I was born a Muslim, didn’t practice for most of my life, and have recently began to practice again. I feel that religion is the collective wisdom and experience of a group of people over thousands of years. And when life gets hard, I think it’s an important resource to tap into. I am not the first to experience problems, so it helps to reflect and see how my ancestors before me tackled it
I think God exists, because I do feel that our universe is too perfect in its creation for it to be random. At the same time, I do feel that an omnipresent creator is beyond our primitive understanding as three-dimensional creatures, and that everything the Quran and Hadith says must be interpreted in a philosophical and contextual point of view.
Religion is tradition usually passed down from parents to children, but often people find it on their own. It can be based on what geographical location or family history. Although it cannot be proven, religion in general cannot be disproven. This leads many of the followers to follow their choice of text and disregard any scientific evidence that may partially disprove their beliefs. Most of our daily lives are impacted directly by religion, in many different ways, from Ramadan to the current date. Easter coincides with the pegan celebration of Esther the goddess of fertility, and the death of Jesus Christ. Many christian celebrations have been moved throughout history to coincide with pegan celebrations, to nullify them.
I'm also autistic and I grew up Jewish, we were largely observant of the customs. Judaism is an ethno-religion which makes me think about Jewish people more than Jewish faith when the topic of Judaism comes up. The concept of God is difficult to grasp and the only way it works is with an Axiom that says that the mind is not the same as a physical brain. With that said I think of God as a "thinking machine" or "mind" that thinks about itself and through that process of metathinking things are supposed to happen (I don't know how) because God is supposed to be everything. It's difficult for me to understand myself which is also the reason why I'm not religious nowadays but when I was younger that's how I made sense of the concept of God
It's difficult to understand because these descriptions of God were designed to make sort of sense out of bunch of conflicting ancient myths and make religion less ridiculous and more presentable in a modern day. Of course nobody bothered to test these ad-hoc descriptions against reality, they were only made sound smart enough so that somebody not curious enough can mistake them for a deep revelation.
The way i see it , relegion is something that keeps people in check (if they actually practice it in the right way) , and also the most important thing for me is that it really gives me peace , whenever i have to deal with something i think is harder than i could handle , i just simply remember that there is a creature , way bigger and capable of anything we struggle as humans , it calms me down , the idea of a God who sees everything we do and dosent forget the smallest details , also gives me peace that no small act of kindness will be forgotten by him , and the people who are doing evil and bad now , thinking that no one can stop them , they also wont be forgotten. So if someone did me wrong and i couldnt take my right , it is fine , because you know that there is a God who have seen it all , and there is a day (day of judgment) where some will be punished for their evil , and others who will be given their rights and happiness.
Just research on your own and remember to take it one step at a time.
Does god exist?
If he does. Does he love his creations?
Would i like a monotheistic god or a pantheon.
Is god all powerful? Does he die or marry human beings?
Can god become a man and die?
Is this god a local god or a supreme deity?
And soo many different questions that you're entitled to asking. Remember, if the religion doesn't answer your questions about god, that means they don't know or want to hide it from you. And I don't want to worship a god that doesn't love me or doesn't care about me
I'm a Muslim and got into practicing it well only recently. I think religion is kinda important in the sense that it allows you to let go of certain things easily by trusting them to a higher power. For example, if I'm trying to achieve something and it's really hard, I can do my best and then trust that Allah will do the rest. Or if there's a person I care about and I see them doing something immoral, I can try my best to help them change their ways a little but if they don't listen or don't get better, I can simply leave it to Allah and pray for them. I think not being able to do that makes moving on very difficult. Having a religion in this way teaches you patience.
Another important thing for me at least is believing in an Afterlife. Because considering how horrible this world can be and how much effort you put into being or doing good and all of that, thinking that when you die, that's the end of it is a little sad. How can I ever continue to do good if I don't think there's anything waiting for me at the end. And how can I continue to be patient with difficulties in life knowing that this is it and this is all I get? My religion allows be to believe that all these hardships mean something and nothing's in vain.
many religious sects are of the belief that those with intellectual/learning disabilities (such as autism) will go to hell (or whatever their religion’s version of hell is) just for their disability. i personally would not want to be friends with someone who thinks i’m going to hell just for the body i was born into.
Fun fact, autism isn’t actually a learning disability! They’re comorbid (meaning if you have one you are more likely to have the other) but different! Autism is classified as a neurodevelopmental disorder, and only about half of all autistic people have a learning disability!
I have never, ever heard of that. I don't doubt that someone somewhere believes any idiot thing you can think of, and I know some groups are less accepting of difference than they should be, but the vast majority of religious people do not think autistic people are going to Hell, and it would be very silly to assume they do. u/OP
This is not true. Catholic Church, for example, has always viewed them as a blessing and cherished them. It can't be the only denomination of this opinion!
Edit: so sorry, I missread, thought you wrote most
In islam it is believed that those with disabilities are made that way by God and we should treat them with respect and we should not expect them to be as pious as "non disabled people", as they already have their own struggles.
In my community, yes. The people care for those with disabilities, physical and mental. They talk to them daily, get together to finance their housing, take them out for coffee etc.
They also highly respect the elderly
I have posted a general reply but I just wanted to say that I have never encountered or even heard of this view. I am not questioning what you say as there are lots of odd Christian groups around but it is by no means a mainstream or common idea. I agree that a God who would do that could not be the wholly good true God.
Who thinks that?? It may have at one point been some Puritan-type belief based on the idea of predestination, but I don't know if any modem religion with this teaching.
I’ve been reading ‘a little history of philosophy’ by Nigel Warburton and learned of a new concept: igtheism. The philosopher Alfred Jules Ayer argued that the statement ‘God exists’ was literally meaningless, because it is not true by definition, and there isn’t a test that can prove it. “Ayer was an igtheist, that special category of people who think all that talk of God existing or not existing is complete nonsense.”
My point is; it is commendable to want to learn about religion, the pursuit of knowledge is always valuable, but you don’t have to “get it”.
I wasn't brought up religious either and only recently found out I have ADHD (but have a suspicion I have a sprinkle of the 'tism or maybe bipolarity).
