as well as the societies of other countries.
The proof is in the numbers (all of which are American).
1913: 0% (no income tax at all at the federal or state levels, nor sales taxes)
2013: 39.6% (plus several more percentage points in state income tax, municipal income tax, state and local sales tax, etc)
(Yet, some call losing ~50% of your income to taxes "progress".)
AVERAGE INCOME to MEDIAN HOUSE PRICE RATIO:
1940: 60%
2010: 22%
(The average house is now three times more expensive to the average worker than it was in 1940. Yet, this is "progress".)
HIGH SCHOOL GRADUATION RATE:
1966: ~77% (the Department of Education wasn't even close to existing back then)
2005: ~76%
(39 years later and the development of huge government bureaucracies like the Department of Education and No Child Left Behind... yet, essentially no change to the graduation rate! And don't get me started on the "dumbing-down" of graduation standards so that more people will graduate. But this is "progress".)
Do I really need to go on?
That is, by far, the most nefarious lie ever propagated upon humans, if you overlook the original "Go ahead, Eve, eat that apple! It's good for you and it'll give you wisdom like God!".
Religion has actually convinced people that there's an invisible man, living in the sky, who watches everything you do every minute of every day of your life. And has has a list of ten things he does not want you to do. And if you do any, any, of these ten things, he has a special place full of fire and smoke and ash and torture where he will send you to suffer and burn and scream and cry forever until the end of time!
1) That there is no God, or no personal God who rewards good deeds and punishes bad deeds.
2) That there is no right or wrong; it's all relative. "If it feels good, do it!"
3) That there is no hell.
4) That all truth can be reduced to physics.
One of the biggest lies I can think of is the idea that the lives of some people are worth less than the lives of others.
Those of different religions who would persecute us just because of what we believe, murderers who take the lives of others, every type of abuser imaginable who poison the lives of their victims, heads of huge corporations who pollute and mutate our land and food supply for their financial gain, everyone who would inflict any type of evil imaginable upon another... it seems to me that all of them have bought into this lie.
I hope y'all don't mind me butting in . I usually hang out in other forums, but saw this thread in the sidebar.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Sedivec
One of the biggest lies I can think of is the idea that the lives of some people are worth less than the lives of others.
That's what I was going to say. It encompasses so much -- racism, gender-isms, nationalism, classism, bias based on religion... and, as Sedivac says, environmental racism/classism, and more.
Quote:
Originally Posted by tvdxer 1) That there is no God, or no personal God who rewards good deeds and punishes bad deeds.
2) That there is no right or wrong; it's all relative. "If it feels good, do it!"
3) That there is no hell.
4) That all truth can be reduced to physics.
What about the idea that there is no reason to behave honorably, kindly, fairly, and compassionately unless God threatens to punish you? That is awfully harmful.
That God will torture you for eternity if you're not behaving perfectly now...
That would make a person feel constantly guilty, live in fear and be depressed about being a failure. Most such people don't become better either. They are stuck in this bad condition by this lie of hell.
I heard this a lot when I was a child. I was scared to death and quit going with my friends to Baptist church because they showed us little kids movies of people being thrown into a fiery pit with a pitchfork! Who would want to go to church knowing you were going to see that?
I agree about the working hard and getting ahead statement also. That's a joke!
I disagree I would not say that the above are all myths there are some truth especially in the last one. I have seen this happen Karma does exsit.
I see too many very bad men living to be quite old in the lap of luxury to believe in Karma. Dick Cheney and a host of other rich old politicians who have made a fortune off of war cause me not to believe in Karma. Sure, it would be nice if we were rewarded and or punished for our good or bad actions in a just and timely manner - life would be easier to understand that way - we would probably learn more quickly (like dogs). But this does not seem to be the case.
Religion has actually convinced people that there's an invisible man, living in the sky, who watches everything you do every minute of every day of your life. And has has a list of ten things he does not want you to do. And if you do any, any, of these ten things, he has a special place full of fire and smoke and ash and torture where he will send you to suffer and burn and scream and cry forever until the end of time!
...But he loves you.
He loves you and he needs money!
George Carlin put it that way, I think. I liked George Carlin.
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. I usually hang out in other forums, but saw this thread in the sidebar.
I liked George Carlin.
