what purpose religion?

by teejay 17 Replies latest jw friends

• 

  teejay

  Last night a program remembered the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor sixty years ago. Amidst all the historical details, a story of a serviceman stood out. He was a youngster then, still in his teens and stationed in Hawaii, when he sent his mom a card to let her know of his condition. Today, he's an old man and as he added to the review of his experience, he got a little teary as he recalled his mother's reaction to the card he sent her in 1941.

  He has the card he sent her. The camera zoomed in on the first four words of his words to his mother:

  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~
  Dear Mom,

  I'm okay.

  
  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~

  "Dear mom. I'm okay." After that, what else he said was gravy. Music to her ears those words must have been.

  Some time after getting the card, she was able to tell him in person how his card made her feel, how relieved and happy that her baby boy was not only alive, but in good shape. The thought of putting his mother's mind at ease was pleasurable to him and brought a big, boyish grin to his face, half a century later.

  For some reason, the segment made me think of religion's purpose.

  When I was a Witness, the focus of the religion was to give the membership an historical overview of Jehovah's dealings with humans so that we could get to know his personality. After that, the goal seemed to be on showing me exactly why I did not (and could not ever) measure up to god's lofty standards -- all the bad traits I had to get rid of and the good ones I either needed to find (if I didn't have them) or if I did have some, work hard to perfect. I never got the impression that the Jehovah of the WTS loved me just as I was.

  Instead, the religion of The Watchtower Bible and Tract Society taught me to "fear" a god that was displeased with an entire world of people, no matter what their intentions were or that most of them were ignorant of him and his purposes. Even for one like me who knew him, the future did not necessarily offer a comforting conclusion. It was made clear that the Almight Lord of Hosts may very well kill even a servant of his like me at Armageddon anyway, especially if the amount of time I spent knocking on doors didn't match the national average. I could even be judged adversely for thinking wrong thoughts.

  Seeing the retired serviceman's sublime and touching reaction to the memory of his mother made me think: shouldn't that be one of the goals of religion? To help people feel good about the past, the present and hopeful about the future? To put their minds at ease -- to help us ease through the miseries and hardships linked to ordinary life while receiving gentle prods that help us head in the right direction?

  Or is it simply to fill the worshippers head with facts and instill a fear of a powerful diety who's very hard to please? To let us know that we aren't doing enough, probably can never do enough, leaving us feeling depressed and unloved, uncared for?

  Why religion, I wondered. What purpose should it serve?
• 

  proplog2

  Religion is supposed to nurture (love) and provide orientation (wisdom). This is a counterbalance to government's domain of power and justice.
• 

  larc

  Teejay,

  I once read a summary of some research on the psychological effects of religion. The results were pretty straight forward and fit well with the questions you raise in your well constructed essay. They found that people who believed that God was loving and merciful had a longer life span, coped better with life's problems, and recovered more quickly from illnesses. People who believed in a vengeful, jealous and/or judgemental God, had just the opposite effects. They were also more prone to psychosomatic illnesses and bouts of depression.

  The research was published in a professional newspaper, the APA* Monitor. I read it a long time ago, and can not retrieve a reference at this time.

  *APA = American Psychological Association
• 

  teejay

  Larc,

  Thanks for your comments. Check this out:
  --------------------------------------------

  Is faith good for your health?

  Research psychiatrist Daniel Larson, who specializes in studying the effects of religion on physical and mental health, found that people of faith consistently exhibited higher levels of mental, physical and relational wellness. Larson found that "in the area of psychiatry, 92 percent of the findings showed that religious commitment produced some kind of beneficial effect."

  Larson and his colleagues found that in almost every instance, "religious people lived longer than nonreligious people," even when taking into account "other risk factors such as weight, age and smoking." Corroborating these findings is a Yale University study, which studied a group of elderly people for two years. Researchers found that "people who were less religious had mortality levels that were twice as high as people who were more religious." These findings proved to be true even when "important factors [such] as age, marital status, education, income, race, gender, [and] health status" were considered and accounted for.

  New research demonstrates that religion is good for your health. For example, in 1987 University of Texas researchers "carefully examined 27 studies on church attendance and health." Their analysis revealed that in all but seven studies, "frequent church attenders were healthier as a group than less frequent attenders." In fact, researchers went so far as to suggest that, "infrequent religious attendance should be regarded as a consistent risk factor for morbidity and mortality of various types." Researcher David Larson, in a study on men's blood pressure, found that "even smokers benefited from religion." Larson found that smokers who were not religious "were seven times more likely to have abnormal... [blood]... pressure than those who said [religion] was important." "In fact, smokers who attended church had the same blood pressure as non-smokers who did not." These findings led Larson to the conclusion that "if you're going to smoke, make sure you go to church."

  Research shows that "religion can help you recover from serious injury." Researchers looked at the recovery process of elderly women who had suffered from broken hips, and found that "elderly women who were religiously committed were less depressed, had shorter hospital stays." Furthermore, studies show that "people who [do] not attend church [are] four times more likely to commit suicide than frequent church attenders."

  Source: http://www.rmfc.org/fs/fs0053.html
  -------------------------------------------

  I think I know what's at the bottom of the supposed benefits that come to religious people but will reserve my comments for another time.
• 

  ISP

  ...the Shamen telling tales over good over evil...was the entertainment of yesteryear...similar to going to the pictures today and watching a rambo movie! It was what people wanted and gave some a position of power. It developed into more complex religious 'tales' but its all pretty much the same.