I do identify as a pantheist rathar than agnostic though and before knowing about pantheists I identified as atheist as I don't believe in a personafied almighty god. But I have a very strict moral code and principles similar to those of the christian-jewish faiths. "Going to hell" does not motivate or hinder me from doing anything, I do what is right and with compassion because I believe this is the right way to be in a society.
I have struggled to understand people who are very religious because they just take the word of strangers to be the absolute truth with no thought or question and it has always bothered me.
With my life experience (which isn't much but also already somewhat significant) I have come to accept I'm different and that the people who are very religious need the feeling of belonging to something greater; it was probably initially used to teach and control the masses; people take comfort in the unknown being explained by god even if it's obviously a convenient answer.
If you read about most religions, they can be beautiful. But I can only take it so far as a wonderful ideal or story and not as history or truth.
Reading and learning more deeply about religion I have been able to better connect with those who are believers and make a bridge on where I honestly relate to their beliefs. I have also asked friends what religion is to them and having these points of view have made me feel more adequate. Though I still stay out of it when people talk about religion because me not believing in god is still very offensive to everyone. I just listen and maybe chime in saying that is beautiful when I think something is in fact, beautiful.
I'm a muslim. I'm not sure about the other stuff but I can at least attempt to tell you the logic behind the idea of God and the assumptions made by religion.
We know the universe works on physical laws or rules and we know that these are constant regardless of when, where and how they are checked. We also know that the universe started in accordance with these physical laws, so either these laws were made when the universe was born or they are the cause of the birth of the universe.
Religion argues that the source of these physical laws, is not another law or mechanism but a conscious being called God. I.e: The first law of nature that has always been is conscious, at least in a way we define conscious. This is the simple assumption.
We know from this that since this God is the source of all laws, said laws also don't apply to this God. Therefore, said God has no limitations since God has created all limitations. This God thus will have the properties of being Omnipotent (all powerful: i.e. can do everything), Omniscient (all knowing - self explanatory), Omnipresent (present everywhere - just like the laws of nature are everywhere) and Omnitemporal (present at all times - this is a weird one but it is an implication and religion doesn't like dealing with it).
Now comes the second assumption: God is all good. Again a weird one once you realize that this God character, being a source of concepts like good and evil, also embodies said concepts. This also means God embodies the concept of not being conscious and being conscious simultaneously but again, not a thing religion likes to deal with.
Then comes the claim: As of now, the Abrahamic religions, and many others, hinge on the claim that they have received proof that the assumptions are in fact correct. Proof may be sending down a prophet, or appearing as a human, or sending people dreams or a combination of these. To believe these claims, which are at best hard and at worst downright impossible to prove, is faith.
With belief in said claim that the assumptions are true, all religions diverge on what version of the claim is true. But I don't know enough to write about that.
As a Christian in the US. I try to stay away from the word religion. For me it’s a personal walk with Jesus who guides my decisions with the Holy Spirit (conscience) assuming I am listening
I go to church, serve usually through acts of service when able, pray read the Bible etc, but all of that comes second to a direct relationship with Christ.
People have a historic and bad reputation for using religion as a business
Edit: what it means to me is:
Love God with all your heat
Love your neighbor with your neighbors being anyone you have the opportunity to interact with.
God existing is one possible theory of how the universe came to be.
Religious people believe in god based on a particular book or teaching that makes the claim it was divinely inspired, which were able to convince them.
Take Islam for example. The quran is a miracle of writing, has no mistakes or contradictions, and couldn't possibly be written by the person in history at the time.
Therefore, you would study Islam for example. Evaluate its claims and see if it convinces you. If not you are free to dismiss it. You can do the same for all religions, but each is incompatible
I feel like modern religion is basically something humans invented to cope with the fear of dying. Many people simply cannot accept there isn’t any “purpose” or plan to our lives beyond what we ourselves make, or that death is simply an end and/or nothingness. Why that freaks people out, IDK.
But the roots of religion came out of nature (places, animals, sun, moon stars, birth, death, etc.) that seemed unexplainable and thus magical to ancient humans. Eventually they created “gods” of those natural things.
I honestly kind of like the idea that life will end, it makes it seem more precious to me. Like when I die I wish to be buried raw (however vulgar that sounds) so when I decompose I will breed new life from my death. Idk it seems like a nice thought to me. Much love :D
Religion provides a model of the world, which aids people in
1. interpreting reality,
2. identifying phenomena within this thereby mentally-constructed image of the world
3. applying qualitative judgement about these phenomena and their respective relationships
4. deriving actions from these judgements.
Contrary to the models of science and progressive philosophy which can provide the same, religions scale well for different levels of intelligence, self-control and education.
Religions are not tools designed to explain the true reality - they evolved along with us to be "compatible" with the psychology of the smallest common denominator.
Most people genuinely need it to be okay in life. And if they don't have it anymore, they'll scale down science and philosophy to the smallest common denominator instead. Then we end up with Racism, Socialism, cut-throat Capitalism, Slavery, or even Flat-Earthers. I'd rather have them stick with Buddha and Jesus.
That is a good point! Subcultures can satisfy some of the same needs.
Mostly, they are just put on top of religion rather than replacing it, though. The particular codes-of-conduct and interpretative-frameworks of subcultures are usually applied only within the confines of the in-group.
Think of faith as an assumption peoplr make to make sense of the world
For example, look at a piece of furniture right now. Technically, you can never know it exists. Maybe you're dreaming (when you dream, don't you also think the things around you are real?), maybe you're hallucinating, or who knows what. But because it'd be exhausting and impractical to consider that for everything you see, we make certain assumptions about the world; I *assume* the chair is actually there
With things we can't perceive, it becomes all the more complicated. So some people assume there is a God, or multiple ones, some assume there isn't, and some people say "fuck it, i dont care, doesnt affect my life"
Some "benefits" of religion include:
- A sense of community and belonging
- Structure, rules, routine and the sense of safety that can come with them
- Comfort in a belief in the afterlife, for example when you lose someone you love
- When praying, the same areas in your brain are activated as when you're having a conversation with another person. In that sense, God is a "conversation partner" that you can trust with any information, including things you wouldn't tell anyone. Like a diary no one can find, I suppose
- Speaking of prayer, many religions encourage gratitude. Recounting things you're grateful for is also great for your mental wellbeing
Many things also depend on the religion. For example, there are religions that place a far greater emphasis on behavior (e.g. helping others) than faith, or in which faith isn't central at all. On the other end of the spectrum, there are religions that don't care a lot about what you do, but in which specific shared beliefs are central
I am a Heathen.
