• Religion : why does it exist ?
    792 replies, posted
Religion in my opinion exists because mankind cannot accept that they do not know their meaning with life and everything else.
I think Holywiremod has an irretrievably warped sense of what "rationalism" is.
Just watch all of George Carlin's stand up and he explains religion thoroughly
[QUOTE=DainBramageStudios;34084289]I think Holywiremod has an irretrievably warped sense of what "rationalism" is.[/QUOTE] Yes I've noticed this too. Rationalism has very little to do with being rational.
1. Parents brainwash their children. 2. Weaker minded people or people that fear death need something to believe in. 3. Group/Community Pressure.
[QUOTE=DainBramageStudios;34084289]I think Holywiremod has an irretrievably warped sense of what "rationalism" is.[/QUOTE] Quite clearly.
It's simple really, It makes people feel wanted. It gives people a purpose to live and to live by guidelines.
[QUOTE=Santz;34066151]Alot of people here like to talk about the Old Testament of the Bible, which was rendered obsolete by the New Testament made by Jesus.[/QUOTE] Matthew 5:17-18 You were saying?
[QUOTE=Pvt. Banana;34123788]Matthew 5:17-18 You were saying?[/QUOTE] Also something called the "10 commandments", which are from.. the Old Testament, so the Old Testament certainly is not "rendered obsolete". According to Christianity, humans still have original sin from Adam and Eve which is..... also in the Old Testament, not obsolete.
Eating a forbidden fruit aka the original sin, meaning that people are inclined to doing sins? Or meaning that people do stuff which they should not do.
I'm a Hellenic Polytheist, and I don't care for other religions, but at least I have the decency to respect other people for their religious beliefs and practices.
[QUOTE=AutomataReturns;34152310]I'm a Hellenic Polytheist, and I don't care for other religions, but at least I have the decency to respect other people for their religious beliefs and practices.[/QUOTE] Remember us when you get to Mount Olympus.. and send Zeus my regards.
Many people hate on religion, and their opinion's are often valid. However, I think both parties trash one another much too often. The choice to believe or not is your own and nobody else's. Also, religion has advanced the world in some amazing ways, like it or not. Although much violence has come out of religion (and not just Christianity), especially primitive ones, there have been many amazing accomplishments. Inventions, creations, tools, cities, architecture, monuments, empires and so much more were all derived from different religions and beliefs. The moment man was introduced to religion and began to seek more knowledge about the life beyond their own, the more they aspired to invent and discover. I think religion is actually a very beautiful thing and has done wonders for the earth. Who knows where we'd be without it.
[QUOTE=Juice_Layer;34168600]Many people hate on religion, and their opinion's are often valid. However, I think both parties trash one another much too often. The [b]choice to believe[/b] or not is your own and nobody else's. Also, religion has advanced the world in some amazing ways, like it or not.[/quote] You can't voluntarily choose to believe in something though and I have not seen how religion has advanced the world in any significant way. [quote]Although much violence has come out of religion (and not just Christianity), especially primitive ones, there have been many amazing accomplishments. Inventions, creations, tools, cities, architecture, monuments, empires and so much more were all derived from different religions and beliefs.[/quote] Why does religion deserve the credit for any of those things rather than the people who actually created them? [quote]The moment man was introduced to religion and began to seek more knowledge about the life beyond their own, the more they aspired to invent and discover.[/quote] Religion generally teaches us to be content with not understanding the world properly though, not to discover more knowledge about the world. People were persecuted throughout history for discovering facts that contradicted religious teachings. We have people today who don't even believe in evolution.. only because their religion has threatened them with eternal fire if they don't believe in moronic shit like the world being 6,000 years old.
[QUOTE=Noble;34173252] Why does religion deserve the credit for any of those things rather than the people who actually created them? [/quote] By the same logic, why does religion deserve the blame for the bad things associated with it, rather than the people who commited or incited them? [quote] Religion generally teaches us to be content with not understanding the world properly though, not to discover more knowledge about the world. [/QUOTE] No it doesn't, it depends on the individual and the way it's taught. The problem with generalisations, is that while they may be true in some cases, they paper over all the cases that are different. A large number of people are inspired by their religion to look at the world and try to understand it. One that springs to mind is [url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gregor_Mendel]Gregor Mendel[/url] [quote]People were persecuted throughout history for discovering facts that contradicted religious teachings. We have people today who don't even believe in evolution.. only because their religion has threatened them with eternal fire if they don't believe in moronic shit like the world being 6,000 years old.[/QUOTE] People were persecuted for discovering things that challenged the authority of the the religious leaders of the time. You can look at loads of instances where some leader has persecuted people they see as a threat.
[QUOTE=Noble;34173252]You can't voluntarily choose to believe in something though and I have not seen how religion has advanced the world in any significant way. Why does religion deserve the credit for any of those things rather than the people who actually created them? Religion generally teaches us to be content with not understanding the world properly though, not to discover more knowledge about the world. People were persecuted throughout history for discovering facts that contradicted religious teachings. We have people today who don't even believe in evolution.. only because their religion has threatened them with eternal fire if they don't believe in moronic shit like the world being 6,000 years old.[/QUOTE] to be fair, the vatican actually did a lot for medieval science and technology, funding research and setting up universities and such.
