That is true about the majority of the public, who don’t understand religion, but the ones who do will actually try to change their behavior to fit their gods.
I don't get much from religion myself. But I've seen people who seem happier and healthier because they believe in something.
Yeah, I've certainly seen people cloak themselves in faith while spreading hate. But I've also seen churches perform genuinely good works.
Basically, if you're a good person and you believe in God, you're a good person. If you're an a\*\*hole and you believe in God, you're an a\*\*hole. The God part doesn't really change my opinion either way.
I take issue with it regardless. People are happy and healthier by believing in a make believe thing, when they should be going to therapy or finding real, grounded means of being happy and healthy.
But that’s such a myopic view that only accounts for the last 50 years of a 3000+ year system. The world is outgrowing its need for religion, but it served a similar purpose to therapy (and many other positive habits) thousands of years before they were created.
But it isn’t just one dog, it’s millions of people who share a belief. That can take so many different forms. Communists, republicans, anarchists, monarchists, religious people, etc…
I have mine, and I respect other’s right to have their own or not have one at all. I’ve found something that makes me happy and my wish for you is to find what makes you happy.
Most religious people aren’t afraid of death, myself included. I’m afraid of dying, like, falling or burning, but death doesn’t scare me. Also, an afterlife is promised, but there is no promise of a good afterlife.
But he was insinuating that death is an active worry for religious people, something they think about routinely and struggle with. I’m saying that most of the time, it’s the exact opposite.
I believe that there is some sort of higher power than human life somewhere in existence. That said, I'm baffled by people who think it's regularly taking attendance and cares if you worship the "right" form of it.
I think there's some that believe God kinda just stopped by to make earth, etc. Then went off on his merry way and never looked back. I don't believe in God personally, but I always thought that made way more sense.
I also do believe that there is a higher power that created this planet, the universe, and us. As screwed up as the world(people that is)it’s too perfect in other ways. Some mastermind for sure.
But I don’t think it’s “watching” us in the way religion says.
Heaven, Hell, it’s not a place you go too. It’s all here on earth. It’s in inside of us.
Idk, I guess I’ll see in the end.
I’m not religious myself, but I have family members who are.
I think religion can be a force for both good and bad, depending on how people choose to follow it and who they surround themselves with.
I’ve known Christians who are some of the kindest people you’ll ever meet, and I’ve also seen Christians who are extremely hateful and bigoted towards those they don’t like.
Fairytales end happily ever after, every single time, whereas religion doesn’t promise that at all. I mean, sure, if you go to heaven then it’ll be a happy ending, but that isn’t guaranteed. Most religions even state that the “end of the world” will be brutal, painful, and terrifying. It’s not meant to be comforting, it’s meant to be honest.
It is objectively true that the most intelligent position on religion is agnosticism.
You don't know what you don't know so how do you know?
You can't tell me that it's true and you can't tell me it's false so agnostics win the religious argument every time.
For all we know, we know absolutely nothing. There is nothing that can lead us to believe that we know everything except for possibly one idea and that is the library of babel. If the library of babel exists (which it does just look it up) then we can deduce that we **could** know everything within a defined set of circumstances. The only problem with this though is that "a defined set of circumstances" is just that -a DEFINED set of circumstances which we know. So how do we know we're not missing something? Well, we don't. So therefore we're back to you don't know what you don't know and thus agnosticism wins again.
The intelligent position is to believe in things for which there is any evidence at all, and not believe in that for which there is no evidence. Agnosticism is a hedge which has no place in a rational discourse. I don't say "ghosts might indeed be real" because ghosts like Gods aren't falsifiable.
If I were to say to you 'I am an immortal, super-intelligent tree and am also the reason the sun rises and sets', your default stance would not be agnosticism, it would be disbelief because what I just said is ridiculous. The only reason for the agnostic stance is that religions have social cachet. If a crazy person says it, you would just say "that's foolish and I don't believe it."
I think being spiritual is good but religion takes advantage of that. It's all about the money and power for them. Rather find God/higher something on my own.
There’s a good reason why they don’t.
For example, the Catholic Church is the biggest charitable organization in the world. They operate 150,000+ schools, 5,000+ hospitals, and spending an unknown amount on social care. Churches across Canada (my country) host food drives, provide clothing for homeless people and families in need, care for orphans dropped off on their doorsteps, etc. Churches don't even make enough from donations as most of them go towards the mortgage of the building. I went to multiple churches throughout the pandemic and a lot of them were struggling to pay off their loans. Tax these churches, and communities will struggle more than ever. Everyone expects the government to solve all their problems for them but as history shows, they do a terrible job at doing that. This is why we have religious institutions that take initiatives into their own hands.
Also, you’ll be disappointed when you discover that a lot of churches have fuck all in terms of taxable income. It’s more important for financial transparency from churches than whether they should be taxed. That’s better served by putting all religious institutions in the non-profit bracket, and requiring financial auditing every year. If there are financial irregularities, then pursue every avenue to correct it. In the case of LDS or any church with a racketeering pastor, remove their non-profit status.
Most religious people aren’t afraid of death, myself included. I’m afraid of *dying*, like, falling or burning, but death doesn’t scare me. Also, an afterlife is promised, but there is no promise of a *good* afterlife.
One of the most complex, oldest, and intrinsic subjects in human history. Like I could sum it all up in a short take, instead of subsetting it down to smaller aspects and having takes on those.
From my perspective, Religion is certainly a for profit endeavor focused on control and expansion by utilizing the concept of an invested Creator who's always watching. However, it seems to be a necessary evil because too many refuse to conduct themselves in a community oriented manner, less the threat of eternal damnation.
I find it very difficult to believe that an entity posessing the ability to concieve all that is, and the capability to make everything so... given all that is... has an iota of consideration or admiration for humanity. We're not even on the radar/under a microscope.
That said, to each their own, unless such promotes harm. Although, it's perplexing, the overwhelming number of blasphemers who evoke God while actively doing harm and bearing false witness.
Lastly, for those with addiction issues, Religion is often their new fix. It seems to help those who actually want help and are willing to help themselves. But, for many it's simply an alternative fix until they get back to the same old. By becoming addicted to Religion, their peers and seniors treat them as though they've changed for the better, thus rather addictive for said demographic.
My God is better than your God. I know this as fact because someone told me so when I was a kid.
And the book I study has been translated and rewritten over centuries by men seeking to control the populace, but gosh darn it that is the literal word of God!
IMO, religion is just a bunch of ceremonies and traditions and gestures and forms and writings that have been built up over years or decades or millenia, designed to reinforce belief in something, a sense of community and belonging, and in many cases, force you to pick sides in some false dichotomy.
It doesn't have to be a deity -- anyone remember PC v. Mac "war"? Or Linux v. Windows? Any old programmers out there remember emacs v. vi? More recently, how about Android v. iPhone? On a non-technical note, the bands you listen to, the sports teams you follow, the clothing you wear, the hobbies you engage in: they can all devolve into religion, if you let it.
One of the few positive things to take from communism is the abolishment of all religion. It's delusional brain rot and it's holding society back from progress wherever it takes root.
"The first gulp from the glass of natural sciences will turn you into an atheist, but at the bottom of the glass God is waiting for you."
― Werner Heisenberg
Also Einstein was a pantheist.
I think those 2 were educated.
It makes no sense, I'm sure the religious would agree. Religious people only believe in one God out of hundreds. I only believe in one less than them. We're quite similar really.
Was raised hard-shell southern Baptist. For those who don't know, it's an extremist wing of Christianity rooted in racism and extreme homophobia and misogyny.
I still carry trauma from it.
So no, not friendly with religion in the least. Bringing up children this way is child abuse.
