An Examination of Religion

[lawtonfogle]

Some may chose to enforce one rule by breaking another, but I think that is wrong. As for the fact of gravity, you cannot be 100% certain that the next time you jump up that you will come down. I know it sounds like non sense, but it is true that one cannot be 100% sure. How do I know that my room mate exist. I might just have a bad mental condition. I just have to believe.

 

Anyways, the OP was refering to the world not needing religion. One of the things I believe most in is the fact that without religion, I would be dead.

[alexander]

yeah there is a probability that you will go to sleep today and will wake up as a blue alien on Mars tomorrow.

[GAHD]

Both of the last two probabilities seem so rediculous to me, I do wonder where this thread is going. It would be interesting to study them if they happened though; if you could reproduce the 'blue martian' thing regularly, NASA wouldd be SOL.

[alexander]

name the thread probability and post it in the Physics section, according to Einstein, everything is probable, but enough about it here, go go go post :doh: and this thread is supposed to remain in discussion of religion...

[questor]

religions are the creations of men. they show aspects of men's emotions: fear, greed, lust for power, love, forgiveness and other traits. since religion was devised by man to help

explain the unexplainable and control the behavior of others, we cannot assume it in any way reflects the being or attributes of a creator.

[HydrogenBond]

If one looks at the gods of roman mythology, these actually represent human attributes. Venus was the goodess of love and romance. When one is in love, the dynamics are often stronger than one can create for themselves., i.e, a man will spend his very last dime. That is why they were felt to be the working of higher powers, because they were beyond the induction and/or complete control of the ego. An enraged abusive person who is out of control would be possessed by a different god or combinations of gods. Although silly, it actually tells us a lot about the people of the time. These people were extreme and usually out of control for both good and bad. They could create beautiful art with one hand and torture someone with the other.

 

The modern Gods of monotheism, I'll stay away from that can of worms.

[Southtown]

religions are the creations of men. they show aspects of men's emotions: fear, greed, lust for power, love, forgiveness and other traits. since religion was devised by man to help explain the unexplainable and control the behavior of others, we cannot assume it in any way reflects the being or attributes of a creator.

Tru dat, homie. All their critiquing of religious institution is founded, but that is not the essence in which my faith is grounded. ;)

 

“

Be not many of you teachers, my brethren, knowing that we shall receive heavier judgment.”

— James 3:1 (American Standard Version)

[goku]

#1: Religions do everything they can to ensure you do not lose faith or change religions.

not my religion. my faith is between me and God

 

#2: Religions have their good God's and bad God's. The purpose of the good God is obvious, but what is the real purpose of the bad God? I've come to the conclusion the real purpose is simply to take attention away from the good God. Bad things happen in life, and if people think it's their God's fault, they lose faith. So - create the devil and blame every bad thing on him.

not my religion. there is only one God. there is a devil. just because something bad happens doesn't mean the devil done it. everyone has a choice, good or evil. if you chose evil bad things may happen, but it's not the devil it's you. you made the choice.

 

#3: Religions use the technique of talking about things which cannot be proven or disproven, or so they hope. The most brilliant of their ideas is to utilize the mystery of life after death. Since we cannot prove what happens after we die, religions can say anything they want about it and we cannot say they are wrong.

my religion tells only the truth, not just anything.

 

#4: Religions use what I call "Advanced Terrorism". The way they use this is mainly in conjunction with #2. Here is the difference between advanced terrorism and normal terrorism:

 

Normal terrorists say, "If you do not meet our demands, we will kill you/hostages/etc. If you meet the demands, no one will get hurt."

 

Advanced - "If you do not meet our demands, we will kill you/hostages/etc. If you meet the demands, no one will get hurt, and we will give you a million dollars."

not my religion. only God makes demands and they are all in the bible (KJV).

 

#5: Blowing things into 'biblical' proportion. They take all their ideas and multiply them by infinity. They say if you turn your back on (our) God, you go to hell. They make their good God a being of pure good and their evil God a being of pure evil. They take life after death and say it lasts for eternity. And instead of threatening to hurt you in this life, they say you will spend all of eternity in either the most extreme pleasure or extreme pain.

there is only one God. yes the devil is pure evil, if you turn your back on God you will go to hell. yes life after death is eternal, the choice is yours'. people get stuck on ''how do i save myself'', we cannot save ourselves Jesus saves us, all we have to do is believe.

for God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. john 3:16

it is that simple.

If you think about those a little more, you'll see countless examples of them taking place in various religions. Those five are the basic principles behind (successful) religion. And what do they equate to? The most brilliant form of mind-control in the history of our civilization. A book which uses psychological techniques to control millions of people for thousands of years. It's even designed in a way which gives money to the people who spread the word and entrap more minds (priests, nuns etc.). Pure genius, all of it.

no priests or nuns in my religion. yes the bible is most amazing

 

That being said, I think religion has been for the best. Any given thing can be used for either good or evil. And, I think, contrary to the belief of some, religion has done more good than harm. The reason I think so is because of the nature of living creatures. Look at how easily we go to war. What if we didn't have religion controlling people's minds, telling people not to kill? Our civilization may not have reached the point it has. But, I think we are approaching the age, if we're not already there, where religion will do more harm than good. The age where we no longer need religious control to stop us from self-destructing.

only the true religion can do good.

the only age we are approaching is the end.

i'd say over 90% of the religious beliefs that you condemn, i condemn also.

it's no wonder to me that so many people reject God, because there are so many lies and false religions.

some advice: if you can't feel it in your heart, don't believe it.

please visit my church, Skitts Mountain Baptist Church

[questor]

since religion is a man made idea, and since religions are practiced by men,they are open to abuses that men are capable of. most religions were formulated in olden times when war and abuses were quite common. as men became more civilized, wars because of religion have diminished. most religions do not advocate war, although some may be equivocal on the subject. it is man himself who makes the trouble. with or without religion, man is a warlike creature, especially the unenlightened barbarians who are still with us in the middle east and other areas.

