People are not what they possess. Richard Dawkins has said many times that he dislikes those that use terms like 'Christian child' or a 'Muslim child'. While it is true that a child cannot be a Muslim or Christian, the same is the case for adults as well (but for a different reason).
A person cannot be a belief. For example, I got a new laptop computer, wouldn't I sound insane if I were to say: "I am a Dell XPS". A person is not, nor will they ever be what they possess. I can own a pen, but I am not, nor will I ever be a pen (at least in this lifetime). The point is, no matter what I think of as being my own, my actual being remains unchanged. While this sounds like trivial word-play, it is not.
To believe that you are a belief system creates the mentality that those not of your belief system do not belong to the same proverbial team. This is what allows people to act so inhumanly towards one another. And it isn't only religion—during WW2 we were able to drop the a-bomb on a couple of Japanese cities because we believed that we were what we possessed (or more specifically the land we made a living on). You are not your country, you may be a member of a group living on a particular piece of land, but you are not the land you stand on.
I could go on and on about all of the different false-beings that exist (they are all but countless). Political parties, sport teams, education level, social class, religion, and so on. Even skin color is the same way, if you don't believe me, go ask a person who was born blind. A person possess the ability to see color, and again, you are not what you possess. If it can be taken away, then it is not part of your being.
A substantial enough head-injury can bring a person closer to the truth. When the ability to remember fades away, oneself is not lost, but is found. We are not a perspective, or a memory, not even nothing, for all things exist in the thoughts of a temporary condition.
A person cannot be a belief. For example, I got a new laptop computer, wouldn't I sound insane if I were to say: "I am a Dell XPS". A person is not, nor will they ever be what they possess. I can own a pen, but I am not, nor will I ever be a pen (at least in this lifetime). The point is, no matter what I think of as being my own, my actual being remains unchanged. While this sounds like trivial word-play, it is not.
To believe that you are a belief system creates the mentality that those not of your belief system do not belong to the same proverbial team. This is what allows people to act so inhumanly towards one another. And it isn't only religion—during WW2 we were able to drop the a-bomb on a couple of Japanese cities because we believed that we were what we possessed (or more specifically the land we made a living on). You are not your country, you may be a member of a group living on a particular piece of land, but you are not the land you stand on.
I could go on and on about all of the different false-beings that exist (they are all but countless). Political parties, sport teams, education level, social class, religion, and so on. Even skin color is the same way, if you don't believe me, go ask a person who was born blind. A person possess the ability to see color, and again, you are not what you possess. If it can be taken away, then it is not part of your being.
A substantial enough head-injury can bring a person closer to the truth. When the ability to remember fades away, oneself is not lost, but is found. We are not a perspective, or a memory, not even nothing, for all things exist in the thoughts of a temporary condition.
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