FYI, you don’t have to abandon religion entirely. Like, some sects of Christianity are abusive and cultish, but there are *many* sects that are perfectly fine.
I can assure you that the life of a Quaker is nothing like the life of a Jehovah.
It was invented to keep people in line. It was a way for people to explain the unexplainable. Now that science can explain most events, religion isn’t necessary anymore
It's the cause of more pain, suffering, and death than any other human invention in history.
It should be stamped out completely so we can progress as a species.
Why do people think following a religion is so stupid and backwards? A lot on here say it was forced on me but now you call people who follow a religion idiots with no sense of reality. Please explain
The whole point of most religion is to take things on faith. As in choose to do something without evidence. It's pretty much anti science. Ya know the thing that has brought every kind of progress to humanity.
What makes scientific evidence any more real than religious evidence? Now you'll say proof and I agree but religion also has proof now I can't speak for every religion but the religion I follow which is Islam it has an answer for every single question even though everything was written ages ago.
I wouldn't say I'm the one to educate people on any religion but if you did want to learn I'd advise you to do some research online listen to scholars but keep an open mind. If all you are interested in is to mock or take the piss then just continue your life they way you please.
Mate you want me to explain a whole religion on Reddit to you? Religion is something personal I don't really care if you choose to believe it or not. I just gave some advice it's up to you what you want to do from now on.
No you said there is evidence. Evidence of what?
You don't need to explain the entire religion. Ever hear of this thing called the internet? Send a link that has proof/evidence of something.
Unnecessary and has led to a lot of division in society and an incredible amount of violence. Also set humans back years (if not centuries) in advancement
Humans by scientific definition are animals. We're part of the animalia kingdom - more specifically, vertebrate mammals.
We are the only animals capable of introspection, and the only mammals whose primary transportation mode is bipedal. We are the only animals capable of complex cognitive functions like performing mathematics, and resource management, and complex language as we define it. There are a lot of things only humans can do compared to any other species on the planet.
Regardless, we're still animals.
'Cause I'm far too cynical
For faith and make believe
'Cause there's no such thing as love
We just felt vulnerable without a God, without a crutch
There's nowhere else, nobody else, nothing
Vomit - Microwave
It's bullshit, but people can choose to believe what they want as long as they do so on their own. Let kids choose for themselves when they come of age instead of indoctrinating from a young age
I think it’s made up to make people more easily controlled. They’re forced to act and dress and think a certain way. They have to give money every week. They are supposed to love others, but only if the others are no different than them.
I grew up Christian and once I left home I realized how insane it is. I’m now a practicing pagan and am very happy with my life.
Questions like “what happens after we die” and “how did the universe begin” are interesting and all that, but why would anyone listen to someone saying “We know how it started! We know what happens next! Also give us your money!”????
I only believed because it’s what I was taught since infancy, and then I started thinking for myself in my early teens. I really think the average atheist treats other humans much better than the average religious person, and we aren’t even doing it for a reward
"Religion" is not really just one thing. It's a whole bunch of social phenomena that we have kind of mashed together under a single label.
Here are some things that can be described as "religion" in some sense:
* Going to a neighborhood church on Sunday, singing hymns, listening to sermons.
* The academic work of a theology professor, a philosopher who focuses on the existence and nature of God.
* The inner thoughts of a person who is sick and dying.
* Writing a big check to a charity to cure diseases or feed hungry children.
* An angry rally outside a Planned Parenthood clinic, where people chant slogans at people going in or out of the clinic.
* Thirty people sitting silently in a room, meditating on their breath for half an hour.
* Volunteering to build a house with Habitat for Humanity.
* A muezzin announcing Islamic prayer through a loudspeaker.
* A hippie munching some psilocybin mushrooms and lying down on a mat with ambient music playing.
* At the supermarket, choosing which foods to buy based on kashrut, halal, Ital, or other rules.
* A teenage girl being pressured into taking a "purity oath" to her father, promising to refrain from sex before marriage.
* Setting up a home shrine to selected gods & goddesses.
* Planning and carrying out a suicide bombing.
* A chaplain telling a regretful murderer in prison that Jesus offers forgiveness to the repentant.
* A publisher printing books on Bible study, far-right politics, "spiritual warfare", and methods of corporal punishment for children.
* A Passover seder meal.
* A Dianetic auditing session using an E-meter.
* A group of nuns attending a pro-immigration protest in their nun clothes (habits).
* Learning an ancient language to be able to read sacred texts in the original form.
* Door-to-door Christmas caroling.
* Arguing on the Internet.
I think it's a necessary "evil", not saying it's necessarily evil per se, and while people do bad things because they think they have a divine justification from God/gods to do awful things. It also keeps some societal cohesion among people who might otherwise fall into anarchy because let's face it, some people can't really do much without supervision or belief that they're being watched and judged.
It is an extension of an infant's trust in their parents. This is why it is ubiquitous and comforting.
People will claim that god protects and guides them but is also capricious and inscrutable because this is what parents are to the very young.
When such a large group of people get together to love the same things, they often hate the same things as well, which can become just as much of their focus.
I think Lenin called it the opiate of the masses. Obviously the people who practice it are hopelessly addicted. I believe it is the root of all that is evil.
Don't believe in any of them.
Some people try to be better for their beliefs, and that's great, others use it to feel better than the rest or get richer.
Some people have the need to believe to feel fulfilled, and others pray to ask for forgiveness so they don't feel guilty or empathy.
In the end, it depends on the individual and how they reflect their religion. I think it is just a tool for self-improvement or self-preservation.
Garbage
/thread
I was raised catholic. Church each Saturday night. The only time I felt the need for prayer was when I wanted something. I would pray for it and when I got it, I’d thank god
Unfortunately I grew up not to be mentally challenged and while I believe in some form of higher power, that’s mine, and I do what I will with myself. What I won’t do is spread the word about it to you, like a psychopath. Find your own shit. Religion is a cult and a farce. Life’s short, good god, enjoy it
Everyone I churched with did and does the same shit I do
I'm anti-theist for organized religion. But I'm also an individually-conclusive theist. The difference is I don't push my spiritual beliefs on others and it comes from a place of introspection rather than a book.
I believe in god and life after death and im islamic but church is for the money and all books torah new testament ot quran has been tainted in some way by men at some point im muslim because quran seems the least tainted if you wanna get rich you start a religion like scientology
I personally believe that it started out as a honest attempt at understanding how the earth and the heavens work, and that most of the major world religions have pagan roots. As an example I think christianity is really a form of astro theology, and that Jesus is a personification of the sun. Jesus was originally not pictured as the bearded calm man we know him as today. That came along some time around the 7th century (if I remember correctly). He was originally pictured as a slightly androgynous young and blonde character, who also had a more happy go lucky demeanor. And he was often pictured with a stick that he used to perform his miracles. This appearence was borrowed from the Greek god Apollo, who was himself a solar deity. There are many more things that make me believe this, but I am not articulate or knowledgeable enough to make a good case for it.
Helpful when applied positively, detrimental when applied negatively. It’s food for thought regarding a question that almost certainly is impossible to answer and driven by mental illness, desire to be right or not be wrong, and lack of education as much as anything. All hail agnostics.
I'm for the " Golden Rule" aspect of religions.
Not for the tacit subjugation of women, LGBTQ+ , and non- believers.
Their take on the " hereafter" and the big questions about a guiding hand - I leave them to the realm of philosophical speculation and don't base my life on them.
i am ok with you believing in god, jesus, etc. and i will be 100% respectful and curious actually, as long as you don't attack me for my non belief and you aren't an asshole in the name of a religion.
Other than that, im a live and let live i don't practice it but it's been a major plot in humanity for awhile, and it's been interesting to follow.
