Why Religion?

by hillary_step 50 Replies latest jw friends

• 

  quietlyleaving

  hs

  Quietly,

  People like to believe that their spiritual dimension is in harmony with truth. So rather than reflecting insecurities, religion imo reflects a seeking of spiritual coherence between one's inner and outer reality within a like minded community. Emotional well being is one of the results.

  Actually, what you outline above is exactly what I mean by insecurities.

  When people cannot accept that 'being' is all, they invent reasons to give life some meaning.

  HS

  I guess then that religion is what gives 'being' its colour, shape and animation.
• 

  hillary_step

  Quietly,

  I guess then that religion is what gives 'being' its colour, shape and animation.

  ...and the lack of religion would produce a colorless, shapeless unanimated world? Somehow I doubt it.

  The worlds religions, sparked by people who have made a religion in their own image, have colored the world for us, dictated principles of living, set our moral compasses. The same religious imperative that has propelled the Christian God to declare that 'love' is a universal truth, is the same one that persuaded or forced others to die in primitive religion rituals for the good of the majority, when the crops failed.

  As I noted on another thread, the same religious imperative that led to the stoning of adulterers in the days of the desert Israelites, is the same one that leads to the stoning of adulterers in Iran today. No difference at all. Time has curtailed religious ecxesses to some degree in the West, time imho will also nullify the need for religious bodies in favor of individual 'spirituality'.

  Religions have fought, and fight to demonize the athiest who accepts that the beauty of 'being' can be full of color, animation, creativity and shape. After all, is not everything in our head. When we die our 'universal truth' dies with us as does our own particular God.

  HS
• 

  Dogaradodya

  Why do people feel the need to have others tell them what to believe and how to think?or in this case to listen.

  Simple. Religion is business. It's the religious organization that makes the faithful believe that they need to proselytize on others.

  I just would like to share the music, am not imposing it.

  This is my last post. I can only post five a day. Glad to meet you all. Thanks for giving me time. Good night!
• 

  BurnTheShips

  The same religious imperative that has propelled the Christian God to declare that 'love' is a universal truth, is the same one that persuaded or forced others to die in primitive religion rituals for the good of the majority, when the crops failed.

  You describe an imperative that can be used evilly or benignly.This same imperative created the Sisitine Chapel, the Hagia Sophia, Handel's Messiah, and unnumerable other things that elevate us beyond the beastly material, to the divine, our natural home. Would you simply banish it if you could?

  Time has curtailed religious ecxesses to some degree in the West, time imho will also nullify the need for religious bodies in favor of individual 'spirituality'.

  I suspect the West, enervated by this lack, will be overrun by those that do not have this lack long before the bodies dissolve. To banish the imperative does far more harm than good, the occasional stoning notwithstanding. ;-)

  After all, is not everything in our head. When we die our 'universal truth' dies with us as does our own particular God.

  No.

  Burn
• 

  Gopher

  Many people feel a need for the "unprovable" to be explained. How did we get here? Where are we going? Many people want assurance that this life isn't all there is.

  Along come religious priests with magical answers! And "God" told them (or their forebears), and so it is to remain unquestioned!

  Now we are told to believe the inerrancy of this or that "holy" book, and that certain wise man or a son of "God" (depending on what area of the world you are from) has conveyed the absolute answers by which we must abide, otherwise you are immoral or amoral.

  A non-religious person believes in themselves and in humanity, and doesn't await mystical or magical answers from a holy man or from a book or its self-proclaimed interpreters.
• 

  quietlyleaving

  HS

  Quietly,

  I guess then that religion is what gives 'being' its colour, shape and animation.

  ...and the lack of religion would produce a colorless, shapeless unanimated world? Somehow I doubt it.

  I didn't say that. It is fascinating that religious people describe their religion as their way of life.

  The worlds religions, sparked by people who have made a religion in their own image, have colored the world for us, dictated principles of living, set our moral compasses. The same religious imperative that has propelled the Christian God to declare that 'love' is a universal truth, is the same one that persuaded or forced others to die in primitive religion rituals for the good of the majority, when the crops failed.

  As I noted on another thread, the same religious imperative that led to the stoning of adulterers in the days of the desert Israelites, is the same one that leads to the stoning of adulterers in Iran today. No difference at all. Time has curtailed religious ecxesses to some degree in the West, time imho will also nullify the need for religious bodies in favor of individual 'spirituality'.

  what you are describing here seems to me to be culture/nationalistic/tribal identity togehter with laws and rules for societal living.

  Religions have fought, and fight to demonize the athiest who accepts that the beauty of 'being' can be full of color, animation, creativity and shape. After all, is not everything in our head. When we die our 'universal truth' dies with us as does our own particular God.

  I agree. But atheists/science do/does the same. We are all human after all.
• 

  juni

  Why religion?

  My thought... I feel that religion is the "tool" in which societies evolved a moral conscience. I think the "need" is gone for most societies. There are laws in place to replace need for "god rules". Religion was an infantile need... it has stayed around because of people's need for emotional attachment for comfort.
• 

  fifi40

  Religion gives answers..............regardless of their accuracy.

  Religion is like a childs comforter; it is like that worn old blanket that they snuggle up with each night, worn, tattered, misshapen and probably faded of all original colour.............its many purpose is one of reassurance, it keeps the monsters at bay...........and like a child's comforter it is more often than not given by a parent.

  For some, it caters for lifes biggest questions; Why are we here and where are we going? It keeps the monster of our own mortality at arms length.......it sates the 'itch of our deepest insecurity'.

  Why do we think our own religion is right? You can ask the same question of a hundred subjects.

  Why do we think our own country is great?

  Why do we support our own football team?

  Why do we not get another's sense of humour?

  Why do some feel superior because there skin is lighter?

  ........the list is boundless

  Some human beings like to be right............it gives them a false sense of security...............it gives them an anchor in a turbulent sea..........they cling to it because to them it means 'life' literally.

  I remember the comfort of 'knowing' I was right, the security of an unwavering belief of what the future held and, very occasionally I mourn the loss of 'all that was in my head' and 'kept the monsters at bay'.

  Fi
• 

  hillary_step

  Burn,

  HS - After all, is not everything in our head. When we die our 'universal truth' dies with us as does our own particular God.

  Burn - No

  Yes.

  Well, I think that takes care of that debate. ;)

  HS
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  Tyrone van leyen

  "Insecurities", implies we have created religion to "fill in" for a deficit. That deficit is "real knowlegde" and truth. Part of the problem is our consciousness. We experience pain like no other species because we are aware of our time and mortality on the planet. It is short, meaningless, and painful. Religion is like a sheild from reality. It gives the illusion of control over that which cannot be controled. It is a very prosperous business indeed! Opiates usually are.