DrZoidberg
Contributor
My views of religion have gone something like this:
Age 0-20. Religion is harmless. It's for stupid and/or weak people. This was my looking-down-on-the-religious-phase. In hindsight it was only about inflating my young and vulnerable ego.
Age 20 - 35 Religion is evil. It's a corrupting form of pure evil. It is memes (the scientific term) that tells us comforting lies we want to believe which makes us vulnerable targets for charlatans that take advantage of us. This is my I'm-afraid-of-religion-phase. I think it was the zeitgeist. God Delusion and all that.
Age 35 - 45 Religion is great. It's a collection of practices, rituals and beliefs that can help you to become a better person, and by extension, make the world a better place. It's tried and tested methods for social and self control. It's designed to reign in the worst excesses of human stupidity. Without religion everything will be worse. Is the claims religions make about the world true? No. They are not. It's nothing but lies. But it's lies that work. Perhaps our ancestors tried the honesty method, to achieve this effect, and it didn't work? So they went with lies. Is everything about religion good? No. Fundamentalism and litteralism is always bad. Each religion was created to deal with contemporary issues. What worked then, might not work now. So they're in need of constant revision and updates, as well as flexible interpretations. I reached this insight after taking 6 years studying religion and religious sacred texts. As well as starting with yoga and exploring spiritual practices. LSD helped.
How about you? How has your view of religion changed over your lifetime? What made you change your opinion?
Age 0-20. Religion is harmless. It's for stupid and/or weak people. This was my looking-down-on-the-religious-phase. In hindsight it was only about inflating my young and vulnerable ego.
Age 20 - 35 Religion is evil. It's a corrupting form of pure evil. It is memes (the scientific term) that tells us comforting lies we want to believe which makes us vulnerable targets for charlatans that take advantage of us. This is my I'm-afraid-of-religion-phase. I think it was the zeitgeist. God Delusion and all that.
Age 35 - 45 Religion is great. It's a collection of practices, rituals and beliefs that can help you to become a better person, and by extension, make the world a better place. It's tried and tested methods for social and self control. It's designed to reign in the worst excesses of human stupidity. Without religion everything will be worse. Is the claims religions make about the world true? No. They are not. It's nothing but lies. But it's lies that work. Perhaps our ancestors tried the honesty method, to achieve this effect, and it didn't work? So they went with lies. Is everything about religion good? No. Fundamentalism and litteralism is always bad. Each religion was created to deal with contemporary issues. What worked then, might not work now. So they're in need of constant revision and updates, as well as flexible interpretations. I reached this insight after taking 6 years studying religion and religious sacred texts. As well as starting with yoga and exploring spiritual practices. LSD helped.
How about you? How has your view of religion changed over your lifetime? What made you change your opinion?