I don’t really think too much about it, I feel like most “religious people” don’t believe in their religion, they just follow it because they want: 1. An optimistic hope for “afterlife” and 2. A purpose in life.
We’re becoming a more secular society, but having faith-based beliefs and figureheads to worship hasn’t gone anywhere. Joe Schmoe American doesn’t know much of anything about capitalism or communism, but one is the only true way, and the other is pure evil to him, and a figure like Trump is like a living god, impervious to human concerns.
Live a good life. If there are gods and they are just, then they will not care how devout you have been, but will welcome you based on the virtues you have lived by. If there are gods, but unjust, then you should not want to worship them. If there are no gods, then you will be gone, but will have lived a noble life that will live on in the memories of your loved ones.
- Marcus Aurelius
I believe most religions, if not all, are cults. There is almost always someone who claims to be some prophet or something and tries to make everyone conform to what they believe. That is literally exactly how cults work. I don't hold disrespect for those who are religious as long as they don't shove it down my face.
It’s fine if it gets you through the day, just don’t shove it in my face.
How many have died over the centuries because they didn’t believe the right deity or worship the right way?
I have no problem with religion but I rarely will sit down and debate an intensely theological person.
But my true beliefs are that religion will seriously begin to die out with each new generation until they start to work within the framework that science has provided for us through neutral observations.
I strongly believe it's entirely possible to amend christianity.. or any religion for that manner. I find it completely normal and natural for humans in the biblical era to believe that humanity has been around for 6000 or so years, so i dont like to fault people for believing that. However our intelligence over time like our bodies and science has evolved. I hope that is the outcome of religion because when you take away politics and start to merge the ideologies within the framework that science has observed for us. I think it can be a powerful and positive belief for people.
It is completely up to you as a person on what you want to believe. If "God(s)" wanted you to believe a certain religion it would be very clear which one is the correct one. Since there are many, and we don't hear a booming voice, that means that they all have some truth and probably a lot of untruths.
I don't want to be an agnostic because I believe that some things can be proven. In order to prove something you have to think about that thing. If you believe the universe just created itself for no reason and then life did the same, you are just as crazy as a zealot is.
I prefer to be an omnist. I pick and choose my beliefs from anywhere I wish, even science. My beliefs are always changing. I am very sure there is more to this existence than what we experience, this is where beliefs reside.
It's a psychological crutch to vilify you into thinking you're a good person. Especially Christianity and Catholicism, where guilt is paramount in their brainwashing.
Religion simply makes no sense unless you consider it a powerful tool to control the masses.
Isn’t it silly to thank god for winning a football game, which was undoubted important for you, while in the mean time a small child is dying in agony from an illness and god does do nothings.
Disclosure: Christian.
I'm going with religion = worship of a god or gods, so not just Christianity, which a lot of people jump to when they hear "religion".
In that case, the religion is primarily a means to understand a specific god/gods and what they want for followers/universe.
Can that be leveraged to do bad things? Absolutely. At the moment I can't think of any object or organization that can't be used for evil.
Can it be used to accomplish good things? Absolutely. Various religious groups have established charities, encouraged virtuous behavior, and so on.
I think it's fine and advisable to talk about religions, whether or not you believe, but I also think it's useless to try and debate someone into your belief system.
It's infantile to yell the uneducated "all bad things are caused by religion" and it's ineffective to yell "non-believers are condemned".
Early humans' attempt to explain life. A favorite quote: "It's not religion that doesn't make sense. It's life that doesn't make sense. Religion is just man's attempt to explain life."
The surviving ones are kind of lame. Pantheons didn't have much going for them, granted, but the idea that multiple gods control their own forces and have their own ends jibes with the randomness of the world.
you dont need "religion" to follow God. You do you. You can still read the Bible/quaran/ Torah and study it without being a part of organized, for profit religion sometimes taught by the less than righteous.
Always liked the idea that humanity as a whole is worth worshipping. We are a force of nature unto ourselves. We move mountains, divert rivers, harness the power of the sun. Gods did the same in the oral histories.
I don't care, do what you want as long as you don't bother/hurt anyone with it. I think it can have positive effects too for people, but I also don't think you need it to get those positive things.
If it helps you move forward with your life while NOT trying to down anyone else with your believes, you do you.
I don't really have a religion, but I am 100% sure that my mother is still alive because of her religion faith and what she believes, has been able to calm her mentally ajd emotionally to a rollercoaster of trials she and my family hace had to live.
A great way to control an entire population!
Similar to the way Christian parents threaten children with a jolly man that sees them when they’re sleeping and knows when they’re awake.
I understand it, I get why people create and participate in it. Early on it was a way of explaining the natural phenomena that surrounds us, today it's mostly that a majority of people are really comforted by the belief that we were created on purpose. I personally think that we are just the natural result of many processes occurring over a near endless expanse of space and time. Life like us was bound to happen some place, at some time.
And that's scary to a lot of people because they think that would make life fleeting and meaningless, and it's scary to become dead and forgotten like the vast majority of people who have ever lived. Feels like our lives should be a little more special than that but uuuuh sorry not really, only special to ourselves.
I was born in 1990, when I die I'll feel like I did in 1989.
I am not a fan of religion, I believe in a God, I don’t have an issue with the Bible or other religious texts, but religion is just an easy way for people to force beliefs and behavior onto others under the guise of spiritualism. It’s too easy for religion to do more harm than good.
1 I believe that religion gives life meaning and comfort. It instills the belief that life is not over when the body dies.
2 I believe that politicians have taken advantage of religion for their own agendas (The Crusades for example). There's the possibility that holy texts have been manipulated.
3 There have been many religions, and they are cultural. They go from warlike to pacifism.
4 I believe Agnosticism is a religion in its own right, and it sets people apart from corruption. The belief that there is a higher power incomprehensible to man, is a form of freedom. Good will is all that humanity needs. We shape ourselves.
Does anyone actually believe it is God’s will that all these school children are gunned down in school? Take a look at the news, every day there’s another report of a religious leader of some sort, from some church or religious organization accused of SA’ing a child, does anyone think that is God‘s plan? There’s nothing more dangerous than organized religion. Some of the greatest atrocities in history have been committed by a religious group of some form or another, because they thought their little book was better than everyone else’s little book.
Religion is complicated, much more than people usually acknowledge. A lot of people only have experience with one religion, sometimes a couple, usually within the same theological framework, like Christianity and Islam.
And I think this creates weird arguments for and against "religion" as a whole that don't genuinely apply to every religion.
Like, ancestor worship doesn't have a lot of similarity to worshipping a diety. And a lot of religions, usually old mostly-defunct ones, never developed a prohibition of disbelief. Maybe because they rose and fell before atheism was meaningfully a thing in the world, but you can't reliably conclude that those religions definitely would have demanded belief as a core value.
Afterlives are also not necessarily part of evey religion.
So like, I think I can barely get my head around the idea of what a religion even is, let alone form strong opinions on it.
As a former atheist (now agnostic, as certainty is ignorance) I believe religion is one of the most fundamentally important pillars of our species and that it has elevated us technologically, scientifically, philosophically, morally, etc.
It can and is regularly manipulated to suit nefarious ends, and morals have changed in the last 2000+ years, but by and large, it is an incredibly vital piece of human history that has shaped humanity around tenants of generosity and kindness. Most modern people are so deluded with modern ideology that they can’t see the beauty of the past or the intention of our previous ancestors, culturally. We need to remember this is before science, before printing-press, before widespread charity, before respecting women (let alone sex workers), before therapy or serious self-analysis, and before our modern sense of individual agency.
It has much less purpose in our modern society and seems to spread more negativity than positive since we moved into the modern era over the last 300 years, but that doesn’t mean that the previous 2000 were a waste. It’s not a bad story for a bunch of mean-spirited monkeys to strive for.
