Why Religion?

[eagleseven]

This is the rational argument against religion, simply stated so that all can understand.

Religion, in all its forms, provides irrational answers to questions that our human mind is not capable of answering.

When one faces the incomprehensible absurdity of our existence, one can either commit suicide, invent a purpose, or simply accept the unknown as unknowable. This is the challenge of the absurd, as describe by Albert Camus

Invented purposes are critical to the human psyche, and so people violently attack those who threaten that purpose, such as Gregg in the post above. Those of us who refuse to accept the ancient purposes provided by society through religion, find a satisfying substitute elsewhere.

 

[uscitizen]

Fear of the unknown, death and the fact that humans are basically pack creatures lookinig to be led are what I consider to be the main reasons for the existence of religions thru the ages.
And of course for those who wish to control others it is the perfect tool.

Regardless of how valid it is, religion can be very comforting to those who believe.

Religion can also be used to stabilize a society.
Or of course destabilize...

 

[dilloduck]

Fear of the unknown, death and the fact that humans are basically pack creatures lookinig to be led are what I consider to be the main reasons for the existence of religions thru the ages.
And of course for those who wish to control others it is the perfect tool.

Regardless of how valid it is, religion can be very comforting to those who believe.

The same can be said for scientific search for solutions. Same motivating force.

 

[uscitizen]

Fear of the unknown, death and the fact that humans are basically pack creatures lookinig to be led are what I consider to be the main reasons for the existence of religions thru the ages.
And of course for those who wish to control others it is the perfect tool.

Regardless of how valid it is, religion can be very comforting to those who believe.

The same can be said for scientific search for solutions. Same motivating force.

Not quite.
Scientific research does not offer comfort that you or your loved ones are going to heaven.
Current science says that when you die you cease to exist on any plane of existence.

Neither does sicence say you will be punished for not acting like the religion tells you to.

 

[Big Black Dog]

This is America. You can either believe in religion or not believe in religion. It's all up to you. There is no incorrect answer.

 

[uscitizen]

This is America. You can either believe in religion or not believe in religion. It's all up to you. There is no incorrect answer.

But is there a correct answer? That is the question.

 

[eagleseven]

Current science says that when you die you cease to exist on any plane of existence.

Correction: Current science says that when you die, you cease to exist on any detectable plane of existance.

Science only deals with what can be consistently measured by living humans in different times and places. If human resurrection is possible, we should see resurrected humans among us today, whom we can easily interview and medically test.

Neither does sicence say you will be punished for not acting like the religion tells you to.

Science describes the physical, as opposed to mythical, consequences of your actions.

If you destroy your brain, you will die. It doesn't matter how virtuous you are, nor how much you pray, nor how much you donate to charity, when your brain is splattered on the ground, you will die.

That is not a comforting truth, but the Earth is not a comforting planet.

 

[dilloduck]

Current science is only science that hasn't been debunked yet.

 

[Big Black Dog]

This is America. You can either believe in religion or not believe in religion. It's all up to you. There is no incorrect answer.

But is there a correct answer? That is the question.

It depends entirely on what you choose to believe. I myself, believe in God. I have no "physical" way of to prove that there is a God and my beliefs are founded on my faith in the existance of God. Nothing more. I cannot prove that God exists any more than a non-believer can prove that He does not exist. It is quite possible that the atheist are correct in their rants about there being no God but on the other hand, it is quite possible that I am correct in my belief that there is a God. Some day, one of us is going to be proven to be wrong. One of us will be proven to be correct in our beliefs. I'd like to believe that I am on the winning side.

 

[dilloduck]

Fear of the unknown, death and the fact that humans are basically pack creatures lookinig to be led are what I consider to be the main reasons for the existence of religions thru the ages.
And of course for those who wish to control others it is the perfect tool.

Regardless of how valid it is, religion can be very comforting to those who believe.

The same can be said for scientific search for solutions. Same motivating force.

