Does religion still serve a purpose in our modern world?

Yandax · 2015-12-29 17:47:46

shadowda wrote:

Yandax wrote:
ZeldaXD wrote:
Weak people needs something to tell them what to do.
Seriously? Weren't you ever taught to respect the regions of others? I have a couple things to say about this statement.
First, good job insulting yourself. A blanket statement like that means that anyone who listens to people telling what to do is weak. For the rest of your life you will listen and hopefully obey someone. Weather it's your parents, boss, spouse, or physician, it'll happen.
Second, you just insulted about 80% if the world. I did a quick google search on that so that should be reasonably correct.
Third, many of the world's greatest mind have a religion.
Fourth, religion helps people. I've never seen atheism or evolutionists turn druggies and alcoholics turn into normal, nice, sober people.
I kinda added that last point to make a point for this entire topic.
its been shown atheists are actually nicer people on average then religions people. becasue we dont need a god to tell us to be good people. and we don't expect everlasting happiness is we are nice.
When religious people do "good things" they are often doing so in conditioned response to an ethereal reward/punishment set of beliefs. When non-believers do "good things" its because they want to do them.
the article

I don't do good things to get to heaven. I'm saved and I do good things 'cause it's right.

Pyromaniac, blizzard, Onjit

Yandax · 2015-12-29 17:56:41

shadowda wrote:

i'm honestly surprised people still believe in that stuff. i thought we were smarter that that.
its about fear. the fear of death and the unknown. the only reason people still believe in, lets say Christianity, is so that they feel ok about death and so they have justification to do bad things. "as long as i believe in Jesus, i can do what ever i want."

Uh sir, just how many Christians have you met? The example above is that of the bad christian. We can do what ever we want, but we shouldn't. We need to be good people, but also we can't be un-saved 'cause we did bad things.

Sorry about the double post.

blizzard

shadowda · 2015-12-29 19:03:51

▼Hidden text

and i went on a rant... any way. i made a generalization about Christians. there are plenty of good people out there who use religion as a good thing. as long as personal believe don't manifest into hate for others. its all good.

Swarth100 · 2015-12-29 19:32:35

Hello dear friends,

I've read the comments above and I feel like I might post a reply. I must say some of the responses did sound a bit aggressive, but you know, everyone has different ideas.

Firstly it is true that such a question is in no way new. Throughout the centuries there have been many answers, a well known one comes from Marx where he identifies religion as "the opium of people". Why so? Well he had a very materialistic way of thinking, in the sense that he would see the utilitarian side of everything. From the perspective of a Capitalist, then, religion became a useful means to keep the population settled down. Even though they were overworked and underpaid the idea of having an afterlife would prevent most revolts from happening.

Such an idea is also supported by the origins of one of the most "popular" religions around: Christianity. It was in fact a religion of the poor and the humble; of those that expected very little from actual life and put all of their hopes in a possible afterlife. It took many years for Christianity to spread along to the rich and wealthy Roman Aristocracy...

But the question remains ... "does religion still serve a purpose in our modern world?". And the answer is then obvious: NO.

Religion was never and will never be meant to "serve for a purpose". It is true that people have used it in such a way; it is true that people are and will continue using it for such an objective, but this is just an objectification of religion; reducing it to a means, to something physical.

The real meaning of religion is found in the word "FAITH". What is faith? Faith is the belief in what is uncertain, in what has no known answer. If religion was made out of facts ... well ... it would be no religion. And here kicks in the one and ONLY question that is fundamental to all religions: "what created us, the world, the universe, .... what created EVERYTHING?".

And it is now up to the individual to answer such question. Many prefer to avoid it, procrastinating their decision t an always-later moment. Some put their belief in science. Some chose God. And here lies the key aspect: what claims does science have over a subject such as God?

Quoting philosopher Marcel "But a science is exact to the extent that its method measures up to and is adequate to its object.", is the sense that the scientific method (just as described by Galileo) needs to have a thesis that must be proved starting from an hypothesis through an ALWAYS REPLICABLE set of experiments.

