Comments by "dixon pinfold" (@dixonpinfold2582) on "Academy of Ideas" channel.

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  8. ​ @sacul135  I agree with every word of that. I just think the creative drive, as impressive as it is, is no better nor any worse than any other of the drives. I would neither put it down nor exalt it in general terms, but instead do both. As it took all of our drives to get us here, we should respect all of them up to a point, and not place any too far above the others. Attempts to bury or annihilate any of the leading ones are mistaken in the sense that they will cost more than they return, over a lifetime or the span of a society or both. In the long run we cannot get away with savaging our natures. This makes moderation the great virtue in a way, by virtue of which we are here as much as any other, or perhaps more; underrated and unsung but actually the star of the show, because it's the only one that's at all very artificial and strained. Intelligence, courage, and kindness reside in people pretty naturally or not much at all. Civilization is little more than an effort to extract it (moderation) from everyone, which explains why it is the primary function of religion and why religion is a permanent part of civilization. So it's fine for anyone to say things like 'religion reveals eternal truth and meaning,' but they only refer to how useful it is for producing moderation in the name of civilization. Whatever system doesn't, we try to deny the status of religion, judging it cultic, heretical, Dionysian, dogmatic, fundamentalist, witchcraft, madness. In the same sense we have always been tempted to call the godless (i.e., atheists) wicked, and many still do. This is how I look at it instead of judging it on its own terms, which is the other option and the more vastly more popular one.
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