The Kemetic Religion is a Force for Good in the World

For something to be a force for good, it has to be actively creating good in the world-- even if it is just a small amount. My opponent's definition (which I agree with) is "Having a positive impact on society and on the lives of individuals while having little or no negative impact" For Kemetism to have a positive impact on society, it has to be creating a positive impact that would not have existed otherwise. For example, if, in the absence of Kemetism, the benefits my opponent speaks of would be greater, or just as great, Kemetism is NOT responsible for creating benefits. FIRST- truth. Kemetism is not an active lens for discovering truth about the world. For one, the Kemetic belief is completely unfounded-- there is no evidence that the claims it makes are true. Indeed, much of the Egyptian faith was founded in beliefs that now can easily be explained. Ancient Egyptians used the god Set to explain lightning-- yet we know now the natural processes that cause lightning. And we know the Egyptian creation account to be false, since we know the natural processes that created our world billions of years ago. Having an empty belief, without evidence, in Kemetism is contrary to how we should seek knowledge. Faith is not an acceptable mode of reasoning, since it teaches belief without evidence. Empirics, not blind belief, is how we evaluate the world. Kemetism distorts truths in its beliefs. The Declarations of Innocence, part of the moral guidelines that Kemetism uses [1]: "I have not been sacrilegious in thought or deed." Even religions like Christianity allow and encourage doubt as a way of refining beliefs, but, if a Kemetic was truly sticking to their beliefs, they would never even question them. Moreover: "I have not spoken against the sacred teachings". If my opponent is right, I'm going to hell just for having this debate. Using fear about the afterlife to intimidate followers into not questioning their beliefs is wrong. And, perhaps the worst advice for discovering truth: "I have not betrayed my leaders". This is really just horrible. Imagine if Kemetics lived in Nazi Germany, yet refused to stand up to Hitler, because their religion told them not to. None of these statements even have a justification; the follower is expected to believe for the sake of belief. These are specific guidelines under Ma'at, which my opponent refers to consistently. Ma'at cannot be a philosophy for living life on earth. Ma'at is a list of beliefs. It doesn't teach us how to evaluate problems. If I have a problem that isn't on that list of 42 things, Ma'at isn't going to help me. SECOND- exploitation. Kemetism is a cult designed to take advantage of people and make money. The history of Kemetic Orthodoxy is pretty shocking [2]. Tamara Siuda is the founder of Kemetic Orthodoxy. She also is serious in the Haitian pagan religion as well, as a preistess there. The Orthodox Kemetic religion charges for many of it's services, and the profits go straight to Tamara Siuda. Moreover, though the Kemetic Orthodox structure claims that they're a non-profit who works towards improving child welfare, there's zero evidence they actually spend the money on what they say. The evidence points towards Tamara Siuda using Kemetism as a front to line her own pocket,s exploiting people who are looking for answers. My third point is skewed beliefs. One needs only to look at the beliefs themselves to realize how flawed this religion is. For example, another Declaration of Innocence: "I have not allowed myself to be abused." [1]. Really? "Allowed myself" is victim blaming. It is not the victim's fault EVER when they are abused. Rather than provide comfort, it provides guilt for something uncontrollable. And, the Kemetic texts say "I have not been an adulterer, homosexual or child molester.", which hatefully puts homosexuality on the level of child molestation.. Now, I know my opponent doesn"t see homosexuality as wrong-- but in doing so, she is doing good by DEVIATING from Kemetic beliefs. There's no grounds for her to pick and choose what parts of Kemetism she believes in, she's just making the correct decision to give up a horrible belief because her own moral compass is superior to Ma'at. Kemetism also promotes sacrifice [3]. First, this is wasted food- sacrifices, including bread, fruit, vegetables, and animals, are given "to the gods", when that food could've easily been donated to a homeless shelter. Second, I believe (and I think my opponent would agree) that it is ESSENTIAL to try to minimize all suffering and harm that could occur. Animals experience pain, and thus have rights. Killing them causes more suffering. At least in the case of killing animals for food, a human is nourished and benefited. With animal sacrifice, nobody is benefited, and the animal is harmed. Now to look at my opponent's case. She first claims that it provides comfort to it's members. Her example is one victim of child abuse. She could have made this up, but even assuming it is true, since we aren't looking at his direct description of his experience, we have no cause and effect. For all we know, he could've been getting better when he joined Kemetism, and the two have no relation. And she also doesn't look at the examples of people abused as children who hate themselves, because the Kemetic beliefs state that, if you are abused, it is your fault. Being more religious is actually linked with MORE, not less, depression [4]. She even undermines her own point, claiming that much of the benefit is not "related to the religion itself", but to the community. A sense of community easily exists in a world without Kemetism, be it through Christianity, the Greek Neopagans, or even a fan community for a popular TV show. This is not good that Kemetism is creating. Without Kemetism, there would be more good. Second, she claims it encourages kindness, honesty, charity, and love, the foundations of Ma'at. She seems like a pretty nice person-- I would bet that she isn't kind because some god in the sky told her to be, but because that's just her personality. Countless atheists exhibit these characteristics, because altruism is hard wired into the human brain [5]. And nearly every religion and philosophy adheres to these beliefs. If she was Christian, I bet she'd be just as moral. If she followed a philosophical framework for making decisions, something more nuanced than just "striving for kindness", that explains how to actually acheive kindness (say, Kant or even a Buddhist-leaning philosophy), she'd probably be even more moral still. Atheists donate MORE than religious people to charity [6]. Unfortunately, Ma'at is more than just kindness. It includes victim blaming, suppressing questioning, and blindly questioning authority. Ma'at can't answer philosophical problems like the Trolley Problem, or any moral dillema. Her third claim is that Kemetism isn't as bad as other religions, such as Westboro. This is not a reason it is a force for good. Losing $100 is worse than losing $10, but losing $10 is not good. And, though SHE may not discriminate, I've provided clear evidence the basis of Kemetic beliefs are discriminatory, and she just chooses to abandon those beliefs. Her fourth claim is that it does no harm (yet again not proof that it is doing good). Yet, in addition to the harms I listed above, if we look at the history of the Egyptian faith, Egyptians kept slaves for thousands of years; Ma'at never stopped them. Ma'at allowed oppression. [1] http://cushiteforum.com... [2] http://rationalwiki.org... [3] https://thetwistedrope.wordpress.com... [4] http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk... [5] http://www.npr.org... [6] http://ieet.org...