What is religion?

[AthenaAwakened]

Simple enough question but is the answer so simple?

What purpose does religion serve? What are the manifestations of religion? What's good about it? What is bad about it? Why has it lasted so long? Should it be eliminated in all its manifestations? What does it teach us about the world? About ourselves? Is there a place for it in the 21st century?

 

[Angry Floof]

In my view, religion is an artifact of human experience and endeavor. It reflects something of us, and as our experience and understanding of the world and ourselves changes and expands, our artifacts of religion, art, culture, language, law, social norms, politics, etc., will change to reflect that.

Talking about religion in terms of "doing away with it" doesn't make sense to me. Unless you're talking about religion in terms of current belief content, then yes, it's possible to do away with specific beliefs. Other beliefs will take their place.

 

[Tom Sawyer]

It's a way of helping people to understand the universe without requiring them to go through any of the hard work necessary to be able to understand the universe.

 

[AthenaAwakened]

It's a way of helping people to understand the universe without requiring them to go through any of the hard work necessary to be able to understand the universe.

and what of human relationship? Does it help or hinder with that? Does it matter?

 

[Tom Sawyer]

It's a way of helping people to understand the universe without requiring them to go through any of the hard work necessary to be able to understand the universe.

and what of human relationship? Does it help or hinder with that? Does it matter?

I don't think it particularly matters. It gives people a common interest and a basis for community involvement with each other thus fostering those relationships, so it helps - sort of like Star Wars fans have. It also creates an in-group mentality that generates animosity towards those who are not in the group or who are in competing groups, thus limiting those relationships - sort of like how Star Wars fans feel about those batshit crazy, shit-for-brains assholes who like Star Trek.

There's positives and negatives to it in regards to human relationships and I think that they more cancel each other out than anything else, with probably a slight leaning towards the helping relationships side.

 

[Thomas II]

Simple enough question but is the answer so simple?

What purpose does religion serve? What are the manifestations of religion? What's good about it? What is bad about it? Why has it lasted so long? Should it be eliminated in all its manifestations? What does it teach us about the world? About ourselves? Is there a place for it in the 21st century?

Religion is an exercise in hope...

 

[Underseer]

Simple enough question but is the answer so simple?

What purpose does religion serve? What are the manifestations of religion? What's good about it? What is bad about it? Why has it lasted so long? Should it be eliminated in all its manifestations? What does it teach us about the world? About ourselves? Is there a place for it in the 21st century?

Religion is a political control mechanism that exploits certain basic flaws in human thinking:



One of the big ones is "religion causes you to be a good person, therefore religion is true."

 

[bilby]

Parasitism of the superstitious by the venal.

 

[Kharakov]

Parasitism of the superstitious by the venal.

Shouldn't you use a broader term, such as "opportunistic"?

 

[bilby]

Parasitism of the superstitious by the venal.

Shouldn't you use a broader term, such as "opportunistic"?

Shouldn't you post your own opinions, rather than telling other posters that theirs are expressed incorrectly?

I meant what I said. If I had wanted to say something different, I would have done so.

 

[Kharakov]

Shouldn't you use a broader term, such as "opportunistic"?

Shouldn't you post your own opinions, rather than telling other posters that theirs are expressed incorrectly?

If you were only a bit more negative, I might pick up on your hatred of me and religion by the way you respond.

That is a very narrow and negative way to view religion, BTW.

 

[bilby]

Shouldn't you post your own opinions, rather than telling other posters that theirs are expressed incorrectly?

If you were only a bit more negative, I might pick up on your hatred of me and religion by the way you respond.

That is a very narrow and negative way to view religion, BTW.

I don't hate you.

I do hate being told what my opinion ought to be. It's my fucking opinion. Get your own.

I do hate religion, but I have good reasons for that. Amongst which is that most religion is very narrow and negative.

 

[DBT]

Religion is believing in things that ain't so, because the benefits of holding a belief in things Fantastic outweigh the alternatives in the mind of the believer...

 

[T.G.G. Moogly]

Religion is the most popular expression for pretending to know how the universe in all of its intricacies operates.

 

[AthenaAwakened]

DISCLAIMER: I don't agree with everything in this video, but I do think that quite a few religious practices (minus the theology) are good, dare I say, for the soul.

 

[untermensche]

I think Alain de Botton is mostly talking about the teaching of things that are not usually considered religion. Shakespeare is not usually considered religion.

But he is right, but the reason is because, at least in the US, the needs of corporations is what drives education.

Corporations do not need thinkers. They need doers.

What is religion?

That's kind of like asking, what is language?

Is it an expression of something in the human brain?

Or is it just bad answers to something in the human brain? Something that reason and science answer better.

 

[T.G.G. Moogly]

I think Alain de Botton is mostly talking about the teaching of things that are not usually considered religion. Shakespeare is not usually considered religion.

But he is right, but the reason is because, at least in the US, the needs of corporations is what drives education.

Corporations do not need thinkers. They need doers.

What is religion?

That's kind of like asking, what is language?

Is it an expression of something in the human brain?

Or is it just bad answers to something in the human brain? Something that reason and science answer better.

Religion as language. Interesting. If you consider science in the same sense it's easy to understand how religion can be so popular in comparison. It's easy to learn, doesn't have as many words, and generally is a whole lot simpler. To the person who chooses to learn religious language it is just as explanatory and didn't take a fraction of the effort to comprehend. It's like never having to go beyond a first grade vocabulary. The new words that are learned in later years don't explain anything new, they're just new words, and therefore easy to assimilate.

I rather like the idea of religion as language.

 

[Jimmy Higgins]

Simple enough question but is the answer so simple?

What purpose does religion serve? What are the manifestations of religion? What's good about it? What is bad about it? Why has it lasted so long? Should it be eliminated in all its manifestations? What does it teach us about the world? About ourselves? Is there a place for it in the 21st century?

Religion is an exercise in hope...

It can be an exercise in hope. Doesn't have to be.

Religion, simply put, is an attempt to put reason into an unreasonable world usually via an unreasonable manner.

 

[Sarpedon]

I vibrate between calling it a disease or a crime.

 

[T.G.G. Moogly]

I vibrate between calling it a disease or a crime.

It could certainly be thought of that way. Think of a disadvantaged child with something like ADHD, or a similar condition that impairs his or her ability to learn and be productive in a given environment. Maybe this is how we should think of overtly religious people who worship books and possess no scientific ability or interest.