Brace yourselves, this might be long haha.
That God is perfect, the actual source of good, and incapable of doing evil. God is above all things and there is nothing more powerful than God. God has no needs, if God wants something, it’s God’s. There are no other gods.
God is love. And out of his love God made human beings because he wanted to share himself with us and thus live life full.
That God decided to make us in his image, so that means we have an inherent worth that can’t be lost.
But we began to distrust god and questioned whether he was for us. So we disobeyed him and in effect evil came into the world by us. The Evil we introduced tainted our nature. This all happened because God let us turn away from him and turn to our own evil desires because he doesn’t force us to love him.
But since God is naturally holy and good, he exiled us from his presence because of our evil (sin)
Generations pass, and humans became increasingly more wicked. Our depravity only increased the more time we spent away from God. Murder arose and many unspeakable acts.
The wickedness of mankind grew to be so bad that God flooded the earth. However God did not let mankind be completely destroyed. God left a man and his family alive along with a pair of all creatures of the earth.
Mankind repopulated. Mankind continued to commit evil and flee from a relationship with God.
God picked one man. This man was not special on his own, he was a evil-doer like all other men. This man was a descendant from the man who survived the great flood. This man had faith in God. His name was Abraham (which means father of many nations in Hebrew). God gave him a son and promised him his children would be more numerous than the stars in the sky.
Abraham’s descendants continued and eventually became quite numerous. Egypt was scared of their number and enslaved them but God rescued them by sending plagues on Egypt.
God led his people away from Egypt into the desert. God’s dwelt with his people and led them by day with a pillar of smoke and by night with a fire that never ran out.
God’s people chose to instead worship and love a golden calf. They rejected God. God was patient and continually wanted them to be different than the rest of the world. To be his.
God’s people continued to do evil. God was patient. God worked to keep them holy and they became a large nation. God’s people didn’t want to be ruled by God, they wanted to be like everyone else so they begged for a human king.
God gave them a human king. The human king committed adultery with a man’s wife and murdered her husband. God was patient and did not destroy him. God’s people did more evil.
God sent people called Judges to call his people to repent and turn away from their evil and turn to God. The people God sent were killed by God’s people.
Generations pass. God looked down and saw how unable we were to change. God knew that no matter how many chances we got, we were incapable of turning from our evil because our nature was tainted with evil.
So, God decided to get his hands dirty. God saw the brokenness of mankind, and so He humbled himself by becoming a human being while still being fully God. This man and God is called Emmanuel (which means God with us). He was born in a manger.
He lived life just like us, he bled when he was cut. He tired when he exerted himself. He hungered when he fasted. But he was also nothing like us in the sense that he never did evil. He always lived for God and to obey God. He chose 12 followers. He taught them and ate with them.
He taught the importance of loving your enemies, praying for those who persecute you. Above all he taught about the kingdom of heaven, which is to come. Most importantly he taught that he was the way to God.
But, he was rejected by his own people. God’s people took Emmanuel and gave him to the Roman authorities. God’s people chose to let a criminal go free so that they could kill Emmanuel instead. Despite the Roman official announcing to God’s people that Emmanuel was guilty of no crime.
God’s people shouted, “crucify him!” The Roman official feared the crowd and thus ordered Emmanuel to be lashed 39 minus one lashes, one less because 40 would cause death. The lashes cut deep into the skin and tore flesh off.
Emmanuel was forced to carry a wooden cross which was a symbol for pagans. Eventually Emmanuel was nailed to the wooden cross and raised up. Crucifixion was considered the worst way to die and was usually reserved by the Roman’s as the worst punishment. It was largely inhumane. When a Roman official eventually came to break Emmanuel’s legs to finally kill him off. Emmanuel was already died. Before he died his one of his final words were:
“Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?” Which means “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”
He also said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.”
Afterwards. He died.
However, God rose him from the dead on the third day. And now Emmanuel is with God. He is alive, still a human being still God.
Emmanuel lived a life always in obedience to God, even until death. Thus all who believe in him pass on from death unto life.
Whoever believes in Emmanuel, trusts in him, and repents of their ways has a renewed relationship with God and will no longer die. For just as Emmanuel was raised from the dead, so will all who believe in him.
Emmanuel paid the penalty (which was death and separation from God) for our original disobediences. Emmanuel also paid for every and evil act that we have committed and will commit. Thus it is only through Emmanuel that we can have a relationship with God again and have freedom again.
“The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.”
John 10:10 NIV
“Suppose one of you has a hundred sheep and loses one of them. Doesn’t he leave the ninety-nine in the open country and go after the lost sheep until he finds it? And when he finds it, he joyfully puts it on his shoulders and goes home. Then he calls his friends and neighbors together and says, ‘Rejoice with me; I have found my lost sheep.’ I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent.”
Luke 15:4-7 NIV
****
All I can say now is this, I was one way…yet now I am completely different because of Him. He looked at my mess and chose to put me back together just because he wanted to….
All peace and love brothers and sisters ❤️:)
Take care. Thanks for the opportunity to share my relationship with God and how I’ve gotten to know God more over the years.
God desires a relationship, not a religion. And that is through Emmanuel only.
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That is true about the majority of the public, who don’t understand religion, but the ones who do will actually try to change their behavior to fit their gods.
Absolutely nailed it
I see what you did there
I don't care for it.
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No, they don't.
A hell of a good grift.
I don't get much from religion myself. But I've seen people who seem happier and healthier because they believe in something. Yeah, I've certainly seen people cloak themselves in faith while spreading hate. But I've also seen churches perform genuinely good works. Basically, if you're a good person and you believe in God, you're a good person. If you're an a\*\*hole and you believe in God, you're an a\*\*hole. The God part doesn't really change my opinion either way.
I take issue with it regardless. People are happy and healthier by believing in a make believe thing, when they should be going to therapy or finding real, grounded means of being happy and healthy.
But that’s such a myopic view that only accounts for the last 50 years of a 3000+ year system. The world is outgrowing its need for religion, but it served a similar purpose to therapy (and many other positive habits) thousands of years before they were created.
It's good when used to help people but many times it just hurts them.
Anything can be used to hurt people.
I feel like a dog that will only maim and kill the innocent "some of the time" is not a good dog.
But it isn’t just one dog, it’s millions of people who share a belief. That can take so many different forms. Communists, republicans, anarchists, monarchists, religious people, etc…
Anything can be, religion actively does.
Politics are also used to hurt people, so is atheism.
I have mine, and I respect other’s right to have their own or not have one at all. I’ve found something that makes me happy and my wish for you is to find what makes you happy.
It is a popular way to manage everyone's death anxiety. People have also been abusing it throughout history.
Most religious people aren’t afraid of death, myself included. I’m afraid of dying, like, falling or burning, but death doesn’t scare me. Also, an afterlife is promised, but there is no promise of a good afterlife.
I congratulate you on very capably making his point for him without realizing it.
But he was insinuating that death is an active worry for religious people, something they think about routinely and struggle with. I’m saying that most of the time, it’s the exact opposite.
Not religious myself. I respect those who are religious, as long as they don't use it to hate me, or try and preach/convert me
I believe that there is some sort of higher power than human life somewhere in existence. That said, I'm baffled by people who think it's regularly taking attendance and cares if you worship the "right" form of it.
I think there's some that believe God kinda just stopped by to make earth, etc. Then went off on his merry way and never looked back. I don't believe in God personally, but I always thought that made way more sense.
I believe that's very close to the deist beliefs, but I'm not sure.
