What is the purpose of religion

[dio9]

I hope to learn something here, what you think.
My thought is the purpose of religion is to bring ones own life into harmony with the will of God. Agree or disagree .
Curious what you think , believer and atheist .

[Jagella]

I hope to learn something here, what you think.
My thought is the purpose of religion is to bring ones own life into harmony with the will of God. Agree or disagree .
Curious what you think , believer and atheist .

Religion was invented as a means and a justification for controlling people. If you can get people to believe you speak for a god, then they will probably do what you demand from them. This way you can attain political power, wealth, and sex.

[William]

[Replying to post 1 by dio9]

My thought is the purpose of religion is to bring ones own life into harmony with the will of God.

Every religion starts out its life as a Cult. If it survives, then it grows into a religion with scripts which have been endorsed in its Cult phase. Given long enough this in turn becomes Organised Religion and big business for that.

It can only be said that the Cult and accompanying scripts bring like-minded folk together to agree with the scripts in relation to the Cults ideas of "bringing ones own life into harmony with the will" of the idea of GOD the Cult proclaims, and in that, it is either harmonious with the Cults idea of GOD, or "Go find another Cult which is better suited to your particular overall psyche and accompanying beliefs."

"The will of GOD" is dependent upon the script the Cult proclaims in relation to the Cults "idea of GOD", and therefore is unlikely to really be 'the will of GOD' at all, but rather the will of the founder(s) of the Cult who invented the script.

[Matthew S Islam]

Religion was invented as a means and a justification for controlling people.

I agree to an extent. God commanded us to follow His religion as a way to unify his creation and establish justice in the world. Religion is suppose to be there to control us so we don't get out of control.

If you can get people to believe you speak for a god, then they will probably do what you demand from them. This way you can attain political power, wealth, and sex

That's true as well. Every tradition has its fair share of charlatans who prey on the weak and naive. However, most of the religious figures we celebrate are revered for their sincerity, sacrifice and spiritual achievements. Anyone can lay back and try to belittle their efforts, but how many of us are willing to follow their footsteps and sacrifice our lives for what we believe? It's easier said than done!

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God created this fine-tuned universe and elevated human beings for a purpose. Divine revelations and Holy Scriptures are the avenues through which God communicated to His creation. Although religion can be misused by wicked people, that doesn't take away from the wisdom behind why God legislated it in the first place.

[Jagella]

Religion is suppose to be there to control us so we don't get out of control.

And the modern, secular state is supposed to there when religion gets out of control.

Every tradition has its fair share of charlatans who prey on the weak and naive. However, most of the religious figures we celebrate are revered for their sincerity, sacrifice and spiritual achievements.

As far as I'm concerned, the religious leaders who are revered are the ones who have yet to be exposed. Heck, even after some of them are exposed they are still revered.

Anyone can lay back and try to belittle their efforts, but how many of us are willing to follow their footsteps and sacrifice our lives for what we believe? It's easier said than done!

I just wish it was impossible to follow in their footsteps. That way there would never have bee a 9/11.

[Matthew S Islam]

And the modern, secular state is supposed to there when religion gets out of control.

Haha yeah. Well religious people also recognize the value in having a just authority mediate our affairs.

As far as I'm concerned, the religious leaders who are revered are the ones who have yet to be exposed. Heck, even after some of them are exposed they are still revered.

Hmm. So there's never been a religious figure who left us with a morally consistent and extraordinary legacy? Were they all in it for the worldly greed and immediate benefits!? Well if that's so, you got to admit that the route they took just to feed their lusts deserves a level admiration. I mean, there are much easier ways to con people if you're that clever.

I just wish it was impossible to follow in their footsteps. That way there would never have bee a 9/11.

To assume that removing religion would lead to some utopia where we wouldn't find any reason to fight is but a fantasy. It's our faith in religious morals and God's Judgement which regulates us--be it consciously or subconsciously--from destroying one another over material gain and tribalism. It's religiosity which encourages us to value one another and be content with our circumstances in this life.

On the contrary though, nationalism, racism, wealth and global domination are far greater threats to human civilization. Once you remove the ability to shame people for practicing injustice, you'll have nothing left to resort to against tyranny. In such a state, the 'King of the Jungle' approach is the most rational, and metaphysical concepts such as equality and empathy are but a hinderance to worldly success.


P.S. It wasn't religion that was responsible for the 100 million soldiers who died in the 2 World Wars. Indeed, human-beings also have the propensity to become violent over secular ideologies.

[janavoss]

[Replying to dio9]

James says that religion that is pure is to take care of widows and orphans, and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.

I think that religion provides a framework for those two things to happen.
It is comprised of groups of like-minded people who gather for the purpose of teaching, learning and encouraging each other to live by the tenets of the group they belong to. So I think this fits with your statement about bringing one's life in line with the will of God. At least for those religions that believe in God, that is.

It also creates opportunities for those like-minded people to serve their community. Of course people can volunteer to serve their community without being part of a religious group, I don't mean to imply that only religious people are involved in taking care of others. All I am saying is that religion (at least those that follow the Christian Bible) should be taking care of those in their community that need help, and should be providing members with opportunities to serve as well as encouraging individuals to do what they can on their own.

[dio9]

[Replying to Jagella]

I can't deny there is corruption and abuse in contemporary religion , but don't think that is the purpose . In ancient Athens religious interpreters were turned to by Euthyphro after he brought charges against his own father for the death of a poor relative who had killed his household servant.
These Athenians went for answers for this moral question.
They took the Homeric gods seriously to solve moral problems. People need help advice when they have to decide such unbelievable things.
Though we don't believe in the Homeric gods, people need a higher authority to turn to for answers sometimes . I agree some religious leaders today are corrupt and abuse people but not all of them and these are sincere believers.
God as we conceive him or her to be is something people need. I contend anything wrong with religion is in the peoples court.
OH and what do you think about old Euthyrpho ? Is piety toward the law over piety toward his father? Old Socrates and I do not believe religion is a mercenary process of making prayers & gifts to the gods for benefits in return. The real God's purpose is the moral and spiritual development of people. Any religion that comes close to this is a good one.

[Tcg]

[Replying to post 1 by dio9]


Religions themselves become very complex over time, but understanding their function isn't.


Simply ask which existential realities of life humans fear most. Death of course seems to be the chief one. Take that list and compare it to the false promises religions make. That will reveal the purpose of religion. To provide comfort to those unwilling to face the existential realities of life.





Tcg

[ttruscott]

I hope to learn something here, what you think.
My thought is the purpose of religion is to bring ones own life into harmony with the will of God. Agree or disagree .
Curious what you think , believer and atheist .

Moses was instituted as GOD's leader.
The judges were instituted as GOD's leaders.
The Kings were instituted as GOD's leaders.
The prophets were instituted as GOD's leaders.
Then the church was instituted as GOD's leaders.

They all failed or are failing.

Men seek leaders instead GOD and God makes clear the reason their request was evil in 1 Samuel 8:7: They have rejected me from being king over them. Samuel further attests to this speaking to the Israelites in 1 Samuel 12:12: You said to me, 'No, but a king shall reign over us,' when the Lord your God was your king.

The sinful elect must learn to accept that no man led organisation will ever fill in the lack of not being able or willing to hear HIS voice, and they will not.