Has religion outlived its usefulness?

by sleepy 6 Replies latest jw friends

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  sleepy

  Has religion outlived its usefulness?

  I am baseing this on the idea that there is no god and that religious views came about as part of mankinds development in understanding the world.

  I would say that the reason many religions have survived so long is because , to one degree or another they were useful to live by.They helped people develope moral standards and principles , even if they werent always correct or followed by all.Also they helped organise seperated societies and encouraged comunictation between them.In fact some religions could have sped up the development of this world, is it a coinsidence that the developed world followed the christian religious view?

  But even thousands of years ago religion was hindering society when too rigidly applied, human development and advancement almost stopped in the muslim world when that took off.at one time what are now muslim contries wre highly advanced in mathermatics and science.Could it be that just like the stagnation of the muslim world that the christian religion is just a hinderance to the mordern world preventing its futher development?

  Religion viewpoints now are preventing advancements at the cutting edge of science in research into genatics and such.The moral guidliness of the church are now falling behind that of the educated world instead of being infront.

  Is religion just holding us back now, and does it serve no more purpose?
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  The_Bad_Seed

  I wouldn't say it has outlived it usefulness. Religion is a means of support for people who need it, and there will never be a shortage of those. It gives people a hope, and regardless of how counterproductive I regard religion, or a belief in God, I feel an institution that gives hope to the hopeless very useful.
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  obiefernandez

  Even though I feel like religion is of no more use, the following still freaks me out: Calling for the abolishment of religions would play directly into the end-time scenario predicted by the Watchtower.
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  expatbrit

  More to the point, did religion ever have any usefulness?

  I think a good case can be made that religion has always hindered progress and led to the breakup of ordered societies. As mentioned, Arab society was once led the world in mathematics and geographical learning, then Islam gained the upper hand.

  Before that Rome led the world in culture and learning. While it had many God's, the Romans were extremely pragmatic in not letting religion get in the way of more important things, like developing the empire. Then the cancer of Christianity took hold, Rome's strength was sapped, and the empire fell, leading to a thousand years of religiously dominated dark ages. Only once humans again began shaking off the mental shackles of religion did learning and culture rekindle themselves. Europe succeeded despite Christianity, not because of it.

  Expatbrit
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  libra_spirit

  I think the notion that men are not created to serve the greater whole, or the self sacrifice directive, is a rather new idea, and really only emerging in the US and other countries practicing personal freedom. Whether it is religion, communism, kings, or whatever, as long as people accept the notion that they exist to serve the greater whole or the group, then Religion will continue because it is still needed by some. In the free countries we hold sacred the "individual". The individual exists simply for himself and his greatest well being. He should be allowed to participate in whatever he chooses, and he will participate if it benifits him personally. There is no requirement for the individual to sacrefice himself to the state, or the church, denial of himself for the bigger group. The government exists to service the individual. It is the system of "rights" that protects individual freedom. To me this is the true issue, and why Religion is still working today, there are so many who will not take responsibility for themselves on an individual level. "Education, intellect, reasoning, and freedom" will at some point overcome Religion if given enough time.

  However all this said, there is still a need at some point to turn inwards and explore the possibilities of "life after death" for ones self. To expierence the existance of an astral body, or a Light body, to seek to discover what you truly are for yourself. I see Religion as a stepping stone to offer ideas for me to expierment with, I do not see them as an authority to follow as absolute truth. In this sense Religion will always be with us, for comfort when we finally turn inwards and give up all other persuits, however it may be forced to produce more for us. That is Religion through scrutiny, will be forced to focus more on "personal Spirituality" and step down to become a service for the individual, rather then demanding followers to exist to service it. God! this is starting to sound like the Borg.LOL!
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  professor

  Religion is one of those things that has a hard time keeping up with our evolving consciousness.
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  nilfun

  ...sometimes I think 'yes'

  http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20021011/ap_wo_en_po/india_religious_strife_3