The nature of religon

Personally, and this is only personally, I think religion is archaeic and has no real purpose but to offer salvation to those who are lost among humanity or need an imaginary reason why things are.

I think people just need to feel less alone, by nature. So they make up some stories. Some really GREAT stories, but stories nontheless.

I don't think that religion, in itself, is a bad thing. Only when it is abused and used as a power device does it turn into something outright evil. People should be able to think for themselves, and religion is counterproductive to that point.

Jam it back in, in the dark.

Originally Posted by Fyodor D.

I want to know, and take your time to properly and thoroughly explain this, what do you think "religion" IS?

I could write an entire essay on it, but I'll try to keep it as brief and concise as I can. (Keep in mind, I am terrible with words.)

I think religion is just a human construct in which people put all their hopes, dreams, and faith into. I can imagine that without religion, our history as a people would have been vastly different.

Who would those caveman have begged for rain, afterall.

It's a feeling of powerlessness which summarizes religion, in my opinion. ^_^

There's nowhere I can't reach.

Originally Posted by Fyodor D.

I am just wondering (so don't think I am attacking), why do you suppose that we have a tendency to put our hopes, dreams, and faith in something external?

Because we have no power to control what happens to us here in this life.

Now, I am not talking about today. I am talking about in the days where there was major issues in society and nature.

People had no way of controlling what happened to who and when. So they attributed it to something.

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Why couldn't we accept that things are not within our control? (although, some religions already ackowledge that things are totally out of our control... like Christianity... so I think that is a bit off :-P )

I disagree with the latter statement (in parenthesis) almost entirely. I think Christianity - and almost all other religions do say things are in our control. Heaven. Hell. Commandments. Pillars. Expectations. Codes. Ethics, even.

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Anywho, I am off to a friend's house, so I will pick this up later when I get back home.

Yea, I'm off to dinner with friends too - but honestly, I really look forward to a nice, civil conversation like this. <3

Originally Posted by Moon

(CandleTree, right? Sorry!)
I agree that a huge part of religion is to bring hope to an overall sense of hopelessness. However, I think its something slightly more than that.

For one, religion is a social construct. You have a hierachy, and places of worship are for the most part places of instruction and community. Many forms of religious worship contain sermons, a method of instructing followers and gioving advice. There is also an emphasis or prayer / meditation and the like. Even if prayers are unheard, they force someone to think about a problem they may have and give them confidence that it can be solved.

Agree for my purposes.

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To me, religion is an intrinsic part of human nature. There just seems to be a part of us that requires the existence of a higher power (for atheists, the higher power is reason / science).

Now, I am atheist, but I do not find that math and science are absolute. Pang and I talk about this constantly (and he avoids bringing it up anymore).

I think math and science work only from our perspective. I think we've read the chapter titles in a book, if I can use a metaphor. We may have some things right, but we haven't seen the big picture yet. We're likely to never see it.

Does that sound religious? Maybe. But I do not have faith or hope in anything - including science. I can see how some people would identify it as a sort of religion, and I AGREE that a lot of people "worship" it, in a sense. It holds answers. Science and religion parrallel in a lot of very interesting ways. But it should be observed that nothing - and I mean nothing (includiing nature) should be sought out for answers of a reason to believe in anything.

What science offers as fact may not be fact at all.

We know science is discovering new things everyday on a whole. Some of things contradict what we have found in the past, and will contradict things we will find in the future.

There are no definites. Welcome to the universe. ^_^

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It may be there or it may just be a fragment of consciousness or our evolution as a species. But it is most definately there. I feel it every time I meditate and reach that state where all conscious thought stops and the entire body feels enveloped in a great ocean. It's a very powerful feeling and it leaves me with a sense of calm and knowledge that my problems will work themselves out with the right amount of effort.

I don't believe in meditation, either. I mean, sure, it can work, if you put faith in it. But like anything, unless you believe in it, it's not there. Your mind is a powerful, powerful thing.

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In one sentence, religion is the power of prayer and reflection submitted to a higher power. At least for me it is.

So long as it helps in the journey of life. <3

Eks, I almost entirely agree with you. But I don't have time to type everything out that I want to. ^_^

This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.

Originally Posted by Minion

Well, we all do. Whether you call it religion or society. You weren't born knowing the difference.

So you're saying the two are comparable? I heard they used to burn women at the stake. Society said that was okay to do.

I am a dolphin, do you want me on your body?