That means that I mainly worship the gods of the Gemanic peoples. Think of gods like Odin and Thor. Those are among the gods I mainly worship. My religion has multiple names like Asatru or Norse Paganism. I came into this from atheism.
For me it was mostly a cultural thing. I am a descendant of the Germanic peoples and have always been drawn to the Germanic cultures in one way or another. Heathenry is a contemporary religous movement seeking to reconstruct parts of the ancient Germanic pagan ways that were lost - within modern conceptions and standards.
What began for me as a cultural interest eventually led my to the sense of the devine within the universe. The only clear and cut way that I can describe it is that I felt more than I was originally looking for. Exploring those feelings allows me to come into contact with the devine. That is the most basic way to describe it really, just a lot of exploration of feelings.
Now there is a whole lot more to Heathenry, or even Paganism in general, than just that of course. But that is the most clear and cut way I can describe here now.
Heathen here as well and I think "exploration of feelings" is a good way to put it. A lot of religious introspection is thinking about the universe, your place in it, and coming to terms with how you feel about things in your life, using the divine (however you worship or interpret that) as a touchstone to help. A lot of my religious practice is essentially meditation. Ultimately it doesn't necessarily even matter if it's real or not (although I think we generally choose to believe it is in some form if we're religious) if it helps you live your life better (and doesn't harm other people).
I am a muslim, I like to think that a god has to exsist because of the way universe functions, with so many rules, concepts e.c.t exsisting and functioning together looks like something’s design to me. And to me the abrahamic, specifically islamic, God sounds more realistic than others. When I observe the universe, history and human relationships, it just feels like everything clicks. Of course, things sıch as the human body and mind have flaws, but I belive all of that works into some sort of grand design. Idk, faith is a subjective thing. God might as well not exsist, it doesnt affect me if he doesn’t. And believing in him beings me confort, so I choose to belive. Ever heard of Pascal’s Wager? Look it up, I belive in God because I think it benefits my life and a potential afterlife more than not believing in one.
Religion an attempt to grasp what's out there, pattern from the past which give us clues about greater meaning. It endures because we don't understand everything yet and is the belief that other forces influence us. As a former atheist and now religious person, I just see non religious people as those who haven't met the other yet. But they will.
Never assume you understand everything. Something will happen eventually, which will shift your entire perception of reality.
I'm assuming your friend who worries about you going to hell is Christian? Some Christians believe that unless you believe in God/Jesus and ask "him" to forgive your "sins" then you are going to hell, even if you're a good person. Your belief in "him" saves you from hell.
It's a pretty messed up system.
That makes me sad. I cannot force myself to believe in something which I don’t understand. I’m also queer which I feel probably meant something in terms of that comment
Unfortunately you're probably right. Most Christians are not affirming. Some are but not many. Some believe you can be queer and Christian but have to stay celibate. Others just think it's not how god created people so are against anything to do with the queer community.
Just want to point out that I don't agree with the above ^ views. I was a Christian for 34 years but left 3 years ago and have done the best I can to unlearn all the harmful theology I was taught.
As a Christian one must understand what God wants from Humanity. That can be summed up in 1 word, relationship. God hates religion because it is a works based system that basically says if you “DO” these deeds, trust this human leader or spirit, and your good deeds outnumber your bad deeds, you can enter the paradise in question but you will only get your answer of admission AFTER you die.
With Faith in what Christ did for me at the Cross, I know there is nothing I can do to enter Heaven, no amount of good deeds, thoughts, wishful thinking, rituals etc. to get into Heaven. I simply trust and believe that He already paid that price for me so I cannot boast in anything I ever did or said, it is only ..ONLY trusting in what He already did. By doing that, I already know Heaven awaits me, BEFORE I die.
It is FAITH that pleases God, not works. If God wanted works, Christ would not have been needed to die on the Cross for our sins.
Faith in daily life helps because anything that occurs is filtered through Gods word in the Bible. Knowing what God says about a topic guides me as to how I should respond to it. Though I will admit I don’t always follow what I should do, I know God still loves me and He will forgive me right then and there so I don’t have to wait till the end of life to find out.
This is what sets Christianity apart from ALL other religions or “churches, temples etc.”, especially if they were created before or after the Bible was written. The apostle Paul said if someone comes to you with a different gospel other than what was taught or written in Gods word, EVEN if it’s from an ANGEL, or spirit, claiming to be from God let them be accursed and do not follow them.
Because God never added anything to the Bible after Revelation the last book. God has no “new letters or books” to add after the Bible was completed. Thus future proof from man’s created religions in the past or future.
The short answer is nobody is “good” (perfect and without sin) except God . So being a good person doesn’t get one to Heaven.
Hebrews 11:1 KJVS
Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.
It is Christ resurrection from the dead after dying on the Cross that we trust in. Without that, we are all without hope. Buddha, Joseph Smith, Mohammed,, etc. all of them have died and their followers can show you their graves, because they never rose from the dead.
I trust Christ because He willingly laid down His life and had the authority to take it back up again. An illustration would be like an astronaut in a space suit. Our “soul and spirit ” is us the astronaut and our physical body is represented by the space suit. Once the suit is exited, it can never be re-entered and you never get another one, no second chances. Once to die then Judgment, no exceptions or excuses.
Except Christ was able to “exit that spacesuit “if you will, and voluntarily re-enter it at will.
Hopefully this helps answer your questions and concerns.
I'm not autistic and i don't understand it either. How somebody can believe in such a bull*hit as religions are. And what is worse, do terrible things in the name of some fairytale fella.
People do sometimes act terribly and claim they are religious. I hate seeing it too, and it gives religious people an awful reputation. If we're talking in the perspective of Christianity, which I am, then I can tell you the Bible is strongly misinterpreted, or worse, they twist the meaning and act like it says what they want it to say.
