Ok, I was just wondering what people consider to be the purpose of religion, of choosing a particular religion. It seems to me that, at times, religion stops being about unity and trying to be a good/moral person who respects those around him and does the exact opposite- it creates divide and conflict.
Why do people place such an emphasis on the prophet who brought about 'the word of God' or who established a certain religion? I'm not saying we shouldn't follow a particular religion, but why don't we place more emphasis on the fundamental values of that religion (which, funnily enough, seem to be similar if not identical in most religions). What I mean is that when people go to war over religion or dismiss another religion and claim that it is wrong (e.g. Christians & Muslims - just an example) what they seem to argue about is who the true prophet is!! Not true religion- but prophet! Surely the values that make up a religion are more important.
What are your opinions on this?
& Sorry that this is not worded very well & is probably a bit confusing!!! (it's kind of hard to put into words!!)
Feel free to ask any questions for me to clarify it further!!
Religion is the tool by which we attempt to explain those concepts which defy a scientific explanation. Many atheists would be enraged that I, the Atheist, would accept the proposition that science cannot answer some questions adequately, but I find this position they have chosen to hold to be ridiculous.
One cannot honestly say that only what is physical exists. Thus the creation of religion.
Of course, many religions are indeed the same, with a different name for the God figure. But then, many religions, like mine, are quite different than anything else out there.
theAtheistofnoIllusions wrote:One cannot honestly say that only what is physical exists. Thus the creation of religion.
Why not? I've only experienced the physical world so coming to the conclusion that the physical is all that exists seems quite logical to me. Please explain.
For me, it is far better to grasp the Universe as it really is than to persist in delusion, however satisfying and reassuring.--Carl Sagan
theAtheistofnoIllusions wrote:One cannot honestly say that only what is physical exists. Thus the creation of religion.
Why not? I've only experienced the physical world so coming to the conclusion that the physical is all that exists seems quite logical to me. Please explain.
There is the mental and the abstract. Of course I tend to think they are all grounded in the physical as I am not a dualist.
theAtheistofnoIllusions wrote:Is freedom a physical object? Can love be bottled, happiness caged, hate leashed?
These are concepts outside of the physical. Yet they can be experienced all the same.
Yet we feel them and there is something correspondence going on in the brain. The brain is changing and experiencing as we do.
But I agree there are abstractions, metaphors and such but they are still grounded in our experiences.
This is my opinion; I speak for no one but myself.
Personally I believe the purpose of religion is an answer for death. Mankind as a species has tackled one problem after another, however the one thing that mankind has not been able to answer is "What happens when someone dies?" Religion gives people an answer to that question. It comforts people to know that when they die they might live in a place full of clouds and Angels and having 72 virgins or whatever else the different religions across the world say.
Personally I think fearing death is trumpery. I know that when I die my legs will be snapped in half, I'll be placed in a coffin, and placed into the ground and over time I will decay and eventually turn to dust (unless I decided to be cremated and sent off into space; yes you can pay to have your ashes sent into space lol) and that is where my story ends.
Religion can never reform mankind because religion is slavery. - Robert G. Ingersoll 1833-1899
ConfinedIX wrote:
Personally I think fearing death is trumpery.
I'm not so sure that the Christians fear death quite so much as I do. Look at it this way:
A Christian will die, and that is the end. But he is not aware of this fact, he believes, fully, that he will be in Paradise upon the moment of his death. At no point will he ever be disabused of this notion, because the only evidence he will get will be after "he" is gone.
And gone we shall be (maybe). All that is us and all that was us will be lost and we shall not even mind it for we are not there. But how will us living, existing, athiest beings deal with death when it overtakes us? We will know that we will not mind in a moment, but we are not at that moment and we never shall be. The fear of what is coming will be ours until the last moment.
And that is the one thing a Christian has on me. I will go to my death in utter terror of no longer existing, and he will go to his smiling at the notion that he will soon be with his god.
ConfinedIX wrote:I know that when I die my legs will be snapped in half, I'll be placed in a coffin, and placed into the ground and over time I will decay and eventually turn to dust (unless I decided to be cremated and sent off into space; yes you can pay to have your ashes sent into space lol) and that is where my story ends.
No such thing will happen to you. It will happen to your body. You will not exist.
theAtheistofnoIllusions wrote:Is freedom a physical object? Can love be bottled, happiness caged, hate leashed?
These are concepts outside of the physical. Yet they can be experienced all the same.
Yes, there are concepts that our brains create as a combination of physical processes. I think that emotions are a result of brain function and therefore are grounded in the physical. I don't think these concepts are evidence of some other realm outside of the physical.