[QUOTE=st0rmforce;34174926]By the same logic, why does religion deserve the blame for the bad things associated with it, rather than the people who commited or incited them?[/quote] Because it's different when the Pope says "We need to fight the Crusades in the name of God", which has everything to do with religion, than some inventor who happens to be religious going "Hey check out this cool discovery I made", that has absolutely nothing to do with religion. Religion itself deserves the blame when it's written in the text that everyone who doesn't believe the same thing as you is going to burn in a lake of fire for eternity, and that gays/adulterers/disobedient kids should be stoned, and that women should be subservient to men, etc. The major religions of the world also set up a barrier between groups of people and establishes a "you're either with us or you're against us" divisive mentality with their followers, which has lead people to do things like the Crusades, the Inquisition, etc. [quote]No it doesn't, it depends on the individual and the way it's taught. The problem with generalisations, is that while they may be true in some cases, they paper over all the cases that are different. A large number of people are inspired by their religion to look at the world and try to understand it. One that springs to mind is [url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gregor_Mendel]Gregor Mendel[/url][/quote] I said 'generally' because the biggest religions in this world don't actively encourage anyone to learn more about the world or to think for yourself. It would probably not be considered wise to challenge the scriptures if you want to make it to a good place in the afterlife (not to mention persecution here on Earth). Scriptures that said, for example, the Earth was flat and that the sun and the planets revolve around it. And sure, I'm not arguing that religion can't provide inspiration to do something good. But you could be inspired by any story to do something, it's still the person who actually did it who deserves the credit. And I'm sure if we wanted to spend all day listing examples of people inspired to do good and bad things by religion, that the bad would quite heavily outweigh the good. [quote]People were persecuted for discovering things that challenged the authority of the the religious leaders of the time. You can look at loads of instances where some leader has persecuted people they see as a threat.[/QUOTE] True, and I'm saying that if religion didn't exist, obviously none of that would have happened. There would have been no religious leaders, no Crusades, no Inquisition, no persecution for discovering things that contradict an ancient book. Without religion, there would be less division between people, less reason for people to think "it's us against them". I'm not saying it's responsible for all the problems of humanity, but it is clearly responsible for a great deal of them.
Here's the perspective from a cultural anthropologist: Religion exists because it is a basic human need. All cultures around the world have some sort of belief on how the world was created, and all cultures have some sort of deity or system of worship. Religion is a fundamental trait that allows cultures to create specific social institutions.
[QUOTE=Kayl;34177698]Here's the perspective from a cultural anthropologist: Religion exists because it is a basic human need. All cultures around the world have some sort of belief on how the world was created, and all cultures have some sort of deity or system of worship. Religion is a fundamental trait that allows cultures to create specific social institutions.[/QUOTE] I wouldn't say it's a basic human need. The prevalence of atheism in some cultures proves it's not necessary. [editline]12th January 2012[/editline] Totally secular social institutions exist and function. It'd say it's certainly had some role in the unification of moral principles and helped us (in certain institutions) remain relatively peaceful (and I'm being very charitable to religion here). But to say it's the only way we could have achieved moral norms and peace is flat out wrong. It's [I]certainly[/I] not the best way of doing it. Worship just makes you passive, and it's easy to see why that would help stabilise things. But at huge, [I]huge[/I] expense to the individual.
[QUOTE=Kayl;34177698]Here's the perspective from a cultural anthropologist: Religion exists because it is a basic human need. All cultures around the world have some sort of belief on how the world was created, and all cultures have some sort of deity or system of worship. Religion is a fundamental trait that allows cultures to create specific social institutions.[/QUOTE] no the "basic human need" is to belong to a larger group. religion can be one of those things but not necessarily. sports teams, political parties, fanbases, workers unions, they all fill this niche as well. in those terms, religion isn't exactly optimal
This is basically how I feel. [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1IAhDGYlpqY[/media]
[QUOTE=bull3tmagn3t;34181062]This is basically how I feel. [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1IAhDGYlpqY[/media][/QUOTE] It's a nice little poem, but it's full of problems. This guy sums it up: [quote]Basically what he's saying is "We get it, the old* testament looks bad, so ignore that shit and look at how cuddly Jesus is! OBEY!" DirtyAtreyu[/quote] and this [quote]He believes in coke* but hates soda superdupertroy[/quote]
funfact: hell doesn't appear once in the old testament it's only in the new
[QUOTE=Sexy Eskimo;34087299]1. Parents brainwash their children. 2. Weaker minded people or people that fear death need something to believe in. 3. Group/Community Pressure.[/QUOTE] All parents brainwash their children what are you getting at? Besides, once they mature (hopefully) they'll make their own choices.
[QUOTE=DainBramageStudios;34182016]funfact: hell doesn't appear once in the old testament it's only in the new[/QUOTE] Furthermore, if I recall correctly, it's vaguely mentioned and not particularly described (same with The Devil). It's not until Dante Alighieri's The Inferno did an image solidify within people's minds.
The image and concept of Hell is pathetic. Good for Heavy Metal, but useless in society.
[QUOTE=AK'z;34182168]The image and concept of Hell is pathetic. Good for Heavy Metal, but useless in society.[/QUOTE] And, as far as Dante goes, political slander.
[QUOTE=AK'z;34182032]All parents brainwash their children what are you getting at? Besides, once they mature (hopefully) they'll make their own choices.[/QUOTE] Don't underestimate the power of childhood indoctrination though..
People can go insane over the fear and anxiety created by the "Hell" concept. It's really awful. [editline]12th January 2012[/editline] [QUOTE=Noble;34182217]Don't underestimate the power of childhood indoctrination though..[/QUOTE] Correct. It really can dig deep, but the individual has to find the strength to overcome it.
I think we can thank the invention of the internet that so many people have realized now how much bullshit religion is.
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