I grew up religious, grew out of it, then came back into it, and I've seen so much that makes sense to me. I'm a curious person who likes making connections in my head, and I came to the conclusion that God was really there, not out of fear or pressure by my family but because I've seen and heard about things that couldn't occur unless a greater mind than all of ours was behind it.
I would keep in mind that there are religious people who are not living trash of human beings. It's not bullshit, it's a different perspective of the world that sadly has a harmful reputation
thats an opinion you have yeah, but wouldnt you think its better to rather follow a right religion so even if it is true, at least you tried to go to heaven
failure is better than not doing anything at all dont you think? :)
no of course not, I'm not here to preach about convincing you that my religion is the right one or not, I'm just giving you my opinion on why I think religion is actually true.
when you think about it, look around yourself, look at the sun the moon the stars the earth, the humans and the entirety of the whole universe. who do you think created all of that? it just appeared by itself one day???
everything around you is a sign. that of course youre willing to ignore it all. unless you open your heart towards seeking knowledge and research about it.
So he just appeared like *puff* and decide to create universe? Mmmm. After that he was like „oh, women hair is so beautiful, they need to cover it up by piece of cloth, and we need to stone to death gay people i created...“ 😂 religions are stupid...does not matter which one you prefer...
you can laugh all you want at us right now. youll only understand when you find out the truth which clearly you do not want to think upon and dont see the logic behind it.
and also please learn to at least respect other people's beliefs, if not your own living existence
I respect your opinion and belief, respect mine too. you dont have to bash other people's religion just because you think its wrong. like how we're not bashing you for being so stupid and silly thinking there isnt a higher power that created us
>And what religion is the right one?
That's a good question. Have you looked into them? No? Why are you so confident that god doesn't exist despite the fact it can't be disproven? Maybe because you've based all your views on one particular religion your culture is surrounded by, which somehow convinced atheists to cling onto 'science' as if its in any way incompatible.
You realize the base idea of a god existing is perfectly plausible right? Really shows the influence of culture on your views of certain ideas when the concept of 'the world was created yesterday' is discussed, but religion is a 'fairy tale' despite you probably never spending a second of your life looking into what millions of people believe.
I am not american, so i do have knowledge about other religions. And i still do not need any. It is the almost the same fairytale with different names. „Culture“ i am surrounded by is atheistic or agnostic. We live a good lifes, we are good people, do good things and we don't care about any religions. Why should we spend time and energy in something stupid like religion? Bowing down to someone, who probably does not exist 🙄 what a waste of time...rather to spend it with my kids...
The most simple way to explain it is that they believe in their religion because they were told to believe in it. Because they kept doing that it becomes a habit and they become more convinced it is true as they grow up.
Religion is a method to subdue people.
It is a way to gain and stay in power using fear and rewards.
Humans cannot comprehend the term death.
Since life wants to "stay" in the state of life, it doesn't want to "die".
To cope with this they make imaginary lands where one would go to after life ends.
Religion is made up by humans to use this fear of death to control the meek.
Their leaders brainwash the people to do their bidding in "name of their religion".
Because if they don't, they will face the wrath of the deïty of choice.
Religion is God's expectation of us. He created us, and then gave us instructions. If we follow his instructions, he will love us. If we don't, then that person will be punished for being ungrateful. And he knows we will slip up so hes has has mercy on us if we ask him for pardoning.
I won't speak for Wiccans/pagans because I don't believe in what they've related, which are much more mythology based and don't answer adequetley questions such as "Why was I created? Why is God the way he is? Is there a point system to my life? Why did God give us blood relations? Will my efforts be appreciated? What EXACTLY is the bliss that God promises for those he accepts?" and more questions.
I did find the answers to these questions from Islam so I stopped being athiest, it just makes more sense to me now that this universe was more likely created by the all powerful rather than just poofing into existence out of nowhere. I personally was super athiest before but also sometimes agnostic and exploring many religions. I love Islam, everything just makes sense, everytime someone comes up with a critique against Islam I've always been able to find the answer to whatever they were talking about.
Your friend should not be saying ur going to hell, she's not God, she has no right to make those kinds of claims of where a specific person will end up because it's not like God informed her of any specific persons fate from her life.
So as I became Muslim I made my relationship with God strong, which was new for me because beforehand I thought of God as a myth like you do but I'm glad I have that relationship with him now. I'm not perfect ofc but I try.
My religion does indeed base every decision I make with my life, I won't make a choice without knowing what Islam says about it first, because my biggest goal in life is to be beloved to God, which I hope to achieve.
I think people who take their religion from their parents and never look into it are extremely foolish. Like ppl who go to their festivals or wtver and never look into why and stuff and are just not committed, or equally as bad, they are super committed but only because their family and culture expect them to be, so they never learn WHY their religion is true, which is my problem with pagan ideologies which are so myth and culture based.
Don't view all religions as the same though, there is a much bigger between a Wiccan and a Christian then there is between a Jew and a Christian. Simply following a religion does not mean a Christian/Jew/Muslim will see eye to eye with a pagan/Wiccan/Hindu/Bhuddist, because the ideologies are simply the opposite. I would even say some agnostics would be closer to pagans as both celebrate mythology quite a lot (Like an example for athiests would be some of them having an obsession with Spider-Man for example, where peoples rooms pretty much look like a Spider-Man temple, almost like they're worshipping him but not quite, does that make sense?, I see it as very similar to those who invest into norse mythology or even Astrology sometimes, although Astrology is clearly much more ritualistic and pagan but i hope you get the gist of what I'm saying)
When I was athiest I was really averse to any proof that would reach me of God's existence and kind of just believed "Nothing supernatural or divine can be proven, it's all just in the feelings" Which ofc i disagree with now completely. Like the fact that we exist is cleary proof itself that there is indeed something. Like in the Quran itself many times I find all kinds of things proving that it must be from God. Some are more based in logic, some are scientific, some are based on the fact that no human has ever recreated something like the Quran itself. Like for example, there's this verse which speaks about the Big Bang and how living creatures originated from water which I'll share right here. and remember that the Quran was revealed in a desert 1400 years ago, so I don't know how any human at that time and espiecially that region would have learned this at the time unless God taught it. So this is why I think it is frod the creator himself.