For me, it is far better to grasp the Universe as it really is than to persist in delusion, however satisfying and reassuring.--Carl Sagan
The way I see it, is that everyone is looking for that ONE right way to live. You know: the one thing that will bring you happiness, or the right moral code, or what have you.
The OP said that he noticed that the fundamentals of many religions are basically the same; in my opinion, you can't be more right. The similarities are astonishing. What I've basically gotten out of most organized religious beliefs are a few key points:
1. The Creator made everything, and mankind was Creator's greatest creation. 2. Everything works according to Creator's design (doesn't matter which one, or how many), perfectly.
3. EXCEPT for mankind. Out of all the things Creator made (clouds, rocks, the ecosystem, stars, physical laws, atoms, birds, whales, etc), Creator screwed up the one that they put the most work and effort into, somehow (sin, karma, taint, what have you). Because it was divinely instilled in all humans, it's not really your fault that you are flawed, you just have to live with it.
4. HOWEVER, Creator is merciful, and has given a way to purge yourself of that flaw somehow, and they have told it to some special messenger or another (the prophets).
5. The manner in which you can free yourself from the flaw is divinely mandated and enforced, but is enacted through mundane means(folks like you and I can do it).
6. The method is available to anyone.
7. Following this method guarantees that you remove this taint, but there is NOT OTHER METHOD TO DO SO.
8. If you get rid of the flaw, you are guaranteed a reward of some sort after you die (nirvana, higher ascension after reincarnation, Heaven, etc). So, you NEVER get the payout while you are still alive.
9. ONLY YOU CAN SAVE YOU. You can't save anybody else, and nobody can save you for you.
10. Being saved is the most important thing in the world, so you can be as jealous about it as you want. Anybody that tries to take that from you is immediately an enemy and wrong. Being saved comes before anything else: family, country, friends, loved ones, everything.
It all sort of falls apart when you reject 2 of those assertions (almost axioms for most religions):
1. There is only one right way.
2. Humans are inherently flawed.
I rejected those notions a long time ago, and things are VASTLY different. I didn't even get rid of the 'humans are unique' thing: we ARE special; just as special as the mountains, rocks, whales, birds, insects, solar systems, oceans, and everything else. We are just as special and unique to our creator as any of those, but not MORE special.
For the most part, I think religions (as society commonly sees them) are meant to be a method of explaining why things are the way they are: why some people live in misery while others live in wealth and privilige, why some die young and some live to be very old, why the wicked are allowed to get away with their deeds and do well while the moral individuals seem to get the rough time, all of that.
The human mind wants expalinations for their surroundings, and has an inherent attachment in believing in a higher power. It's just that organized religions were made during a time in human civilization where there were organized societies where an elite few were at the top, and the other 90% or so were in abject misery. So, of course, it was easy to explain away the misery on earth as merely a test of your faith and piety, or that those above you are only getting what they deserved from a pervious life.
ConfinedIX wrote:
Personally I think fearing death is trumpery.
I'm not so sure that the Christians fear death quite so much as I do. Look at it this way:
A Christian will die, and that is the end. But he is not aware of this fact, he believes, fully, that he will be in Paradise upon the moment of his death. At no point will he ever be disabused of this notion, because the only evidence he will get will be after "he" is gone.
And gone we shall be (maybe). All that is us and all that was us will be lost and we shall not even mind it for we are not there. But how will us living, existing, athiest beings deal with death when it overtakes us? We will know that we will not mind in a moment, but we are not at that moment and we never shall be. The fear of what is coming will be ours until the last moment.
And that is the one thing a Christian has on me. I will go to my death in utter terror of no longer existing, and he will go to his smiling at the notion that he will soon be with his god.
ConfinedIX wrote:I know that when I die my legs will be snapped in half, I'll be placed in a coffin, and placed into the ground and over time I will decay and eventually turn to dust (unless I decided to be cremated and sent off into space; yes you can pay to have your ashes sent into space lol) and that is where my story ends.
No such thing will happen to you. It will happen to your body. You will not exist.
I have suspected for some time that you are not in fact an atheist, but a Christian posing as an atheist. You tend to make claims about your beliefs that fulfill the most fevered fantasies and stereotypes of Christians, you seem to know a very great deal about the Christian point of view, you treat it more sympathetically (like here) than atheists commonly do, and now we have what may be proof; very few actual atheists misspell the word.
Ok, I was just wondering what people consider to be the purpose of religion, of choosing a particular religion. It seems to me that, at times, religion stops being about unity and trying to be a good/moral person who respects those around him and does the exact opposite- it creates divide and conflict. 
