X-Message-Number: 22186
Date: Sat, 12 Jul 2003 10:55:39 -0400
From: Keith Henson <>
Subject: Re: Freedom of Religion [Mike Perry]

Mike wrote;

>  > > What I get from this is that, like it or not, we are attracting some
> > > attention from people with more traditional world views, who are still
> > > rather numerous, and who are not liking what they find. We need to take
> > > this seriously and develop or refine our responses.
>
>And David Stodolsky, #22174, responded:
>
> >This is a job for the Venturist organization. It will distract
> >attention from the LEF and the suspension organizations, and reframe
> >the issue as a freedom of religion case.

Mike again

>This is something to consider, and I am considering it. A book I am working
>on, *Introducing Venturism* (actually the 7th, expanded edition of what was
>previously a shorter pamphlet) will deal with such issues. Beyond this we
>Venturists need to think of ways to respond (and not to respond), and
>others too should be thinking of what to do.

I strongly suggest that anyone who is interested in either defending 
against religion or making one up should get a copy of Pascal Boyer's 
_Religion Explained_ and read it through a few times, maybe delve into some 
of the massive cites he provides.

Religion is a consequence of the way human minds are wired up.

Boyer discusses what elements make religious memes attention 
catching.  Oddly enough, I am partly responsible for a "constructed 
universe" meme (further developed by Hans Moravec) that might fit Boyer's 
criteria if it were worked into a religion.  Even odder, the mechanism 
logically permits time travel.

Keith Henson

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