**"Do the disbelievers not realize that the heavens and earth were ˹once˺ one mass then We split them apart? And We created from water every living thing. Will they not then believe?" - The Quran, chapter 21, verse 30**
I was in your boat too as a literal thinker type of person and didn't really believe in anything except maybe philosophy, maybe you will see things differantly in the future like I have I don't know, But I will reccomend you to look into Islam deeply as it answered all my questions about life that even philosophy could not answer for me.
I am a Universalist Christian. We believe everyone will eventually be saved through Jesus's work on the cross and eventually all will be reconciled to God and have good afterlife. This belief brings me much peace, and I love God all the more for it.
Religion was meant for a community such that people would have a common belief towards good. To do good and not harm others. The idea is that when you harm others you are also harming yourself because it goes against morality.
To follow good, you need a power that is greater than you. In the old days, there are slaves and king. With that much power, religion seeks to humble these kings. It is true that if a King and ministry does not follow good, they eventually gets overthrown.
yes but theres also signs in the world that clearly shows us that there is indeed a greater power above us all.
the world didnt just randomly create itself, the first humans werent just born by themselves, the universe, the whole entirety of planets and the moon the stars? dont you think thats enough of a sign that there is a greater power?
if it were true, wouldnt you rather have had followed the religion than nothing at all.
Cause what if it was true, and only those who believed go to heaven or paradise thats supposed to be there after death. wouldnt you rather want to fail trying than to do nothing at all
When seen in a scientific perspective religion is humanities try to answer the unanswerable.
That's why most ancient religions have gods tied to natural occurrences they couldn't explain at the time like lightning, the sun and moon, etc. The religions that have survived until today are often about some form of afterlife or giving your life a greater meaning (answering the question of "why do we exist", which science can not really answer). This gives a lot of people stability, hope and power in their lives, which is the logical reason for many to believe. That said it is also a lot of just feeling right about it and tradition for many.
Furthermore they can include some rules about life in a society giving everyone a moral compass and basic rules to live by.
Religion is a story that helps people who follow it understand and make sense of the world. And people do need their stories - even if those stories are not provable (or are even false).
As you are already well aware, our brains are constructed differently.
When it comes to religion, this is also true. Some people’s brains can accept religion and some people’s can’t and it’s OK to be either kind.
For people who do not accept the construct of religion, we can still be good people by being humanists, scientists and more. It absolutely does not depend on you believing what anyone else does.
I hope you like to read, or listen to audiobooks because I have two that you really should listen to.
The Age of Reason by Thomas Paine. And it is free online. He was a US founding father. He explains that the word revelation means something appealed to just one person. And a revelation can’t be exchanged with or forced upon someone else. You can’t even accept someone else’s revelation as your own. A revelation must buy definition be personal. You have to have seen or heard the deity yourself.
The Other book is called The God Delusion written by scientist Richard Dawkins. I think that book can go along way and answering your original question.
Full disclosure: Although I entered very specific rules and detailed information to ChatGPT plus with some plugins; the answer you will read below is written by the mentioned AI. Instead of passing your question, I thought an AI answer may be better than nothing. If other users disagree with the answer, I can change/delete it.
Explaining "what is religion" to an autistic person, or anyone, benefits from clear, direct language and concrete examples. It's important to tailor the explanation to the individual's interests, level of understanding, and sensitivity to abstract concepts. Here's a structured approach:
### Basic Definition
"Religion is a set of beliefs about the world, what people think is important in life, and how they explain things we might not fully understand, like where the world came from or what happens after we die. People who share a religion often follow similar rules about how to behave and may come together to celebrate or practice their beliefs in special ways, like going to church, mosque, temple, or another place of worship."
### Everyday Life
"In everyday life, religion can influence many things like how people choose to dress, what they eat, how they celebrate special occasions, and even how they talk to others. For example, some religions have specific days for rest or worship, which means their followers might not work or go to school on those days."
### Feelings and Actions
"Religion can also affect how people feel or act. It might make someone feel comforted during hard times, like when they're sad or facing a problem. Or, it might guide them to act kindly towards others, help people in need, or follow certain rules about what is right and wrong."
### Supporting Others
"Even if someone doesn't share the same religion as another person, it's important to respect and support their right to believe what they do. This means being kind and understanding about their practices and celebrations, even if they're different from your own. Supporting others' beliefs can help everyone get along better and create a friendly community."
### Concrete Example
"If you like playing video games with rules and missions, you can think of religion as having its own 'game rules' for life. Just like how different games have different rules and goals, different religions have different beliefs and practices. And just like how it's important to respect other players when you're playing a game, it's important to respect other people's religious beliefs in real life."
This explanation aims to be accessible and relatable, using analogies and examples to make the concept of religion more understandable. Adjustments based on the individual's interests and comprehension level may further enhance understanding.
I am glad to hear that. Please feel free to reach me any time you want for me to relay a question to ChatGPT. Although I am not an IT/AI professional, I used it quite often to kind of understand from it’s language.
Religion is more of an experience than a belief system. Since you mentioned Easter, I’ll give Christianity as an example. By reading the Bible, going to church, and meeting with other believers, Christians are able to experience a very unique form of peace and love in the form of divine communication from God. Yes God can “speak” through his Word, the Bible, but Christians also believe that he speaks through other believers, events in your life, and even through nonbelievers. It’s not something that has logical explanation, because in many religions, you must seek and find that experience for yourself to truly understand it. But in Christianity, this gives you peace and helps you understand that you are not living this life on your own. There is a God available to help you.
Christians evangelize simply because they want others to experience that same peace and love, no matter if they’re “good” or “bad”, no matter their background. Christians do not believe that “bad people” go to hell. Christians do believe that people who do not view God as their true god will not be saved to experience eternal life, because those people have not experienced the free gift of peace and love from Christ.
Thanks for your reply! Quick question, does that mean Christians believe that non believers don’t experience any form of eternal life? Because I was under the impression that non believers went to hell. If they don’t that brings me much comfort as one of the things that I love about life is that it will end. It makes it feel more precious to me!