  ISP
• 

  teejay

  ISP,

  Being entertained by tales is one thing. How do you explain the empirical data pointing to better health, happiness and longer life enjoyed by religious people over their less-religious neighbors?
• 

  Rex B13

  >Or is it simply to fill the worshippers head with facts and instill a fear of a powerful diety who's very hard to please? To let us know that we aren't doing enough, probably can never do enough, leaving us feeling depressed and unloved, uncared for?
  Why religion, I wondered. What purpose should it serve?

  True enough, "For all sin and fall short of the glory of God" and "the wages of sin is death...but (that's a key connecting word here) the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord".
  James, you don't have to reconcile scripture with every skeptical question asked, to feel the very power of God you just need to give yourself to Him and let His death, His work on the cross justify you and lead to your sanctification.
  You served a organisation that used you to further its own interests. They subverted the gospel for a false gospel of trying to earn righteousness. Surely you've heard by now that we are saved by grace through faith and not our own works. He chooses to save us DESPITE our offering nothing to Him in comparison. We can only offer to love Him and acknowledge Him as Lord...and that is all He wants.
  Get away from the idea that only what you see, hear and feel matters and exists (naturalism). Our senses are unreliable and we are trapped in spiritual darkness. That is what binds us into denying God, not any alleged lack of intellectual thought in His word. We are beings designed to live eternally, but not in physical bodies separated from the very source of life in the universe. Doesn't it seem as if every major faith ever known teaches the immortality of the soul in one form or another?
  Isn't it logical that so many similiar qualities that we find in so many faiths have all emerged from one source: the eternal, the existant, the "I am" from Exodus 6.2 and other passages? Accepting your own immortality alone is getting halfway out of the religious quicksand that the Watchtower has placed you in.
  Have a nice Sunday. I'm going to spend it praising His name, communing with the Holy Spirit and teaching His wisdom. Peace be with you, James.

  "A lonely man cries for love and has none. Cold hearted orb that rules the night, robbing colors from our sight, making red 'gray' and yellow 'white'. But who knows which is right and which is an illusion?"
  (from "Nights in White Satin")
  Rex
• 

  DannyBear

  tj,

  I should have read your thread, before my I Love You...Life.

  Your description of that now elderly son, grinning when he showed the post card, was enough to bring me out of the dulldrums. Those four words, did define for that mother, just how precious life is!

  I was smiling along with the guy.

  Danny
  Mood is changing....
• 

  thinkers wife

  TJ,
  Funny you should mention this. Thinker and I were talking about this very thing last week.
  We have come to the conclusion that many people who have been traumatized in some way are those who seem to need the strongest religious influence in their lives.
  We kind of did a review of the people whom we know intimately enough to actually make an intelligent assessment, and each and every one of them had been traumatized in some way over the course of their life.
  Now this is in no way to put them down. Because we also concluded that for many of these same one's it has seemed to have a positive effect in their life.
  We reviewed Witnesses as well as non-witnesses. This of course is in no way a proffesional opinion. Just a personal one.
  On the other hand, those who seem to have moved on from any trauma and are very content with themselves, don't seem to need this. I count myself in this class.
  Interesting observations by all. Larc, enjoyed that report in particular.
  TW
• 

  thinker

  The discussion my wife talks about above started because a born-again relative attempted to convert us. In her e-mail, I noticed a pattern which seemed to be a universal blueprint for bible belief. I call this the "building blocks of bible belief".
  1) Fear: the basic foundation of bible belief is fear. Many active JWs come here and start posting something along the lines of "you'll all be sorry when the buzzards are pecking the eyes out of your dead, burnt bodies at Armegedon". This BA Christian said, " There are eternal consequences for our decisions." and "There is a real devil." Fear of non-compliance and non-belief.
  2) Unquestioning faith: When reading the bible with an open mind, using logic and reason; I came to the conclusion that it is neither true nor inspired. Yet, many are convinced it IS true and inspired. Why the differences? Faith. The BAC says, " It is definitely a faith walk. Either the Bible is true or it isn’t. You can put your faith in it or you can’t." CT Russell in a very old Zion Watchtower spoke of these differences. He said, "However, as at first stated, all these things, while clear as crystal to those possessed of and taught by God's spirit, are obscure to all others who will find abundant opportunity for "stumbling at the Word, being disobedient". And, "The Scriptures are for and addressed to the Church--the saints and the household of faith; and their evidences are internal, not external..." And, " Let them read this paper, and (2) loan them MILLENNIAL DAWN, VOL. I., the first four chapters of which were specially written for the assistance of truth-seekers, who need first of all to have faith established in the Bible as a whole."

  True believers will then use logic and reason only if it justifies their faith. They cannot accept that logic and reason does not explain their faith; to do so would leave them with only fear and that is an unacceptable condition of living. Whenever something in the bible doesn't say what they hoped it would, they either ignore it or attach the label "symbolic" to it; interpreting the symbolism to fit their faith. Once we allow the labels "symbolic" and "literal" to be selectively attached to anything in the bible; it can mean just about anything. To me, the only difference between ALL the bible-based religions is where the label "symbolic" is applied and what that sybolism means. For example, not far from here one can find churches where the congregation regularly handle serpents and drink poison. They read that part of the bible and say "literal". Most christians disagree and say "symbolic". Skinhead churches in the pacific northwest use parts of the bible to justify their hatred and violence towards blacks, jews, and gays. These are extreme examples, but it seems clear to me that to believe, one first must have fear, then faith, and only then can logic and reason be used. The use of symolism is a necessary part of bible belief and causes divisions in the otherwise happy world of christiandom.

  thinker