What is religion?

[Angry Floof]

I vibrate between calling it a disease or a crime.

I see it more like a disease that often results in crime.

But I also see it as our creation, and it's a creation that acts back on us, influencing our attitudes and actions. It's ideology rooted in our emotional reactions to mystery and suffering, with conclusions drawn by the powerful lower brain and not by reason.

Any ideology, religious or not, that does not have built into it the value of questioning, self-correction, and openness to being wrong in its conclusions will eventually cause suffering.

 

[T.G.G. Moogly]

At some basic level, religion is the inability to put observations ahead of conclusion. I would think this has a simple physiological basis that brain imaging could reveal.

 

[Clivedurdle]

Noise a history gives the example of a stone age person going into a cave and shouting.

Result, echoes. But what caused them if you have no understanding of waves and physics?

Gods in the walls of course.

If you are as intelligent as we are now but have no way of working out what is going on, you have to jump to conclusions, otherwise known as using imagination, and create gods and things that go bump in the night.

Religion is the term we use for un-evidenced conclusions, or non-evidenced based thinking. So it is actually far more widespread than gods inc and includes much politics and advertising.

 

[Kharakov]

You know you could just use an actual definition of religion instead of wasting energy to make up your own.

 

[rousseau]

Religion is a power system. Those who profit from it run it, those who believe in it are its customers.

The product is comfort.

 

[Draconis]

Mind control, creating the perfect result: willing slaves.

 

[DBT]

In one aspect, religion is a set of simplistic beliefs that form a coping mechanism for a vast, complex and difficult world.

 

[Leonard]

Deleted.

 

[Leonard]

"... religion is a set of simplistic beliefs that form a coping mechanism for a vast, complex and difficult world."

Sounds good to me. I think that could be seen as the primary function of religion.

 

[Underseer]

Simple enough question but is the answer so simple?

What purpose does religion serve?

It provides a political control mechanism to the kind of people inclined to use such things.

What are the manifestations of religion?

Around 3,000 religions (estimate for all time) including over 33,000 denominations in Christianity alone.

What's good about it?

At its best, it provides an extrafamilial support network.

What is bad about it?

It encourages sloppy thinking, which is already enough of a problem.

Why has it lasted so long?

Should it be eliminated in all its manifestations?

I do not believe this would accomplish anything. Religion is a symptom not the disease. The disease is sloppy thinking. If you address the sloppy thinking without addressing religion, religion will probably diminish in scope on its own. If you address religion without addressing the sloppy thinking that makes religion possible in the first place, then we'll have all the same problems but with some other kind of ideology. The Soviets certainly proved that.

What does it teach us about the world?

Nothing.

About ourselves?

That we humans are bad at thinking.

Is there a place for it in the 21st century?

Irrelevant. Whether we like it or not, religion is here to stay. Many pagan religions are still around thousands of years after Christianity supposedly stomped them out of existence, after all.

 

[remez]

What is religion?

A subset of worldviews.

What purpose does religion serve?

Same as other worldviews.

Why has it lasted so long?

Worldviews have been around as long as people have been around ponder their world.

Should it be eliminated in all its manifestations?

Should tolerance exist?

What does it teach us about the world? About ourselves?

Depends which worldview you ask.

Is there a place for it in the 21st century?

Is there a place for worldviews in the 21st century?

 

[Keith&Co.]

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.

I was walking across a bridge one day, and I saw a man standing on the edge, about to jump off. So I ran over and said "Stop! don't do it!" "Why shouldn't I?" he said. I said, "Well, there's so much to live for!" He said, "Like what?" I said, "Well...are you religious or atheist?" He said, "Religious." I said, "Me too! Are you christian or buddhist?" He said, "Christian." I said, "Me too! Are you catholic or protestant?" He said, "Protestant." I said, "Me too! Are you episcopalian or baptist?" He said, "Baptist!" I said,"Wow! Me too! Are you baptist church of god or baptist church of the lord?" He said, "Baptist church of god!" I said, "Me too! Are you original baptist church of god, or are you reformed baptist church of god?" He said,"Reformed Baptist church of god!" I said, "Me too! Are you reformed baptist church of god, reformation of 1879, or reformed baptist church of god, reformation of 1915?" He said, "Reformed baptist church of god, reformation of 1915!" I said, "Die, heretic scum", and pushed him off. -- Emo Phillips

 

[Garon]

Religion is the way one lives a balanced lifestyle. It is not about telling ancient myth, legend or historical stories, then making people follow with threats.

Live a balanced lifestyle like your body is balanced, with its ability to heal out of balance energies that we grow ourselves in our bodies when we do things to hurt ourselves.

 

[Keith&Co.]

Religion is the way one lives a balanced lifestyle. ...Live a balanced lifestyle like your body is balanced, with its ability to heal out of balance energies that we grow ourselves in our bodies when we do things to hurt ourselves.

Whut?
I mean, speaking as a near-sighted Type I diabetic with a reattached retina, an amputation, high blood pressure, near-sighted, impotence, slow healing, and a shoulder that freezes up at random, living a life-style like my body would involve heavy support from others just to make it through the day.
Is that what you mean by 'balanced like your body?'

 

[Garon]

Yer still breathing correct? I never said living would be perfect. Yet your body seems to be living balanced despite your seemingly out of balance diseases. 4 weeks ago my left lung was removed. Welcome to the body in balance club. AKA religion.

 

[Juma]

Religion is the way one lives a balanced lifestyle. It is not about telling ancient myth, legend or historical stories, then making people follow with threats.

Live a balanced lifestyle like your body is balanced, with its ability to heal out of balance energies that we grow ourselves in our bodies when we do things to hurt ourselves.

No it isnt. That is just a balanced lifestyle.
Religion is heartfelt unjustified belief.

 

[Keith&Co.]

Yer still breathing correct? I never said living would be perfect.

Nor did i criticize your suggestion as lacking perfection.

Yet your body seems to be living balanced despite your seemingly out of balance diseases.

I'm not sure, then, what the fuck you mean by 'balanced.' Especially a lifestyle using 'your body' as a metaphor.

4 weeks ago my left lung was removed. Welcome to the body in balance club. AKA religion.

That makes no more sense than your previous post.
What do you intend to convey by the term 'balance' in the respect?

 

[Keith&Co.]

No it isnt. That is just a balanced lifestyle.
Religion is heartfelt unjustified belief.

OH! I get it, now!

He's saying that religion is the act of investing straightforward events in the physical universe with meaningless feel-good labels.

Like, the body surviving medical treatments that were designed to keep the body alive, means that body's reaction is somehow significant, apart from the efforts of surgeons, nurses, medical researchers, pharmacists, pharmacology, medical schools, physical therapists, and everyone else involved in keeping someone going through surgery....

An awesome demonstration.

 

[remez]

Religion is heartfelt unjustified belief.

Your ontology is a heartfelt unjustified belief.

 

[Kharakov]

Religion is heartfelt unjustified belief.

Your ontology is a heartfelt unjustified belief.

Don't pick on Juma's religious beliefs.