Can God be explained scientifically? Not really, because whoever performs an "experiment" on God will be influenced by his own person. Believing in god through faith is something so personal that it becomes a unique experience, an experience unique to the self, different from everyone else's, and this is because innerly we are all different.

And it becomes an act of faith since just as there is no "proof" that God does not exist (as science cannot and will never be able to test or even "prove" a subject as abstract as God) there is no proof, no fact that clearly states its existence. It is up to the individual to chose.

So, finally, the answer is no. Religion is not meant to serve any form of political purpose. It was used in such a way and we've seen what it has caused. Religion is meant to be a personal journey of the self, looking for answers, and seeking for those answers in God himself.

blizzard

N1KF · 2017-02-21 06:22:42

I believe it does.

Religion can give people inspiration and inner peace.
Religion can give people discipline. I can't speak for other people but I find it's helped push me to stop a bad addiction I have.
Religion can give people more personal goals. If one's religion commands one to love one another, that person will be encouraged to do so.
Religion can give people courage. Why should you care so much about what happens in your physical life if there's more to it than that?
Religion can make people more cautious. If one is aware of the forces of good and evil, they will be more careful about what they do.
Religion can help connect people with common goals.

Perhaps religion isn't the best term.
Religion in itself isn't good. Religion is a tool that people can use.
Many religious people aren't spiritual, and miss the point of their religion.
Truly spiritual people are those I admire!

Abelysk · 2017-02-21 08:12:24

Religion is depressing. Well, then again human nature is.

It encourages groups to compact and seperate more from each other. This is simply human instinct. People who you relate to are in your "group". When individuals within a group view other individuals in outside groups they generally show negativity / hostility / instability towards them. Same with religion. Good luck merging Christians and Muslims and Jewish together.

Technically it serves as an element of human psychology, hardwired into our brains since we were born.

Is religion bad? Maybe, maybe not. Religion is interesting because of its roots and what founded it.

soniiiety · 2017-02-21 09:54:25

Every religion will have a purpose for themselves but there is only one religion that will always have a purpose no matter what people do it will stay Jw.org it's the best way to answer life questions and etc click on your own risk btw no offense but other religions and churches and clergy men don't care about the truth there is only one purpose for humans to live on earth in paradise forever no sickness death or killing just peace and happiness
--
Btw and a resurrection of all the dead loved ones of the good and the wicked

Norwee · 2017-02-21 10:49:01

I think people should be allowed to believe whatever they want. But cults like Scientology are pure cancer.
Also fundamentalism, aka the belief that ones own religious beliefs are superior to that of others. That's horrible.
If for example a moderate Christian, moderate Muslim and an atheist live together in harmony without judging each other for their beliefs, but show respect, then that's the ideal.

skullz17

XxAtillaxX · 2017-02-21 10:57:30

It's a disgusting mental disease, contributing to, and the leading cause of, war, ignorance and bloodshed.
I'm not going to waste my time debating the mentally ill. I'm very sorry for those affected, and I'm very glad it's being eradicated.

I'd like to however, share my condolences with those affected.
In memory of the millions of lives slaughtered by religion, and to those who have and will sacrifice their lives in pursuit of peace and humanitarianism.

Norwee · 2017-02-21 11:05:18

XxAtillaxX wrote:

It's a disgusting mental disease, contributing to, and the leading cause of, war, ignorance and bloodshed.
I'm not going to waste my time debating the mentally ill. I'm very sorry for those affected, and I'm very glad it's being eradicated.
I'd like to however, share my condolences with those affected.
In memory of the millions of lives slaughtered by religion, and to those who have and will sacrifice their lives in pursuit of peace and humanitarianism.

I thought the same as you once, exactly the same in fact. But there are many billions of people in the world who have firm belief in religion. Saying they all have a mental disease will not help matters. Communism for example, forbid any belief in god. Yet they have just like all other regimes and religions in history caused bloodshed. Atheism can cause just as much death as anything else.
FYI, i'm not religious either. But don't claim religion is a mental disease. For many people it is just a principle or the only way of life they have known.

