This Site Is Not about Religion, but Nobody Can Avoid Asking Questions
How did public education betray its goal without its representatives without even realizing?
Churning out incomplete information, but imposing conformity
I do realize that the other day, when I simply invited supposedly-civilized people to engage in respectful or even perhaps charming conversations with each other, someone started to preach and accused me of Goodness knows what.
While that would not have been a problem for me, the nonsense took over the comment section, and after the commenter’s several attempts at disrespectful labeling, I had to ban the participant.
Talking about religion is always a problem that divides people. Well, “covid” policies worked a lot better and a lot faster, but what the heck. I’ve lost most of my friends and family, because I refused to become a slave or behave like one, and in the meanwhile, I made sure to shake hands with everyone in stores who was not wearing a muzzle (about six people in a year or more). I also met this father with two daughters, about 10 and 12, who told me he was losing his family, along with his children, because his wife was a “believer.”
Religion is still usually a toast on the fire.
My recent exchange with a commenter might clarify my stance, and I am grateful for her contribution after
https://rayhorvaththesource.substack.com/p/a-refreshing-view-if-history/comments:
This is so much fun. Thank you for all those links. I failed “history” in high school. Why? Well, I just couldn’t bring myself to read it. Not kidding. Everytime I tried to “do history,” I became ill and dizzy--physically sick. I just couldn't do it. I attended a Catholic all girls’ academy and the teachers were ALL Dominican Sisters. They didn’t play around. But we couldn’t come to an “agreement| on this history thing, so I failed it. I attended summer school at a local public school which was, dare I say, a joke. I didn’t read one single word, the teacher who couldn’t have been any more than 5 years older than any of us, gave us an open book “final exam.” I got a B. Fast forward to now. I have learned more TRUE facts of history than I could have imagined and I know more than I ever dreamed of knowing about “our story” thanks to all my fellows who failed “his story.” Thank you for helping me make the “As”'; I always knew were mine---our story.
In response, I wrote, hoping it’s going to help you, too:
Thank you for your appreciation. As exhausting as my job is, it always gives me a boost (not a “booster” :) ) to learn that I'm not doing all this in vain.
Okay, here is about my schooling, perhaps for fun, perhaps for some background about me that would make my pieces easier to relate to.
Oh, dear. Me, as a half-Jewish boy (I found out about my Jewish heritage only about 15 years ago, but I’ve written an article about it, “Who Is Jewish?”1, but growing up at the side of the ghetto, I never even realized where I was and made friends indiscriminately, which was not necessarily resiprocated), also received “world-class” Roman Catholic “education” in a poor part of town. My parents were not religious (with my father being an atheist and a mother “who didn’t want to confuse me” and wanted to leave up the rest to me, G*d rest her soul), it was good for me, because it kept me on my toes, and I had to read a lot of things that I would not have never encountered otherwise. A few priests were nice, most of them were terrible teachers, and a few were abominably nasty (no, I was not s*lly molested, but they made up for that otherwise).
I was nine, when we got our first TV, and it was still B&W with slow programming that gave me time to think, while watching. I remember “Twelve Angry Men” being the first (and nearly the last ) shocking movie that I saw on TV. Later, it didn’t take long for me to realize that everything was manipulative, school included, but it also made me pay attention to the way it was done. For several decades, I have been able to smell baloney from a thousand miles (well, occasionally, I might be overdoing it, but I keep my opinion open), and as for TV, I couldn't watch it for more than 10-15 seconds a year. :)
I was “luckier” than you with my grades; the good “fathers” never failed me, only kept giving me Cs and Ds even after I recited their books verbatim (I considered that a challenge, wanted to improve my memory, and it usually took me only two readings to remember, so my laziness meter was also satisfied; if I hadn’t “cooperated,” I would have been summarily expelled), so we didn’t part as best friends, although there were a few who never hurt me and the best teacher I’ve ever seen (and emulated during my academic career) was one of them, who, incidentally taught me elective Russian (I was interested, it didn’t take any effort, because for some reason, the language stuck on the like dirt, and I also learned to respect the culture; I can still use my Russian to a certain extent). In fact, the way I am making sure everything is fair on my site comes from his method.
One of his principles was that he was not teaching; we all teach ourselves. All a teacher can do is create an environment in which the process is easier and more efficient. Apparently, you haven’t failed that form of self-education! :)
Hana continued:
Fortunately for me, the Catholics aren’t like your protestant christians. As a matter of fact, they never taught anything christian/religious. They taught about other faiths and religions and weren't fearful of losing any of their people to them. I wasn’t born Catholic. I wasn’t raised christian. I just found out that religious dogma wasn’t for me. Tada!
To which I said:
I am not taking sides, not ever. Still, in Roman Catholicism, original sin (trying to be smarter and better than G*d) is recognized, and the Teaching Office is supposed to straighten out misdirected minds after their “primary socialization,” which can be good, because humans are unlikely to be born to know right from wrong; they seem to acquire the concept in their immediate environment before they reach full consciousness around the age of five.
The question is, “Are there any divine instructions regarding right from wrong?”
That question opens up many cans of worms.
Logically, without divine guidance, humans can never access the forces of Eternity. Yet out of the many claim that they have, and I’m having a hard time to believe any of them.
It’s not about dogma. It’s about the Truth. As all my readers must have noticed by now, every single one of us have a certain (changing) perception of the Truth (which does NOT make it “relative”), and ones I’ve judged before became friends and ones I thought were friends didn’t exactly stay allies (I don’t keep account of “enemies,” because the list might be too long, I don’t hold grudges, and I might misidentify them, anyway).
In my experience, it all boils down to personal experience. Sometimes, that can involve having been contacted by the core of “humanity,” but most of the time, it remains a mystery, which is what life is.
https://rayhorvaththesource.substack.com/p/no-i-am-not-a-religious-nut
You are also most welcome to comment2:
https://rayhorvaththesource.substack.com/p/a-refreshing-view-if-history/comments
Please, notice that certain rules must be respected for the sake of the community:
On May 6, 2023, the one-year anniversary of my site, I issued a “general amnesty,” (I think, it was three people) and I already had to ban a newcomer. Of course, I will keep doing that, if I have to, because the comment sections make up much of the value on my site and I won’t tolerate comments that deter readers.
I’ve also published the common offenses in:
https://rayhorvaththesource.substack.com/p/intelligent-trolls-are-now-saying
and in
https://rayhorvaththesource.substack.com/p/this-site-needs-your-help
The-Crypto-Rationalist also recommended the following excellent page:
https://cluesforum.info/viewtopic.php?f=20&t=1388
The first article summarizes the threat:
During the 12 months, I have encountered a number of trolls/bots/humans whose train had left the tracks. The latest ones are extremely smart and sophisticated. In this article, I’ll refer to such trolls/bots/humans as Entities, which I will abbreviate as EY.
How do EY operate?
1. EY usually gives you something first in order to gain your trust;
2. floods comment sections with irrelevant, confusing, or misleading comments in order to make the sections unreadable;
3. employs mind-bending tricks in order to exhaust the reader and force them into brainless submission;
5. isolates and decontextualizes contents in order to be able to use straw man arguments and false analogies;
6. EY never completes its arguments in order to make sure the process can never end; when forced into completing an argument, it tends to attack you ad hominem (sometimes going as far as posting long diatribes) or, on preferred occasions, politely vanishes;
7. eventually, it tries to discredit you in order to get rid of an opponent of the official narrative that they actually serve.
Jewish from Northern Ireland. You don't wanna know! Let's just say the less proselytising the better, on everybody's part (albeit childhood trauma may have biased me).
Thanks Ray.