[Southtown]

since religion is a man made idea, and since religions are practiced by men,they are open to abuses that men are capable of.

Even if religion is from God, it would still get abused. And the bible predicted such.

“

Jehovah looked down from heaven upon the children of men, To see if there were any that did understand, That did seek after God.

 

They are all gone aside; they are together become filthy; There is none that doeth good, no, not one.”

— Psalm 14:2-3 (American Standard Version)

 

most religions were formulated in olden times when war and abuses were quite common. as men became more civilized, wars because of religion have diminished. most religions do not advocate war, although some may be equivocal on the subject. it is man himself who makes the trouble. with or without religion, man is a warlike creature, especially the unenlightened barbarians who are still with us in the middle east and other areas.

I'd wager my entire livelyhood on the other side of that argument. And I believe we shall soon see the end result of social non-accountability toward the "meagerly" virtues now deemed obsolete.

 

I can't believe I'm hearing this in an intellectual discussion. Do you seriously think mankind has morality outside of religion? The mindset of the age is, "what can I do for me, and how can I get away with it?"

[Southtown]

Guns don't kill people, people kill people... neither does government or religion or science. These things are inanimate tools in our hands, doing nothing on their own. It takes the will of a human being, stemming from the selfishness of a sinful heart, to cause harm to people.

 

As I've said before, the utter absence of peace and dominance of corruption in world is testament to the sayings of Judaic Scripture. The fact that morality was ever conceived flies in the face of naturalist Darwinism. Aspirations of morality are not the same as fears of hell. I can see how fears of hell can be created to control people. But, whether the notion of hell was contrived to control people or not is irrelevant.

 

What stands out to me is that EVERYONE has an opinion about right and wrong, whatever that moral opinion may be, to the contrary of a naturally selective environment. Generosity and kindness are inhibitive to survival and should have been weeded out long ago.

 

Scripture says we are guilty because we know right and wrong, but don't do it. Unlike any other animals in existence, we are disobedient to that which we are convinced of, and solely seek to please ourselves, to the hurt of all creation.

 

“

Jehovah looked down from heaven upon the children of men, To see if there were any that did understand, That did seek after God.

 

They are all gone aside; they are together become filthy; There is none that doeth good, no, not one.”

— Psalm 14:2-3 (American Standard Version)

[questor]

Southtown, most of mankind is a mixture of saints and sinners. religion is merely a way for people to try to relate to things they don't understand. if you're going to blame religion for wars and excesses in the name of religion, you must also recognize art, music, law and literature as coming from the same well. there would probably be more people alive today without religious wars, but the beauty of man's art fired by religious fervor would also be absent. religion is not warlike by writ, it is only that way because of the smallness of man's mind.

[Southtown]

religion is not warlike by writ, it is only that way because of the smallness of man's mind.

That's what I was saying: religious institution usually amounts to the abuse of something pure. Consider this quote:

“Then the scribes and Pharisees who were from Jerusalem came to Jesus, saying, “Why do Your disciples transgress the tradition of the elders? For they do not wash their hands when they eat bread.”

He answered and said to them, “

Why do you also transgress the commandment of God because of your tradition

? For God commanded, saying, ‘

Honor your father and your mother

’; [

Exodus 20:12

;

Deuteronomy 5:16

] and, ‘

He who curses father or mother, let him be put to death

.’ [

Exodus 21:17

] But you say, ‘

Whoever says to his father or mother, “Whatever profit you might have received from me is a gift to God”— then he need not honor his father or mother

.’ Thus you have made the commandment of God of no effect by your tradition. Hypocrites! Well did Isaiah prophesy about you, saying:

‘

These people draw near to Me with their mouth,

And honor Me with their lips,

But their heart is far from Me.

And in vain they worship Me,

Teaching as doctrines the commandments of men

.’ ” [

Isaiah 29:13

]”

—

Matthew 15:1-9

(NKJV) [emphasis added]

[vivekn]

Religion, the relation of man to those whom he considers holy, absolute, spiritual, divine, or worthy of special respect. It is also commonly regarded as a way for people to deal with their ultimate concerns about their lives and their fate after death.

Since religion is a man-made idea and is practiced by men, they are open to the abuses that men are capable of.

Religion is the creation of humans. They show aspects of men's emotions: fear, Lust, Greed, Anger for power, love, forgiveness, and other traits. Since religion was designed to help mankind.

You must have heard or even used the words religion and spirituality in place of each other. But while they are not diametrically opposite, neither are they the same

Edited November 19, 2022 by vivekn

[Diamonds]

When I read Hegel could it be possible to use scientific formulas to examine religions? Occurred in my mind. 

Newton Gravity for instance: God is greatest mass but distance is vast. So his power is weak.

Two atheists stand close to each other and weight 160 kg. 

Power between them is bigger.

Jesus said: If two of you agree and ask they will get what they ask.

What is joined together By God man must not cut apart.

Scientific facts can be used to examine religions but NOT VICE VERSA.  

[Diamonds]

Paul said God is SAME today , yesterday and tomorrow.

But statistics of wheater say every second day is sunny and every second cloudy. 

We can not use Paul to examine the science for his idea is based on faith. But we can use scientific facts, formulas and statics etc. To examine religious scriptures. 

Science can not accept that God is all along same always.  More close to the fact is that he let darkness and light to alter regulary. 

And he himself too can change.  His name is I will become whatever I will.