What is religion to you?

What is religion to you? I found a topic about religion in another forum and these are what I found:

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Personally I don't give a crap about how Christians behave. They are free to proseltyize or hate as they or their church leaders will. I dislike Christians because they are brainwashed and offensive to my philosophical sense of taste and culture.

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On the individual level, antiquated religions like Christianity are for simpleton type folk. On the collective scale, Koreans and Christianity approach mass neurosis in parralle with North Koreans and their dear leader. Same widespread and systematic foolishness.

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I'd give you the link if you're interested, but I'm embarrassed about it because there is a lot of nationalism going on in that forum.

Religion is a useful tool for herd control ie it is a social-political instrument. It generally comes under the Games part of mob management as it helps focus them on things outside of their own day to day life. However alot of the religious festivals also revolve around feast days so it covers the Bread part of mob management as well.

Here's more:

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Not to mention the "holier-than-thou" attitude. Honestly, I see no difference between Christianity and Islam. This "intolerant", "war-like", "my way is the only way" mindset is very dangerous. That's why after all these centuries, these two religions are still up to "no good".

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to me, Christianity is basically rewrapped Buddhist type spirituality passed thru Sumer into the Old Testament, and then it gets unknowingly exported back into the areas where Sumerians brought their spiritual beliefs from...

but there is no real guarantee that the spirituality is interpreted in the right way in today's changing society.

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This is one of the reasons why I love Buddhism so much. A monk once told me when I asked him if Buddha would be mad at me for praying to Jesus. He said, "if we were all in a burning building and there was only one door, only one way out ... how many people would perish? If there are many doors, how many people would be saved? Maybe everyone! Each religion is a door to escape our suffering. Each religion is a door to salvation." I was so happy with this answer.

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I think these are all interesting opinions, which I never thought about before.
And I'm posting this because it's about time we had another religion thread.
By the way, I'm not anti-Christian.

Religion: an antiquated remnant of a society that had no understanding of it's surroundings, thus requiring a way to explain the phennomena that were, at the time, mysterious, unpredictable, and could not be understood at that level of social and technological development.

I don't really care about religion, as long as they don't bug me with their beliefs. Although I personally have very little respect for the top three monotheistic religions (aka Christianity, Islam and Judaism), they are far too exclusive and intolerant of other faiths for me to like.

I don't get why people have such a problem with religion to be honest. I'm not a big fan of organised faith, but on a personal scale it's something to be cherished by those who have it and accepted by those who don't. It isn't the cause of war and hatred.. that's just group mentality, and getting rid of religion isn't the answer to it.

The ultimate proof of men's stupidity.
The ultimate tool to power.
The ultimate lie.
more?

I think my views lie somewhere along the lines of those that Keba has expressed,
only I would add that where possible, I would be in favour of complete removal
of the monotheistic religions in the traditional sense. People who have their own
spiritual beliefs, internalised, are in no way any threat in the same manner that
anti-evolutionary groups are, for instance.

I believe everything in the bible.....but I don't see the need to go to church it's all there in bible! I can read, Does a preacher know more then the bible? I think not.

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Originally Posted by SSNeoperestroika

only I would add that where possible, I would be in favour of complete removal
of the monotheistic religions in the traditional sense. People who have their own
spiritual beliefs, internalised, are in no way any threat in the same manner that
anti-evolutionary groups are, for instance.

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So if you could ban organized religion you would?....how tolerant of you~:rolleyes:

Religion is having answers to the terrible questions.

Religion is what keeps people going. If someone says they are an aetheist, I have found that they normally mean agnostic which is beleiveing in an external power that created life, planets, and that gravy. Rarely does a person have no hope for the afterlife. There has to be somewhere better than this.
Personaly, religion plays a part in everything I do. Yes, I am a Christian like most Armenians. But what gets me is when (My nephew tells me about this in America) a lot of American Wasps are so brutal, mean and stingy people. They set a badd exampel for the rest of the world and that sickens me, why is the standard Christian in most people's mind a lying, two-faced hypocrite? I would like to change that, but everyone has to do their part.

To many people, their religion is not a sincere spiritual conviction, rather more a flag to wave to "prove" they are right and everyone else is wrong. I do believe there is some Truth to be found in most religions, but by the time it becomes "organised" you have a power hierarchy whose main interest is self-preservation and seizing the "doctrinal high ground".