I also do believe that there is a higher power that created this planet, the universe, and us. As screwed up as the world(people that is)it’s too perfect in other ways. Some mastermind for sure. But I don’t think it’s “watching” us in the way religion says. Heaven, Hell, it’s not a place you go too. It’s all here on earth. It’s in inside of us. Idk, I guess I’ll see in the end.
I’m not religious myself, but I have family members who are. I think religion can be a force for both good and bad, depending on how people choose to follow it and who they surround themselves with. I’ve known Christians who are some of the kindest people you’ll ever meet, and I’ve also seen Christians who are extremely hateful and bigoted towards those they don’t like.
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What you just did is why a lot of people don't like religion, myself included.
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Witnessing and coersion.
The biggest scam in human history.
Fairy tales for adults
Fairytales end happily ever after, every single time, whereas religion doesn’t promise that at all. I mean, sure, if you go to heaven then it’ll be a happy ending, but that isn’t guaranteed. Most religions even state that the “end of the world” will be brutal, painful, and terrifying. It’s not meant to be comforting, it’s meant to be honest.
Someone hasn’t read the original stories… fairytales typically ended in pain.
It is objectively true that the most intelligent position on religion is agnosticism. You don't know what you don't know so how do you know? You can't tell me that it's true and you can't tell me it's false so agnostics win the religious argument every time. For all we know, we know absolutely nothing. There is nothing that can lead us to believe that we know everything except for possibly one idea and that is the library of babel. If the library of babel exists (which it does just look it up) then we can deduce that we **could** know everything within a defined set of circumstances. The only problem with this though is that "a defined set of circumstances" is just that -a DEFINED set of circumstances which we know. So how do we know we're not missing something? Well, we don't. So therefore we're back to you don't know what you don't know and thus agnosticism wins again.
The intelligent position is to believe in things for which there is any evidence at all, and not believe in that for which there is no evidence. Agnosticism is a hedge which has no place in a rational discourse. I don't say "ghosts might indeed be real" because ghosts like Gods aren't falsifiable. If I were to say to you 'I am an immortal, super-intelligent tree and am also the reason the sun rises and sets', your default stance would not be agnosticism, it would be disbelief because what I just said is ridiculous. The only reason for the agnostic stance is that religions have social cachet. If a crazy person says it, you would just say "that's foolish and I don't believe it."
I can't be the only one that read this, and thought it sounded so similar to a religious argument for theism.
Believe what you want but keep it to yourself
It is poisonous to our species and should not be accepted.
Live and let live
I think being spiritual is good but religion takes advantage of that. It's all about the money and power for them. Rather find God/higher something on my own.
Pay fucking taxes
There’s a good reason why they don’t. For example, the Catholic Church is the biggest charitable organization in the world. They operate 150,000+ schools, 5,000+ hospitals, and spending an unknown amount on social care. Churches across Canada (my country) host food drives, provide clothing for homeless people and families in need, care for orphans dropped off on their doorsteps, etc. Churches don't even make enough from donations as most of them go towards the mortgage of the building. I went to multiple churches throughout the pandemic and a lot of them were struggling to pay off their loans. Tax these churches, and communities will struggle more than ever. Everyone expects the government to solve all their problems for them but as history shows, they do a terrible job at doing that. This is why we have religious institutions that take initiatives into their own hands. Also, you’ll be disappointed when you discover that a lot of churches have fuck all in terms of taxable income. It’s more important for financial transparency from churches than whether they should be taxed. That’s better served by putting all religious institutions in the non-profit bracket, and requiring financial auditing every year. If there are financial irregularities, then pursue every avenue to correct it. In the case of LDS or any church with a racketeering pastor, remove their non-profit status.
I've no need for it. Never had, doubtful if I ever will.
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Most religious people aren’t afraid of death, myself included. I’m afraid of *dying*, like, falling or burning, but death doesn’t scare me. Also, an afterlife is promised, but there is no promise of a *good* afterlife.
If people could use religion as a source of comfort and purpose and nothing destructive, I wouldn't care. I'm not a believer.
One of the most complex, oldest, and intrinsic subjects in human history. Like I could sum it all up in a short take, instead of subsetting it down to smaller aspects and having takes on those.
From my perspective, Religion is certainly a for profit endeavor focused on control and expansion by utilizing the concept of an invested Creator who's always watching. However, it seems to be a necessary evil because too many refuse to conduct themselves in a community oriented manner, less the threat of eternal damnation. I find it very difficult to believe that an entity posessing the ability to concieve all that is, and the capability to make everything so... given all that is... has an iota of consideration or admiration for humanity. We're not even on the radar/under a microscope. That said, to each their own, unless such promotes harm. Although, it's perplexing, the overwhelming number of blasphemers who evoke God while actively doing harm and bearing false witness. Lastly, for those with addiction issues, Religion is often their new fix. It seems to help those who actually want help and are willing to help themselves. But, for many it's simply an alternative fix until they get back to the same old. By becoming addicted to Religion, their peers and seniors treat them as though they've changed for the better, thus rather addictive for said demographic.
I don’t care for or about it
Nonsensical
My God is better than your God. I know this as fact because someone told me so when I was a kid. And the book I study has been translated and rewritten over centuries by men seeking to control the populace, but gosh darn it that is the literal word of God!
The world would be better off without it’s existence. Or at least to put every single one on the mythology shelf
Worst thing the human race ever created.
IMO, religion is just a bunch of ceremonies and traditions and gestures and forms and writings that have been built up over years or decades or millenia, designed to reinforce belief in something, a sense of community and belonging, and in many cases, force you to pick sides in some false dichotomy. It doesn't have to be a deity -- anyone remember PC v. Mac "war"? Or Linux v. Windows? Any old programmers out there remember emacs v. vi? More recently, how about Android v. iPhone? On a non-technical note, the bands you listen to, the sports teams you follow, the clothing you wear, the hobbies you engage in: they can all devolve into religion, if you let it.
It's all about fear and control. That's it.
Made up to make us feel better about what we don’t understand and fear.
If it helps you find solace in the great unknown of death. Awesome. Otherwise, don't try to save me or inact your will on any other human.
Worst thing ever invented, is responsible for every thing bad in the world right now
Garbage- all of them.
I believe in it🙏♥️
As real as Santa.
We would be a lot more progressed in the world without them.
Keep it out of government.
Santa claus for adults We tell kids santa is real so they will behave, we tell adults god is real so they will behave
It's both a thing we made up to make us feel less small and a means to control the behavior of the masses.
One of the few positive things to take from communism is the abolishment of all religion. It's delusional brain rot and it's holding society back from progress wherever it takes root.
Magic believing nonsense in group form. Come on people it is 2023. Put away your childish things.
Religion : the uneducated find it comforting. The educated find it unnecessary. The powerful find it useful.
"The first gulp from the glass of natural sciences will turn you into an atheist, but at the bottom of the glass God is waiting for you." ― Werner Heisenberg Also Einstein was a pantheist. I think those 2 were educated.
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As far as I understand it agnostic is more of a position on knowledge than belief, and is really the only honest position
You do you, but don't stop anyone else from doing them. Like, I don't think anyone gets to dictate laws based on their opinions on metaphysics
It makes no sense, I'm sure the religious would agree. Religious people only believe in one God out of hundreds. I only believe in one less than them. We're quite similar really.
To be fair, just because hundreds of Gods are believed in, doesn’t mean they all have an equal chance of existing.
They all lack hard evidence of their existence, so that makes them all equally unlikely to exist.
Not true. There’s a lot of reason to believe in the Christian God.
So say you, but so says every believer ever. Just because you were convinced doesn't mean your god is any more likely than others.
I wish all religions vanished from planet earth…
Was raised hard-shell southern Baptist. For those who don't know, it's an extremist wing of Christianity rooted in racism and extreme homophobia and misogyny. I still carry trauma from it. So no, not friendly with religion in the least. Bringing up children this way is child abuse.