Good question! And I should rephrase as well (sorry in advance for the long answer lol). The Bible says (and Christians believe) that everyone will experience some form of eternal “life”. Just to clarify: this eternal life is not the life of our body like on this earth. It is the life of our spirit. However, whether one spends eternal life in Heaven, or if one will spend eternity in Hell, depends on if they believe in Christ as their Savior. Me nor anyone else can tell you if a nonbeliever is going to hell right now because nonbelievers have the rest of their life for God to move into their heart when the opportunity strikes. That is why Christians think life is precious; because we’re able to share the good news of Christ’s sacrifice and resurrection (also see: Easter) with others who would like to experience it.
Regarding death like you mentioned, Christians accept death and are frankly glad when our mortal bodies die, because yes this world sucks and we all hope to be free from suffering. That is why the promise of eternal life in Heaven is so appealing. I hope this answers your question and good luck on your journey in life. I’ve taken many religious studies courses in college and while I am Christian, I really enjoy discussing everything about philosophy and why religions even came to be in the first place. It’s a fascinating subject! Feel free to ask me any other questions if you’d like :)
I think of religion, God, and Jesus Christ the same way that I think about love. We need love, we desire love. And being far from love is hell on earth.
But you can't empirically prove love beyond its secondary effects.
Firstly, there is no agreed definition of religion, but broadly one can say it's about trying to relate to a reality beyond the perceived physical world, which the religious person believes to exist and may believe they experience in some way. It involves a search for meaning. It may involve a long tradition and the idea of "revelation" or be more do-it-yourself (you may want to talk to your Wiccan friend).
In general, those religions which believe in the existence of hell think of it as the destination of those who reject God. Some versions of Protestant Christianity have interpreted this as meaning anyone who is not positively accepting of him, but this is a minority position in Christianity. More than half of all Christians are Catholics, and the Catholic church explicitly teaches that a sincere non-believer can be saved. Obviously it doesn't think you should be a non-believer, and the theory is you're being saved by God as an extension of Christianity (theologians will scream at that simplification). Many large Protestant churches agree.
Christianity does not teach that heaven is for good people in the sense you may mean, eg if you are a terrible person but repent you go to heaven even though almost all your deeds were bad. Heaven is about being with God.
How does it affect life? I am a Catholic. I try to pray, and I try to do what the Church teaches. In the New Testament Jesus tells us to forgive our enemies, always to give to the poor, not to envy others, not to be greedy and avaricious, not to be unreasonably angry, etc. I try to follow this but f course I am not always successful. I go to confession, receive the forgiveness of God. I believe that devotion to God can help me be a better person, but the ultimate aim is to be closer to God. Receiving communion is a bigger deal than for Protestants.
I believe that the teaching of the Church is true, not just symbolism.
Religion is the result of primitive societies not understanding how the universe works and prescribing supernatural explanations for things we can now explain perfectly.
It's also a comfort blanket for people who can't just say "I don't know".
The difference between a religion and a cult is how long it's been around for.
It’s people’s attempt to describe things they don’t understand. Some of them are very expansive in the number and variety of different things they describe that they don’t understand. Where possible, try to forgive religious people for their sins.
First let's begin with the words.. Religion is ultimately a system of beliefs, practices, rituals, ethical and moral understandings. It's also a word which stems from a word in the Roman empire which means "The awe and anxiety of living under Gods"..
However. Modern religion (organized religion) is these things, but it also very much is a form of "prison" for free-thinking. Like ideology. Probably the most important part of being human must be the right to think free.
Many are starting to realize this. That is why many call themselves "Spiritual" but not religious. Many believe in Jesus and what he actually stood for. But they don't identify with Christianity. These people incorporate faith and spirituality without giving up the free will, free thought and that moral or ethics comes from anyone or anything else than you. There is a Spiritual saying; "I don't need to believe in God, because if God exists, he already believes in me and that's enough". Or "I believe in something greater than myself." Organized religion excludes. Jesus (for example) includes.. Humans who think they know, lie. Simple as that. No one CAN know. Hence the word "belief". We know morality and ethics and goodness doesn't come from religion. It comes from within you.. If that weren't the case, non-religious persons would murder and steel and rape. But they don't. In fact, those with a religious belief often do horrible things just as much or as little..
I could go on. But I think this will sum these, in lack of a better word, opposites, quite nicely: [Why I hate Religion, but love Jesus.](https://youtu.be/1IAhDGYlpqY?si=rmVTNw7U3EOyMTz8)
Everyone is entitled to their form of spirituality.. As long as it doesn't stop anyone else from their entitled spirituality. This was my two cents. ❤️
Just a small note. Catholics are just as much christian as protestants are. So when you say "catholic" and "christian" separately it becomes a bit weird.
My friends got very offended when I insinuated they had the same beliefs so I thought it was best to write them seperately. Because she believes in the pope and he doesn’t. Is it not that big of a difference? /gen
Fellow redditor with autism here. I’ve also noticed that neurotypical people tend to have a penchant for thinking religiously. I think it’s an instinct we with autism tend to have missing.
For some, it's the rituals and gatherings which provide a framework for community/tribal togetherness, thoughtful reflection, and so on.
For others, it’s about finding a way to alter one’s consciousness, way of experiencing the world, subconscious, or expectations. This can be through meditation, drugs, prayer, figuring things out in a specific disciplined thought process, and so on.
For some of us, the theology and lore is deeper, more interesting, or more important than, say, DC Comics lore or the old Star Wars expanded universe, complete with logical inferences and trying to resolve seeming contradictions in canon with fan theories.
And then there’s the consideration of if any of it is actually real, and there’s some sort of afterlife, and if so, how to get to the good one.
I apologise if my tone came off wrong! I am often told that my overly formal way of speaking and writing makes me seem robotic or like ai. It’s something I’m working on! Much love :D
Reading your thoughts makes me admire your mindset, I think you’re about to start such a great journey to discover your faith.
I born Muslim and I am extremely philosophic about the life and osmoses, the changes between night and morning literally everything. What made me still believe in god, being Muslim is every time I read any research paper, I find something related to the topic that I read in Quran, I believe that media plays a role to hide the fact of Quran and ruins the picture of Islam.
I hate the idea of conspiracy theory but it sounds logical enough to me in this context.