Another Buddhist analogy: The various Gods are like trees in a forest, and the road to Nirvana passes beside the forest. You can visit any tree you like on the way, or none of them, and still reach Nirvana. But you can also get lost in the forest.

The religion I knew in my youth was a beautiful thing. Your beliefs were reflected in your actions, not in your words. Those who I thought of as religious behaved in a manner that seemed transcendent. Not transcendent to the point of not caring about the world and the ills of others. For they did care. And they did things that reflected their caring. Their faith seemed to come from within and eminate outwardly in thought and actions. Not perfect in any sense of the word. But trying. Honestly trying.

Now its seems like a lot of people who claim to be religious are troubled. Bothered terribly in fact. They have an itch that they just can't help but scratch. I don't get the sense that there is serenity in their souls. Religion doesn't seem to give them that anymore. Rather than calming the hurricane it seems to redirect it elsewhere.

I suppose like all powerful things there is the potential for great good and the potential for great harm.

Religion doesn't kill people, people kill religion.

On an organized level it is a method of herd control. On the personal level, where the defenition is much broader, it is a wonderful thing. I don't belong to a faith, my religion is my beliefs and morals. Everyone has a religion whether you know it or not.

What is the consumer-driven Western world to you?

I just think that it's funny that something meditative and spiritual like religion was so popular, and regularly practiced. I mean, what the heck?!

Forgot to point out ... religion, the only thing where you get to be called a sheep without anyone being offended. I love that one. :laugh4:

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Originally Posted by JimBob

On the personal level, where the defenition is much broader, it is a wonderful thing. I don't belong to a faith, my religion is my beliefs and morals. Everyone has a religion whether you know it or not.

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I live by a code, but I would certainly not call it spiritual, and spirituality is central to religion, I think. So, I think that religion is neither universal nor as popular as you might think. For there are many people who do not associate their moral code with any sort of spirituality.

My mind is the only temple I pray too. And not surprisingly the only one that has ever answered my prayers.

Wow, based on those quotes, religion seems to be the scapegoat that athiests blame all the world's problems on.

To me, "religion" is any alternative to nihilism. Personally, I choose to believe that Jesus (the one popularly called Christ) spoke the truth, and all that it implies. And oddly enough, I don't find my faith demanding me to conform to anyone else's views.

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Originally Posted by B_Ray

Wow, based on those quotes, religion seems to be the scapegoat that athiests blame all the world's problems on.

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That is because we are right, history will prove my point.

I can only speak for a few atheists, and we don't blame religion for the world's problems, at least not solely. It is a factor, but not the only one. What we are bothered with is religious people pushing their religion upon others, whether those people want to or not.

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Originally Posted by Al Khalifah

What is the consumer-driven Western world to you?

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An abomination ... I'm communist.:2thumbsup:

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Originally Posted by Keba

What we are bothered with is religious people pushing their religion upon others, whether those people want to or not.

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Ahh, no one can argue with this. Of course, you can apply it to any belief or ideal, but I suppose religion has been one of the most commonly "pushed" things in history, which is ironic for Christianity, since Jesus was clearly "take it or leave it" in his approach, as opposed to "convert or die!"

Several major religions insist that everyone else must be pushed into believing them as well, in particular Christianity and Islam. Both of these religions have a history of forcing conversions at the point of a sword, using politics and government to force their religious ideas on everyone and just generally not being tolerant of others who don't believe as they do. For this reason, I feel no real need to be particularly tolerant of these religions or their adherents.

Aside from that, "faith" fosters an inability to think logically and skeptically about everything else. Someone who is unable to apply simple logic and common sense to their own beliefs is unlikely to be able to do so in other areas as well. Anyone who believes that the Bible/Koran/Torah and Talmud/Vedas/whatever is true simply because God said so is blatantly unable to reason. Such inability to recognize circular reasoning doesn't bode well for reasoning abilities in other areas. Many of our modern day problems are the result of people not being able to think clearly and rationally about issues. This is a direct result of their inability to think clearly and rationally about religion.

When humanity finally throws off the chains of religion and superstition and fantasy, then we'll finally be able to progress as a species.