Sensei1 · 2017-02-21 14:11:12

I've heard some asian religions have a different approach to things than explaining the world with a god. There are many different ways to understand god too. Science can't explain everything, so we cannot say that science proofs all religions wrong.

Religions are also a super important cultural thing!

Pingohits · 2017-02-21 15:26:15

i don't "believe" in religion but you know, whatever floats your boat man

skullz17

Bimps · 2017-02-21 15:55:24

religion helps us distract us from life by giving a meaning to it. i want to be a christian but i just dont believe in it. i dont like being atheist

Raphe9000 · 2017-02-21 16:08:31

No

Tomahawk · 2017-02-21 17:52:42

I'd like to point out that there's a difference between theism and religion; you can believe in one or more gods without ever practising any form of faith. With that distinction, I have no issue with religion except when it's used to promote a personal agenda and cause harm to others. The difficulty is that religious doctrine can and probably always will be interpreted in ways that lead to harmful actions.

I see no logical reason why a sudden onslaught of atheism would cause some kind of widespread loss of morals, but as a huge amount of good (e.g. charity) is done by peaceful practisers of religion then it's probably better that it doesn't happen.

In terms of using God to explain science, there's a quote from somewhere along the lines of "God is in the ever-shrinking unknown."

XxAtillaxX · 2017-02-21 17:54:37

Tomahawk wrote:

I see no logical reason why a sudden onslaught of atheism would cause some kind of widespread loss of morals, but as a huge amount of good (e.g. charity) is done by peaceful practisers of religion then it's probably better that it doesn't happen.

There are plenty non-religious charities, and science has saved more lives than religion ever will and ever could.

N1KF · 2017-02-21 18:10:36

Kefka wrote:

Religion is depressing. Well, then again human nature is.

One could argue against that, considering Christianity is (or is supposed to be) about good news. How is that depressing?

It encourages groups to compact and seperate more from each other. This is simply human instinct.

I thought the purpose of most religion was to go against the forces of human instinct and become greater from that experience.

People who you relate to are in your "group". When individuals within a group view other individuals in outside groups they generally show negativity / hostility / instability towards them. Same with religion. Good luck merging Christians and Muslims and Jewish together.

Unfortunately that seems to be true with lots of people. It seems that there's a great gap in western society: the religious, and the anti-religious. Or, the political conservatives, and the political progressives. People are splitting and hating each other because people are on the other side which is sad.

Technically it serves as an element of human psychology, hardwired into our brains since we were born.

Do you have any sources or evidence for this?

NorwegianboyEE wrote:

Atheism can cause just as much death as anything else.

How so? Religious people can do evil and claim they are doing it "for God". Atheists don't have that excuse for doing evil. While atheists can do evil one could argue that it's not a direct result of their atheism.

Pingohits wrote:

i don't "believe" in religion but you know, whatever floats your boat man

That may be a chill way of looking at it, but it sounds like you may be underestimating the big picture of religion. It's a very big part of many peoples' lives, and I personally won't choose to ignore that.

Bimps wrote:

religion helps us distract us from life by giving a meaning to it.

How is it a distraction rather than a lens that helps us view life in another way? I imagine a meaning would enhance life by giving it a sense of purpose.

Raphe9000 wrote:

No

That post is very unhelpful. Religion clearly serves a purpose in our world. Whether that purpose is good, bad, or meaningless is up for debate I guess.

XxAtillaxX wrote:

There are plenty non-religious charities, and science has saved more lives than religion ever will and ever could.

Why are you treating religion and science as if they are opposite of each other on the same scale? Science may physically help people, but it could be argued that religion helps people on a spiritual or mental level. What you're doing is like criticizing therapists for not going out and saving people in physical danger. Therapists and doctors serve different roles, just like religion and science.