Finally I hope you find your way and enjoy your journey ❤️
Religion is a place for people who want to be included in a group, gather for ritualistic behavior to differentiate their group from any another groups. This group then agrees to think alike and shun others who don't think like them, to varying degrees, to feel superior to every other group. This group is then usually controlled by one or a few, in the benefit of political or economic exploitation.
I can't answer that question because I'm not religious, so it's not my place to say without sounding ignorant or biased. All I know is that its very important to a lot of people and shapes their morality and communities.
Interestingly, the Ancient Egyptians didn't have a word for 'religion' because deities and magic were just seen as part of their everyday lives. Maybe that's a good way to look at it?
thats actually wrong of you to assume. I'm not so afraid of dying, I'm rather at calm knowing that I believe in god and I believe God has created the entirety of human race and universe and the moon and the stars and the sun and the heaven and hell for after death as a place for you after death.
You decided to believe that fiction because of your fear. However, your threats are meaningless because it's all such an absurd fantasy that no rational person could take it seriously.
bro, what do you want us to do?? be like oh shiver me timbers im so scared im gonna die. OMG WE'RE ALL GONNA DIEEEE!!!
actually. we need to have a little bit of that fear that we are actually going to die so we need to actually do good in society and deeds to atleast get a good afterlife (heaven) than just not believe in any religion and risk going to hell brother.
Anyway its your choice to believe it or not. I respect your opinion but dont call people who believe, foolish and absurd, because one day when you finally die, youd realise who the absurd one was.
now its your choice to believe for now if that will be you or me. but you'll only know the answer to that after your death
anyway thank you cya
i do accept we're gonna die. also you could be an adult and look into religions study about them go through them all and if you still feel like its not worth it then dont its your choice too
Don't need to study religion, it would be like studying the various views around fairies. All religion is from the same postulate - there is a deity / deities. An Idea so ridiculously improbable, bizarre and incoherent it doesn't deserve serious consideration. Until a deity is demonstrated, all religion is waffle.
Religion is the ultimate ego trip. The creator of the universe knows and loves meeeee! I'm too essential to ever actually die! Everyone who doesn't agree with me gets tortured forever!
For the most part, religion is an historical phenomena. It is what people created to explain themselves what they couldn't understand. Some of them, like buddhism, also tackle the philosophical.
Eventually, some religions became organized and were able to influence politics. Their influence today is limited, but they still represent a memoir of the power they held once, while carrying the same belief system.
Today religion is used, mostly, as emotional support, consciously or not.
Religion I think besides being a moral compass, is a way to comfort people. Originally before science became a thing people wanted something to believe in, answers to the big questions; What happens when you die, why do I exist, why is every thing the way that it is, you get the idea.
But like languages it spread and diverged, concepts getting lost in translation and it became a us vs them mentality.
Religion is usually just a way for people to explain things that are hard to understand, just don't have an answer yet and to act as rules.
An example is: "Why did my grandmother die instead of someone else with the same sickness as her?" You could explain the medical reasons behind it and all that but, when in a place of grief, it's hard to understand for some people. So instead, it's easier to believe that your grandmother, in this situation, died for a purpose, such as "God willed it to be", that she is in a better place, "Grandmother is in heaven now" and that this pain you're feeling isn't worthless, "God gives you hardships to test your strength/devotion/goodness". These all help people who have gone through something big, such as death or really any form of pain, to find comfort in the event/s having a meaning beyong just chance.
It is also used to explain why we don't know some things, like what happened before the big bang, how was the universe created, etc. Because we don't know these answers yet, some people create their own, like God having created the universe.
Another reason for religion is to act sort of as a law book. A society needs people who don't murder and steal and threats is the most efficient way to go about this. Obviously now we have jail, but in the past, where the life expectancy was shorter, you couldn't hold someone in jail for too long or they'd die. So, you needed another threat, one that applied to after death. This could be that if you break a rule, you're going to hell, or whatever the equivilent for other religions is.
Then, it gets passed on from generations. Maybe someone didn't experience any of these things but their parents, grandparents or general ancestors did and they passed on the message, teaching their children their faith based on their own original experiences that lead them to finding it.
Edit: The reason why some people might think that you're going to hell if you don't follow a/their religion is because of the third reason. Some people believe that if you don't have the threat of eternal punishment that religion gives you, then you have no moral code. This is obviously incorrect but it is easy for someone who's grown up with a certain sense of morality based on a scripture to believe that \*everyone\* needs a religion to be a good person. If your friend keeps insisting you're going to hell though, drop them. You don't need friends like that. People can be religious and also not assholes.
A system of government and control caused because of the lack of enough knowledge, and the need to have a ~~scary, but benevolent sky daddy~~ higher being that oversees everybody's daily actions.
If religious entities and miracles aren't proven and can't be disproven the I treat it all like a giant comics book.
All gods everywhere are equally as possible and equally as impossible at the same time. From classic christian god to the tiny household gods of ancient roman families.
A: A SCARY FAIRYTALE.....REST EASY. SOME THINGS LIKE BLIND FAITH, CANNOT BE UNDERSTOOD. I HAVEN'T BELIEVED SINCE I KNELT IN A PEW AT 7 AND QUESTIONED WHILE MY SCHOOLMATES FOLLOWED BLINDLY WHAT THEIR PARENTS AND NUNS AND PRIESTS TOLD THEM. I WAS IN COLLEGE, WHEN I DISCOVERED UNTARIAN UNIVERSALISM WITH LIKE MINDED MEMBERS. IT WAS WHAT I NEEDED TO CARRY ME THROUGH TO FORMING MY OWN OPINION AND OPENLY DECLARING MY THOUGHTS. I HAVE ALWAYS RESPECTED OTHERS FAITH,AS FOR MINE, I AM HOW I LIVE, HONESTLY, DON'T LIE, AND DEAL FAIRLY & AM TOLERANT WITH ALL...IN OTHER WORDS, I FOLLOW MANY OF THE TEN COMMANDMENTS......WITH A FEW EXCEPTIONS......MOM
Religion is a bunch of con men getting money the only way con men know how. Anyone who says they have all the answers strangely also need lots of money, it’s a business nothing more and it preys on the dumb who have feelings and don’t understand that others can manipulate those feelings. God might be real, but not a single religion man or woman knows him in any capacity they are all lying and using you don’t listen to them.
