What is the point of religion?

It seems to me that the only purpose of religion is to start wars and brainwash people who are too stupid to think for themselves.

If priests who rape children don't fear their god, why should I?

The whole ordeal looks silly and archaic to me.

It would be great if a religious forumer would clear this up for me.

False hope for people who lives suck horribly everyday. I.E. 3rd world countries. Something good to luck forward to and to live for instead of just commiting suicide and ending the crap they go through.

Also an early way to civilize and control people. You tell someone they are going to burn in hell for sleeping with their friends wife. Good chance they will listen.

Belif in a higher being basically.  It also sets guidelines to live by, such as not fighting, swearing, or attacking people, helping the needy and poor and in general being a nice person.

There are some nuts in all parts of life, including various religions. Saying all preists are child abusers is like calling all blacks theifs and drug dealers. 

Personally, I'm not a huge fan of the church, my view is religion is a personal thing, but to each his own, I dont insult or mock other's beleifs, but your welcome to think whatever you please.


Edited by Darur - 28 July 2006 at 7:53pm

I really would like someone to explain to me how anyone ever thinks it's ok to kill someone because they don't believe the same thing....Especially when your beliefs go against the killing of others....I just don't see the logic...

.Ryan wrote: I really would like someone to explain to me how anyone ever thinks it's ok to kill someone because they don't believe the same thing....Especially when your beliefs go against the killing of others....I just don't see the logic...

Again, there are some nutbaskets in all points of life, including religion. Some people inturpret the bible one way and some the other.  People who murder for their religion in my opinion arent Christians, they are something else.  The bible says to love everyone, even your enemies.
 

Edited by Darur - 28 July 2006 at 7:57pm

Originally it was a form of control- it evolved along with early tribalism; a means by which leaders could control their tribes. "The crops failed because you are disobedient to the will of the Gods as they have spoken them through me!"

As societies evolved greater, individual religions had more sway- the priests were oftern among the most powerful sect of early socieities, and the divine right of monarchs was the reason that the system was held stable. Societies became a house of cards- religion was the foundation that MUST remain intact, or the entire society would fail.

Furthermore, people became so accustomed to the diea of being utterly subservient to whatever chosen deity(ies) that their was a genuine human inertia to the preservation of religion; how do you try to tell thousands of people that everything that has been absolutely true for their entire lives is in fact a falsehood?

Now, religion is a political and economic institution, with the livelihoods - and power! - of many many thousands being utterly contingent upon its continued success. It exists under its own inertia; basically all religions are a cult that became large enough to go 'mainstream'.

Robert A Heinlein wrote: The most preposterous notion that H. sapiens has ever dreamed up is that the Lord God of Creation, Shaper and Ruler of all the Universes, wants the saccharine adoration of His creatures, can be swayed by their prayers, and becomes petulant if He does not receive this flattery. Yet this absurd fantasy, without a shred of evidence to bolster it, pays all the expenses of the oldest, largest, and least productive industry in all history.

brihard wrote: Robert A Heinlein wrote:

Trust brihard to pull out the Anson.

make no mistake about it...religion has killed more people than all the wars combined.  in every year since religion was created, their has been blood spilled over who is right and has right to.

yet religion was just not made for control, but for trying to understand the world around them.  if you look at religions many of the mean parts of the religion were directed to things that were unpredictable.  like god of fire or god of explosion (which then could be related to forrest fires or volcanos)  yet most of the deities were based around many predictable events, rainy season, changes of season, etc.

now if you look at all religions they share many similar attributes or stories...for example:

noah was actually based 3-4k years before by the mesopitains (spelt wrong).

the death and resurection of jesus christ was based off a Greek/Roman god who died in the winter only to rise in the spring...sound familiar?

in the beginning of christainty many "pagen" traditions were absorbed by the church so that they could convert more people.

I've recently converted from Catholocism to Atheism. It feels damn good.

here we go again...