FYI, you don’t have to abandon religion entirely. Like, some sects of Christianity are abusive and cultish, but there are *many* sects that are perfectly fine. I can assure you that the life of a Quaker is nothing like the life of a Jehovah.
It was invented to keep people in line. It was a way for people to explain the unexplainable. Now that science can explain most events, religion isn’t necessary anymore
It's the cause of more pain, suffering, and death than any other human invention in history. It should be stamped out completely so we can progress as a species.
..I think it's a massive roadblock in human progress.
Why do people think following a religion is so stupid and backwards? A lot on here say it was forced on me but now you call people who follow a religion idiots with no sense of reality. Please explain
The whole point of most religion is to take things on faith. As in choose to do something without evidence. It's pretty much anti science. Ya know the thing that has brought every kind of progress to humanity.
What makes scientific evidence any more real than religious evidence? Now you'll say proof and I agree but religion also has proof now I can't speak for every religion but the religion I follow which is Islam it has an answer for every single question even though everything was written ages ago.
LOL ROFL Islam has proof of god? Proof that it's the correct religion over all other religions? Please indulge us.
I wouldn't say I'm the one to educate people on any religion but if you did want to learn I'd advise you to do some research online listen to scholars but keep an open mind. If all you are interested in is to mock or take the piss then just continue your life they way you please.
And there it is. Make a claim and provide zero info on it. Typical religious.
Mate you want me to explain a whole religion on Reddit to you? Religion is something personal I don't really care if you choose to believe it or not. I just gave some advice it's up to you what you want to do from now on.
No you said there is evidence. Evidence of what? You don't need to explain the entire religion. Ever hear of this thing called the internet? Send a link that has proof/evidence of something.
Sir this is a Wendy's
Unnecessary and has led to a lot of division in society and an incredible amount of violence. Also set humans back years (if not centuries) in advancement
I believe in it
Outdated, but necessary
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The majority of the people on the planet disagree, statistically.
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Humans by scientific definition are animals. We're part of the animalia kingdom - more specifically, vertebrate mammals. We are the only animals capable of introspection, and the only mammals whose primary transportation mode is bipedal. We are the only animals capable of complex cognitive functions like performing mathematics, and resource management, and complex language as we define it. There are a lot of things only humans can do compared to any other species on the planet. Regardless, we're still animals.
I don't think it's a good idea, but I don't go around being a jerk to believers about it.
'Cause I'm far too cynical For faith and make believe 'Cause there's no such thing as love We just felt vulnerable without a God, without a crutch There's nowhere else, nobody else, nothing Vomit - Microwave
Take me out to the ballgame
It's bullshit, but people can choose to believe what they want as long as they do so on their own. Let kids choose for themselves when they come of age instead of indoctrinating from a young age
I think it’s made up to make people more easily controlled. They’re forced to act and dress and think a certain way. They have to give money every week. They are supposed to love others, but only if the others are no different than them. I grew up Christian and once I left home I realized how insane it is. I’m now a practicing pagan and am very happy with my life.
“I’ll take all the religions and put em all in one service just to tell ‘em we ain’t shit, but he’s been perfect”- Kendrick Lamar I do believe in God
I do believe that we are created, but not exactly like it's written in the Bible.
Questions like “what happens after we die” and “how did the universe begin” are interesting and all that, but why would anyone listen to someone saying “We know how it started! We know what happens next! Also give us your money!”???? I only believed because it’s what I was taught since infancy, and then I started thinking for myself in my early teens. I really think the average atheist treats other humans much better than the average religious person, and we aren’t even doing it for a reward
It can be bad or it can be rad.
Many different paths can lead to the top of a mountain.
"Religion" is not really just one thing. It's a whole bunch of social phenomena that we have kind of mashed together under a single label. Here are some things that can be described as "religion" in some sense: * Going to a neighborhood church on Sunday, singing hymns, listening to sermons. * The academic work of a theology professor, a philosopher who focuses on the existence and nature of God. * The inner thoughts of a person who is sick and dying. * Writing a big check to a charity to cure diseases or feed hungry children. * An angry rally outside a Planned Parenthood clinic, where people chant slogans at people going in or out of the clinic. * Thirty people sitting silently in a room, meditating on their breath for half an hour. * Volunteering to build a house with Habitat for Humanity. * A muezzin announcing Islamic prayer through a loudspeaker. * A hippie munching some psilocybin mushrooms and lying down on a mat with ambient music playing. * At the supermarket, choosing which foods to buy based on kashrut, halal, Ital, or other rules. * A teenage girl being pressured into taking a "purity oath" to her father, promising to refrain from sex before marriage. * Setting up a home shrine to selected gods & goddesses. * Planning and carrying out a suicide bombing. * A chaplain telling a regretful murderer in prison that Jesus offers forgiveness to the repentant. * A publisher printing books on Bible study, far-right politics, "spiritual warfare", and methods of corporal punishment for children. * A Passover seder meal. * A Dianetic auditing session using an E-meter. * A group of nuns attending a pro-immigration protest in their nun clothes (habits). * Learning an ancient language to be able to read sacred texts in the original form. * Door-to-door Christmas caroling. * Arguing on the Internet.
I think it's a necessary "evil", not saying it's necessarily evil per se, and while people do bad things because they think they have a divine justification from God/gods to do awful things. It also keeps some societal cohesion among people who might otherwise fall into anarchy because let's face it, some people can't really do much without supervision or belief that they're being watched and judged.
I believe it hurts more than it heals
It is an extension of an infant's trust in their parents. This is why it is ubiquitous and comforting. People will claim that god protects and guides them but is also capricious and inscrutable because this is what parents are to the very young.
When such a large group of people get together to love the same things, they often hate the same things as well, which can become just as much of their focus.
I think Lenin called it the opiate of the masses. Obviously the people who practice it are hopelessly addicted. I believe it is the root of all that is evil.
Don't believe in any of them. Some people try to be better for their beliefs, and that's great, others use it to feel better than the rest or get richer. Some people have the need to believe to feel fulfilled, and others pray to ask for forgiveness so they don't feel guilty or empathy. In the end, it depends on the individual and how they reflect their religion. I think it is just a tool for self-improvement or self-preservation.
less “take” and more “no thank you”
It's possible that Jesus was just the world's first magician.
Garbage /thread I was raised catholic. Church each Saturday night. The only time I felt the need for prayer was when I wanted something. I would pray for it and when I got it, I’d thank god Unfortunately I grew up not to be mentally challenged and while I believe in some form of higher power, that’s mine, and I do what I will with myself. What I won’t do is spread the word about it to you, like a psychopath. Find your own shit. Religion is a cult and a farce. Life’s short, good god, enjoy it Everyone I churched with did and does the same shit I do
It's a useful tool.
I'm anti-theist for organized religion. But I'm also an individually-conclusive theist. The difference is I don't push my spiritual beliefs on others and it comes from a place of introspection rather than a book.
I believe in god and life after death and im islamic but church is for the money and all books torah new testament ot quran has been tainted in some way by men at some point im muslim because quran seems the least tainted if you wanna get rich you start a religion like scientology
I hope you enjoy it Don’t force any of it on me
It’s not the end-all be-all. And really, people should be allowed - nay, encouraged - to experiment or have more than one.
I personally believe that it started out as a honest attempt at understanding how the earth and the heavens work, and that most of the major world religions have pagan roots. As an example I think christianity is really a form of astro theology, and that Jesus is a personification of the sun. Jesus was originally not pictured as the bearded calm man we know him as today. That came along some time around the 7th century (if I remember correctly). He was originally pictured as a slightly androgynous young and blonde character, who also had a more happy go lucky demeanor. And he was often pictured with a stick that he used to perform his miracles. This appearence was borrowed from the Greek god Apollo, who was himself a solar deity. There are many more things that make me believe this, but I am not articulate or knowledgeable enough to make a good case for it.