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Originally Posted by Aenlic

Several major religions insist that everyone else must be pushed into believing them as well, in particular Christianity and Islam. Both of these religions have a history of forcing conversions at the point of a sword, using politics and government to force their religious ideas on everyone and just generally not being tolerant of others who don't believe as they do. For this reason, I feel no real need to be particularly tolerant of these religions or their adherents.

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Uhhh....the crusades were quite some time ago:dizzy2:



What about all the atrocities the germans did in ww2......I feel no need to tolerate germans.....Come on that argument doesn't even make sense.:wall:


I've met an atheist family who will believe anything against religion wether there is proof or not (especially christianity). and these people are crazy. Their son has tried to commit suicide one or two times.


I've met a christian who !@#$ed up their kid with all the fire and brim stone stuff..... that the kid can't function any better than someone who is mentally retarded.

There are crazies in every group it's nothing new.

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Originally Posted by ceasar010

Uhhh....the crusades were quite some time ago:dizzy2:

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Not just the Crusades. Are you kidding? Heretics burned at the stake, as recently as in colonial America. Missionaries in South America encouraging the removal of one foot of the natives so they couldn't run away while being forced to attend church. Children of native American tribes being removed from their families and raised in Christian schools to turn them into good little Protestant Americans. An endless stream of examples of Christians attempting to legislate their religions by force onto everyone else. Does Prohibition ring a bell at all? The same things people are currently using to criticize militant Islamic fundamentalists is not all that far removed from recent history in the West, and was done by Christians.

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What about all the atrocities the germans did in ww2......I feel no need to tolerate germans.....Come on that argument doesn't even make sense.:wall:

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Well, I'm not surprised that you can't follow the logic and instead turned to a completely specious argument instead.

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I've met an atheist family who will believe anything against religion wether there is proof or not (especially christianity). and these people are crazy. Their son has tried to commit suicide one or two times.

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So? What does that have to do with the discussion? What are these unproven things they believe about Christianity? Maybe their son committed suicide because he was tired of all the Christians telling him he was going to Hell without any proof and decided to find out for himself?

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I've met a christian who !@#$ed up their kid with all the fire and brim stone stuff..... that the kid can't function any better than someone who is mentally retarded.

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Exactly my point. Thanks for making it for me again.

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There are crazies in every group it's nothing new.

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My point wasn't about crazies. It was about religion teaching people to be irrational and thus unable to think logically and skeptically. It was about religion teaching people to accept irrational and illogical thought as normal. It was about religion making people so unable to distinguish between reality and fantasy that it spills over into other facets of their lives, from believing in aliens at Area 51 and ghosts and holistic medicine and chiropractors and infomercials to electing blatantly ignorant people to government just because they are "true believers" of the same nonsense.

Any other misconceptions I can clear up for you?

i use religion to fill in holes in life, things that cant be explained by science. It also helps me with my porblems because i know theres some higher diety looking after me and everyone

:2thumbsup:

Religion is everything.

Religion is bliss.
Religion is hell.
Religion is a bright fever.
Religion is a cold madness.
Religion is brutality and opression.
Religion is the liberation of one's mind.
Religion is a one-man road for the lucid.
Religion is a highway for the comfortably numb.
Religion is an awakening.
Religion is an opiate.
Religion is an explanation.
Religion is a refusal to accept explanations.
Religion is a way of bringing everyone together.
Religion is a way of tearing people apart.
Religion is fear.
Religion is love.
Religion is starvation of the senses.
Religion is an exploration of the senses.

So... decide.

Hm...

I generally see that Aetheists tend to be far more derogatory towards Christians than Christians are towards them. I have seen not one occasion where a Christian has insulted an aetheist on the grounds of religion and more than I can count where aetheists have insulted Christians on the grounds of religion.

This is in the UK, so it might be different elsewhere, but I've always found aetheists here to be far more intolerant than Christians - while speaking about the crusades loudly.

Religion is an antiquated word with little meaning nowadays. We should instead be referring to an "existential perspective". After all, that is what we are really talking about: the persepective of existence, how it came to be, its purpose and our own. Everyone has some sort of existential perspective, even atheists.


As for Christians and Muslims being equally intolerant: I don't see many Christians strapping explosives to themselves and then walking onto crowded city buses. I don't see calls from Christains for the death and destruction of the heathen infidel. Maybe 1000 yrs ago, but gimme a break.

It's just weird.