XxAtillaxX · 2017-02-21 18:22:22

N1KF wrote:

XxAtillaxX wrote:
There are plenty non-religious charities, and science has saved more lives than religion ever will and ever could.
Why are you treating religion and science as if they are opposite of each other on the same scale? Science may physically help people, but it could be argued that religion helps people on a spiritual or mental level. What you're doing is like criticizing therapists for not going out and saving people in physical danger. Therapists and doctors serve different roles, just like religion and science.

The religious are mentally ill and need therapists. Faith is by definition belief without evidence, which is the complete opposite of science.

kubapolish

N1KF · 2017-02-21 18:36:31

XxAtillaxX wrote:

N1KF wrote:
XxAtillaxX wrote:
There are plenty non-religious charities, and science has saved more lives than religion ever will and ever could.
Why are you treating religion and science as if they are opposite of each other on the same scale? Science may physically help people, but it could be argued that religion helps people on a spiritual or mental level. What you're doing is like criticizing therapists for not going out and saving people in physical danger. Therapists and doctors serve different roles, just like religion and science.
The religious are mentally ill and need therapists. Faith is by definition belief without evidence, which is the complete opposite of science.

Some religions teach against blind faith though. See Proverbs 14:15 for example.

XxAtillaxX · 2017-02-21 18:45:09

N1KF wrote:

Some religions teach against blind faith though. See Proverbs 14:15 for example.

All faith is blind.

Raphe9000, kubapolish

Raphe9000 · 2017-02-21 18:48:59

N1KF wrote:

Raphe9000 wrote:
No
That post is very unhelpful. Religion clearly serves a purpose in our world. Whether that purpose is good, bad, or meaningless is up for debate I guess.

It is useless and is only here to provoke war. This is obvious. If used to have a purpose, but now it's only a front for disagreement.

N1KF · 2017-02-21 18:51:37

Raphe9000 wrote:

N1KF wrote:
Raphe9000 wrote:
No
That post is very unhelpful. Religion clearly serves a purpose in our world. Whether that purpose is good, bad, or meaningless is up for debate I guess.
It is useless and is only here to provoke war. This is obvious. If used to have a purpose, but now it's only a front for disagreement.

I think you fail to realize that spirituality can be a positive personal influence in one's life. By the way you're putting all religion in one circle. Unless you can prove that every single religion people believe in today is meant to start conflict I'm not going to believe you.

Raphe9000 · 2017-02-21 19:10:43

N1KF wrote:

I think you fail to realize that spirituality can be a positive personal influence in one's life. By the way you're putting all religion in one circle. Unless you can prove that every single religion people believe in today is meant to start conflict I'm not going to believe you.

You can be spiritual and not religious. I am spiritual, but I do not necessarily hold any concrete beliefs. Theism is usually about concrete beliefs and following said beliefs. That is why MOST Atheism is a religion because it is a concrete belief of no god and following those beliefs. My beliefs are ever changing, I do not follow anyone or anything, and I do not act on anything. I don't even know if there's a god. The least religious you can be while being spiritual is agnosticism, unbiased atheism, or deism.

N1KF

XxAtillaxX · 2017-02-21 19:18:52

N1KF wrote:

I think you fail to realize that spirituality can be a positive personal influence in one's life. By the way you're putting all religion in one circle. Unless you can prove that every single religion people believe in today is meant to start conflict I'm not going to believe you.

A scientific understanding of the universe is much more spiritual than any myth could compete with.
It's far more spiritual to embrace objective reality, rather than embracing mythology and folk-tale.

In essence, religion itself started as a primitive attempt at scientific understanding.
They looked up at the same stars, intrigued, and decidedly became philosophers to fill the gaps of their understanding.

Raphe9000

Tomahawk · 2017-02-21 19:30:12

^^ This thread is now Atilla vs. anyone with a more moderate opinion.

Two atheists walk into a bar. After a few drinks and a whole lot of confirmation bias, they leave the bar believing in nothing at all.

N1KF, Pingohits, kubapolish

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#26 2015-12-29 17:47:46

Re: Does religion still serve a purpose in our modern world?

#27 2015-12-29 17:56:41, last edited by Yandax (2015-12-29 20:30:23)

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