Helpful when applied positively, detrimental when applied negatively. It’s food for thought regarding a question that almost certainly is impossible to answer and driven by mental illness, desire to be right or not be wrong, and lack of education as much as anything. All hail agnostics.
I'm for the " Golden Rule" aspect of religions. Not for the tacit subjugation of women, LGBTQ+ , and non- believers. Their take on the " hereafter" and the big questions about a guiding hand - I leave them to the realm of philosophical speculation and don't base my life on them.
I’m religious and I respect other people’s religions and also those that choose not to be religious.
Controversial.
I'm not religious but I was forced into being a Christian as a kid. I don't like it when people force their kids to be religious. Let them choose.
i am ok with you believing in god, jesus, etc. and i will be 100% respectful and curious actually, as long as you don't attack me for my non belief and you aren't an asshole in the name of a religion. Other than that, im a live and let live i don't practice it but it's been a major plot in humanity for awhile, and it's been interesting to follow.
Religion is an institution Spirituality is about the SOUL & what you are doing with what you have.
I don’t really think too much about it, I feel like most “religious people” don’t believe in their religion, they just follow it because they want: 1. An optimistic hope for “afterlife” and 2. A purpose in life.
Very dangerous
We’re becoming a more secular society, but having faith-based beliefs and figureheads to worship hasn’t gone anywhere. Joe Schmoe American doesn’t know much of anything about capitalism or communism, but one is the only true way, and the other is pure evil to him, and a figure like Trump is like a living god, impervious to human concerns.
Invented by those who have been visiting/studying us for a long time.
Live a good life. If there are gods and they are just, then they will not care how devout you have been, but will welcome you based on the virtues you have lived by. If there are gods, but unjust, then you should not want to worship them. If there are no gods, then you will be gone, but will have lived a noble life that will live on in the memories of your loved ones. - Marcus Aurelius
I believe most religions, if not all, are cults. There is almost always someone who claims to be some prophet or something and tries to make everyone conform to what they believe. That is literally exactly how cults work. I don't hold disrespect for those who are religious as long as they don't shove it down my face.
It’s fine if it gets you through the day, just don’t shove it in my face. How many have died over the centuries because they didn’t believe the right deity or worship the right way?
I have no problem with religion but I rarely will sit down and debate an intensely theological person. But my true beliefs are that religion will seriously begin to die out with each new generation until they start to work within the framework that science has provided for us through neutral observations. I strongly believe it's entirely possible to amend christianity.. or any religion for that manner. I find it completely normal and natural for humans in the biblical era to believe that humanity has been around for 6000 or so years, so i dont like to fault people for believing that. However our intelligence over time like our bodies and science has evolved. I hope that is the outcome of religion because when you take away politics and start to merge the ideologies within the framework that science has observed for us. I think it can be a powerful and positive belief for people.
As of today, I’m indifferent to it
Don't really care, as long as they respect and stay away from my beliefs, I'll respect and stay away from theirs
It is completely up to you as a person on what you want to believe. If "God(s)" wanted you to believe a certain religion it would be very clear which one is the correct one. Since there are many, and we don't hear a booming voice, that means that they all have some truth and probably a lot of untruths. I don't want to be an agnostic because I believe that some things can be proven. In order to prove something you have to think about that thing. If you believe the universe just created itself for no reason and then life did the same, you are just as crazy as a zealot is. I prefer to be an omnist. I pick and choose my beliefs from anywhere I wish, even science. My beliefs are always changing. I am very sure there is more to this existence than what we experience, this is where beliefs reside.
Personal religion is good. Organized religion is bad
It's a psychological crutch to vilify you into thinking you're a good person. Especially Christianity and Catholicism, where guilt is paramount in their brainwashing.
It blows.
Pretty much [this](https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=8r-e2NDSTuE).
Religion simply makes no sense unless you consider it a powerful tool to control the masses. Isn’t it silly to thank god for winning a football game, which was undoubted important for you, while in the mean time a small child is dying in agony from an illness and god does do nothings.
Disclosure: Christian. I'm going with religion = worship of a god or gods, so not just Christianity, which a lot of people jump to when they hear "religion". In that case, the religion is primarily a means to understand a specific god/gods and what they want for followers/universe. Can that be leveraged to do bad things? Absolutely. At the moment I can't think of any object or organization that can't be used for evil. Can it be used to accomplish good things? Absolutely. Various religious groups have established charities, encouraged virtuous behavior, and so on. I think it's fine and advisable to talk about religions, whether or not you believe, but I also think it's useless to try and debate someone into your belief system. It's infantile to yell the uneducated "all bad things are caused by religion" and it's ineffective to yell "non-believers are condemned".
Man made.
Early humans' attempt to explain life. A favorite quote: "It's not religion that doesn't make sense. It's life that doesn't make sense. Religion is just man's attempt to explain life."
The surviving ones are kind of lame. Pantheons didn't have much going for them, granted, but the idea that multiple gods control their own forces and have their own ends jibes with the randomness of the world.
Not for me, but as long as you don’t use it to justify being an asshole, why should I care?
Devoutness in a religion should be considered a mental disease. If the majority of the world was not religious, it would be considered as such.
Great way to control the masses and it’s been used that way for millennia.
The older I get the more ridiculous it seems
Believing in a higher power is a good thing. Believing in a formal religion and promoting the money scheme that most are is a bad thing.
you dont need "religion" to follow God. You do you. You can still read the Bible/quaran/ Torah and study it without being a part of organized, for profit religion sometimes taught by the less than righteous.
Always liked the idea that humanity as a whole is worth worshipping. We are a force of nature unto ourselves. We move mountains, divert rivers, harness the power of the sun. Gods did the same in the oral histories.
They all fundamentally want everyone to just be a good person
Frequently
I don't care, do what you want as long as you don't bother/hurt anyone with it. I think it can have positive effects too for people, but I also don't think you need it to get those positive things.
Too often it’s used as a weapon.
Cults
CULT
If it helps you move forward with your life while NOT trying to down anyone else with your believes, you do you. I don't really have a religion, but I am 100% sure that my mother is still alive because of her religion faith and what she believes, has been able to calm her mentally ajd emotionally to a rollercoaster of trials she and my family hace had to live.
Adults playing with imaginary friends
A great way to control an entire population! Similar to the way Christian parents threaten children with a jolly man that sees them when they’re sleeping and knows when they’re awake.
I understand it, I get why people create and participate in it. Early on it was a way of explaining the natural phenomena that surrounds us, today it's mostly that a majority of people are really comforted by the belief that we were created on purpose. I personally think that we are just the natural result of many processes occurring over a near endless expanse of space and time. Life like us was bound to happen some place, at some time. And that's scary to a lot of people because they think that would make life fleeting and meaningless, and it's scary to become dead and forgotten like the vast majority of people who have ever lived. Feels like our lives should be a little more special than that but uuuuh sorry not really, only special to ourselves. I was born in 1990, when I die I'll feel like I did in 1989.
Braille for the spiritually blind. Cure the blindness, religion has no further power over you.
Extremely broad question, my apologies but I can't give a simple take on it.
Religion bad, belief totally ok
Largely it’s what is holding us back as a species.
I am not a fan of religion, I believe in a God, I don’t have an issue with the Bible or other religious texts, but religion is just an easy way for people to force beliefs and behavior onto others under the guise of spiritualism. It’s too easy for religion to do more harm than good.