Not quite.
Scientific research does not offer comfort that you or your loved ones are going to heaven.
Current science says that when you die you cease to exist on any plane of existence.

Neither does sicence say you will be punished for not acting like the religion tells you to.

Science dictates that you wil suffer consequences if you do not adhere to it's current thinking

 

[eagleseven]

Current science is only science that hasn't been debunked yet.

Tis the curse of Nobel laureates, yes.

 

[uscitizen]

Current science is only science that hasn't been debunked yet.

Pretty much but I suspect that some of it will stand the test of time.

 

[dilloduck]

Current science is only science that hasn't been debunked yet.

Pretty much but I suspect that some of it will stand the test of time.

Suspecting that something will happen is damn near a belief system--

 

[eagleseven]

Current science is only science that hasn't been debunked yet.

Pretty much but I suspect that some of it will stand the test of time.

Laws of nature, to our knowledge, do not change with time, but given how little time we have observed, we cannot be certain that our laws will apply indefinitely into the future, or that they have existed in the past.

Stephen Hawking has conjectured that the laws of physics change with the age of the universe, so that the big bang is not only a crunch of mass, but a singularity in time.

Singularities, aka black holes, are things even his brilliant mind cannot fully fathom. All we can do is imagine the event horizon...

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vB46XpnwhrA]YouTube - Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri Secret Project: The Singularity Inductor[/ame]

 

[Luissa]

Current science is only science that hasn't been debunked yet.

And evolution is just a theory.

 

[froggy]

Fear of the unknown, death and the fact that humans are basically pack creatures looking to be led are what I consider to be the main reasons for the existence of religions thru the ages.
And of course for those who wish to control others it is the perfect tool.

Regardless of how valid it is, religion can be very comforting to those who believe.

Religion can also be used to stabilize a society.
Or of course destabilize...

You don't have to be led if you can read and understand, Gods request of us to be saved is very simple. ADMIT that you are a sinner. BELIEVE that Jesus died for you.CALL on Jesus to save you. Its to simple for the human mind because of the confusing religions.You don't have to fear death, it is coming no way to stop it just except it. God said he'd walk through the valley of the shadow of death with you. So death is just a passageway from here to there.

 

[AllieBaba]

This is America. You can either believe in religion or not believe in religion. It's all up to you. There is no incorrect answer.

But is there a correct answer? That is the question.

It depends entirely on what you choose to believe. I myself, believe in God. I have no "physical" way of to prove that there is a God and my beliefs are founded on my faith in the existance of God. Nothing more. I cannot prove that God exists any more than a non-believer can prove that He does not exist. It is quite possible that the atheist are correct in their rants about there being no God but on the other hand, it is quite possible that I am correct in my belief that there is a God. Some day, one of us is going to be proven to be wrong. One of us will be proven to be correct in our beliefs. I'd like to believe that I am on the winning side.

That's nice, but there is a correct answer. Whether you believe or not, ultimately, you will either discover your belief is correct...or that it was wrong.

Me, I have determined that all of life's mysteries can be explained by the existence of God.

Science certainly can't explain them.

The bible is perfectly logical to one not constrained by whatever current fad is circulating.

I'll go with God.

PS...I have a high iq.

 

[JW Frogen]

I do not practice any religion, I see them all as metaphorical poems that are attempting to explain that which can not be explained, only experienced. The transcendent connection with all being.

Science is the only real method for understanding the world, how it actually works.
Religion in a pure form is an attempt to express gratitude for the experience of being in the world.

If I need cancer treatment I will go to science, medicine; if I am dying I will meditate on the great gift and mystery of being.

Either that or I will just get shitfaced and rant about the end of times and Darwin’s constipation problems.

 

[eagleseven]

The bible is perfectly logical to one not constrained by whatever current fad is circulating.

With a healthy dose of doublethink, anything is possible.

 

[Dis]

This is America. You can either believe in religion or not believe in religion. It's all up to you. There is no incorrect answer.

And that sums it up in a nutshell.