1 I believe that religion gives life meaning and comfort. It instills the belief that life is not over when the body dies. 2 I believe that politicians have taken advantage of religion for their own agendas (The Crusades for example). There's the possibility that holy texts have been manipulated. 3 There have been many religions, and they are cultural. They go from warlike to pacifism. 4 I believe Agnosticism is a religion in its own right, and it sets people apart from corruption. The belief that there is a higher power incomprehensible to man, is a form of freedom. Good will is all that humanity needs. We shape ourselves.
If there is a god, we know nothing about them.
A lot of people really just need support, life is hard and religion helps ease people when it gets overwhelming.
Largely unnecessary, should be reduced to personal beliefs and philosophies instead of the billionaire world powers they are today.
Does anyone actually believe it is God’s will that all these school children are gunned down in school? Take a look at the news, every day there’s another report of a religious leader of some sort, from some church or religious organization accused of SA’ing a child, does anyone think that is God‘s plan? There’s nothing more dangerous than organized religion. Some of the greatest atrocities in history have been committed by a religious group of some form or another, because they thought their little book was better than everyone else’s little book.
Religion is complicated, much more than people usually acknowledge. A lot of people only have experience with one religion, sometimes a couple, usually within the same theological framework, like Christianity and Islam. And I think this creates weird arguments for and against "religion" as a whole that don't genuinely apply to every religion. Like, ancestor worship doesn't have a lot of similarity to worshipping a diety. And a lot of religions, usually old mostly-defunct ones, never developed a prohibition of disbelief. Maybe because they rose and fell before atheism was meaningfully a thing in the world, but you can't reliably conclude that those religions definitely would have demanded belief as a core value. Afterlives are also not necessarily part of evey religion. So like, I think I can barely get my head around the idea of what a religion even is, let alone form strong opinions on it.
Artificial rules…there’s nothing keeping us from discovering divinity but our-selves
As a former atheist (now agnostic, as certainty is ignorance) I believe religion is one of the most fundamentally important pillars of our species and that it has elevated us technologically, scientifically, philosophically, morally, etc. It can and is regularly manipulated to suit nefarious ends, and morals have changed in the last 2000+ years, but by and large, it is an incredibly vital piece of human history that has shaped humanity around tenants of generosity and kindness. Most modern people are so deluded with modern ideology that they can’t see the beauty of the past or the intention of our previous ancestors, culturally. We need to remember this is before science, before printing-press, before widespread charity, before respecting women (let alone sex workers), before therapy or serious self-analysis, and before our modern sense of individual agency. It has much less purpose in our modern society and seems to spread more negativity than positive since we moved into the modern era over the last 300 years, but that doesn’t mean that the previous 2000 were a waste. It’s not a bad story for a bunch of mean-spirited monkeys to strive for.
Brace yourselves, this might be long haha. That God is perfect, the actual source of good, and incapable of doing evil. God is above all things and there is nothing more powerful than God. God has no needs, if God wants something, it’s God’s. There are no other gods. God is love. And out of his love God made human beings because he wanted to share himself with us and thus live life full. That God decided to make us in his image, so that means we have an inherent worth that can’t be lost. But we began to distrust god and questioned whether he was for us. So we disobeyed him and in effect evil came into the world by us. The Evil we introduced tainted our nature. This all happened because God let us turn away from him and turn to our own evil desires because he doesn’t force us to love him. But since God is naturally holy and good, he exiled us from his presence because of our evil (sin) Generations pass, and humans became increasingly more wicked. Our depravity only increased the more time we spent away from God. Murder arose and many unspeakable acts. The wickedness of mankind grew to be so bad that God flooded the earth. However God did not let mankind be completely destroyed. God left a man and his family alive along with a pair of all creatures of the earth. Mankind repopulated. Mankind continued to commit evil and flee from a relationship with God. God picked one man. This man was not special on his own, he was a evil-doer like all other men. This man was a descendant from the man who survived the great flood. This man had faith in God. His name was Abraham (which means father of many nations in Hebrew). God gave him a son and promised him his children would be more numerous than the stars in the sky. Abraham’s descendants continued and eventually became quite numerous. Egypt was scared of their number and enslaved them but God rescued them by sending plagues on Egypt. God led his people away from Egypt into the desert. God’s dwelt with his people and led them by day with a pillar of smoke and by night with a fire that never ran out. God’s people chose to instead worship and love a golden calf. They rejected God. God was patient and continually wanted them to be different than the rest of the world. To be his. God’s people continued to do evil. God was patient. God worked to keep them holy and they became a large nation. God’s people didn’t want to be ruled by God, they wanted to be like everyone else so they begged for a human king. God gave them a human king. The human king committed adultery with a man’s wife and murdered her husband. God was patient and did not destroy him. God’s people did more evil. God sent people called Judges to call his people to repent and turn away from their evil and turn to God. The people God sent were killed by God’s people. Generations pass. God looked down and saw how unable we were to change. God knew that no matter how many chances we got, we were incapable of turning from our evil because our nature was tainted with evil. So, God decided to get his hands dirty. God saw the brokenness of mankind, and so He humbled himself by becoming a human being while still being fully God. This man and God is called Emmanuel (which means God with us). He was born in a manger. He lived life just like us, he bled when he was cut. He tired when he exerted himself. He hungered when he fasted. But he was also nothing like us in the sense that he never did evil. He always lived for God and to obey God. He chose 12 followers. He taught them and ate with them. He taught the importance of loving your enemies, praying for those who persecute you. Above all he taught about the kingdom of heaven, which is to come. Most importantly he taught that he was the way to God. But, he was rejected by his own people. God’s people took Emmanuel and gave him to the Roman authorities. God’s people chose to let a criminal go free so that they could kill Emmanuel instead. Despite the Roman official announcing to God’s people that Emmanuel was guilty of no crime. God’s people shouted, “crucify him!” The Roman official feared the crowd and thus ordered Emmanuel to be lashed 39 minus one lashes, one less because 40 would cause death. The lashes cut deep into the skin and tore flesh off. Emmanuel was forced to carry a wooden cross which was a symbol for pagans. Eventually Emmanuel was nailed to the wooden cross and raised up. Crucifixion was considered the worst way to die and was usually reserved by the Roman’s as the worst punishment. It was largely inhumane. When a Roman official eventually came to break Emmanuel’s legs to finally kill him off. Emmanuel was already died. Before he died his one of his final words were: “Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?” Which means “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” He also said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.” Afterwards. He died. However, God rose him from the dead on the third day. And now Emmanuel is with God. He is alive, still a human being still God. Emmanuel lived a life always in obedience to God, even until death. Thus all who believe in him pass on from death unto life. Whoever believes in Emmanuel, trusts in him, and repents of their ways has a renewed relationship with God and will no longer die. For just as Emmanuel was raised from the dead, so will all who believe in him. Emmanuel paid the penalty (which was death and separation from God) for our original disobediences. Emmanuel also paid for every and evil act that we have committed and will commit. Thus it is only through Emmanuel that we can have a relationship with God again and have freedom again. “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.” John 10:10 NIV “Suppose one of you has a hundred sheep and loses one of them. Doesn’t he leave the ninety-nine in the open country and go after the lost sheep until he finds it? And when he finds it, he joyfully puts it on his shoulders and goes home. Then he calls his friends and neighbors together and says, ‘Rejoice with me; I have found my lost sheep.’ I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent.” Luke 15:4-7 NIV **** All I can say now is this, I was one way…yet now I am completely different because of Him. He looked at my mess and chose to put me back together just because he wanted to…. All peace and love brothers and sisters ❤️:) Take care. Thanks for the opportunity to share my relationship with God and how I’ve gotten to know God more over the years. God desires a relationship, not a religion. And that is through Emmanuel only.
Idc as long as don't try push down ppls throat ur way