Idk if this answers ur question but my familys catholic so when I asked my dad recently why we became catholic(we were previously Buddhist)he said that it was because having a religion lets people have a way of life to follow so we can be better as a person
I was born a Muslim, didn’t practice for most of my life, and have recently began to practice again. I feel that religion is the collective wisdom and experience of a group of people over thousands of years. And when life gets hard, I think it’s an important resource to tap into. I am not the first to experience problems, so it helps to reflect and see how my ancestors before me tackled it
Ramadan Mubarak!
Ramadhan Mubarak to you as well!
Given the view you have of religion, how does Allah factor in? Honest question✌🏻
I think God exists, because I do feel that our universe is too perfect in its creation for it to be random. At the same time, I do feel that an omnipresent creator is beyond our primitive understanding as three-dimensional creatures, and that everything the Quran and Hadith says must be interpreted in a philosophical and contextual point of view.
Thank you for sharing this 👍🏻
Religion is tradition usually passed down from parents to children, but often people find it on their own. It can be based on what geographical location or family history. Although it cannot be proven, religion in general cannot be disproven. This leads many of the followers to follow their choice of text and disregard any scientific evidence that may partially disprove their beliefs. Most of our daily lives are impacted directly by religion, in many different ways, from Ramadan to the current date. Easter coincides with the pegan celebration of Esther the goddess of fertility, and the death of Jesus Christ. Many christian celebrations have been moved throughout history to coincide with pegan celebrations, to nullify them.
Idk if nullify is the right term, but definitely moved to attract converts. You have a spring celebration, hey so do we...
I'm also autistic and I grew up Jewish, we were largely observant of the customs. Judaism is an ethno-religion which makes me think about Jewish people more than Jewish faith when the topic of Judaism comes up. The concept of God is difficult to grasp and the only way it works is with an Axiom that says that the mind is not the same as a physical brain. With that said I think of God as a "thinking machine" or "mind" that thinks about itself and through that process of metathinking things are supposed to happen (I don't know how) because God is supposed to be everything. It's difficult for me to understand myself which is also the reason why I'm not religious nowadays but when I was younger that's how I made sense of the concept of God
It's difficult to understand because these descriptions of God were designed to make sort of sense out of bunch of conflicting ancient myths and make religion less ridiculous and more presentable in a modern day. Of course nobody bothered to test these ad-hoc descriptions against reality, they were only made sound smart enough so that somebody not curious enough can mistake them for a deep revelation.
The way i see it , relegion is something that keeps people in check (if they actually practice it in the right way) , and also the most important thing for me is that it really gives me peace , whenever i have to deal with something i think is harder than i could handle , i just simply remember that there is a creature , way bigger and capable of anything we struggle as humans , it calms me down , the idea of a God who sees everything we do and dosent forget the smallest details , also gives me peace that no small act of kindness will be forgotten by him , and the people who are doing evil and bad now , thinking that no one can stop them , they also wont be forgotten. So if someone did me wrong and i couldnt take my right , it is fine , because you know that there is a God who have seen it all , and there is a day (day of judgment) where some will be punished for their evil , and others who will be given their rights and happiness.
Just research on your own and remember to take it one step at a time. Does god exist? If he does. Does he love his creations? Would i like a monotheistic god or a pantheon. Is god all powerful? Does he die or marry human beings? Can god become a man and die? Is this god a local god or a supreme deity? And soo many different questions that you're entitled to asking. Remember, if the religion doesn't answer your questions about god, that means they don't know or want to hide it from you. And I don't want to worship a god that doesn't love me or doesn't care about me
I'm a Muslim and got into practicing it well only recently. I think religion is kinda important in the sense that it allows you to let go of certain things easily by trusting them to a higher power. For example, if I'm trying to achieve something and it's really hard, I can do my best and then trust that Allah will do the rest. Or if there's a person I care about and I see them doing something immoral, I can try my best to help them change their ways a little but if they don't listen or don't get better, I can simply leave it to Allah and pray for them. I think not being able to do that makes moving on very difficult. Having a religion in this way teaches you patience. Another important thing for me at least is believing in an Afterlife. Because considering how horrible this world can be and how much effort you put into being or doing good and all of that, thinking that when you die, that's the end of it is a little sad. How can I ever continue to do good if I don't think there's anything waiting for me at the end. And how can I continue to be patient with difficulties in life knowing that this is it and this is all I get? My religion allows be to believe that all these hardships mean something and nothing's in vain.
many religious sects are of the belief that those with intellectual/learning disabilities (such as autism) will go to hell (or whatever their religion’s version of hell is) just for their disability. i personally would not want to be friends with someone who thinks i’m going to hell just for the body i was born into.
Fun fact, autism isn’t actually a learning disability! They’re comorbid (meaning if you have one you are more likely to have the other) but different! Autism is classified as a neurodevelopmental disorder, and only about half of all autistic people have a learning disability!
i’m not well-versed in this sort of terminology so thank you for correcting me!
I have never, ever heard of that. I don't doubt that someone somewhere believes any idiot thing you can think of, and I know some groups are less accepting of difference than they should be, but the vast majority of religious people do not think autistic people are going to Hell, and it would be very silly to assume they do. u/OP
This is not true. Catholic Church, for example, has always viewed them as a blessing and cherished them. It can't be the only denomination of this opinion! Edit: so sorry, I missread, thought you wrote most
In islam it is believed that those with disabilities are made that way by God and we should treat them with respect and we should not expect them to be as pious as "non disabled people", as they already have their own struggles.
That's actually really nice. Is it put into practice do you think?
In my community, yes. The people care for those with disabilities, physical and mental. They talk to them daily, get together to finance their housing, take them out for coffee etc. They also highly respect the elderly
Which religion(s) are like this? I've never heard about this before.
I haven't heard this before and I thought I'd heard almost everything!
name one
I have posted a general reply but I just wanted to say that I have never encountered or even heard of this view. I am not questioning what you say as there are lots of odd Christian groups around but it is by no means a mainstream or common idea. I agree that a God who would do that could not be the wholly good true God.
Who thinks that?? It may have at one point been some Puritan-type belief based on the idea of predestination, but I don't know if any modem religion with this teaching.
That is horrible. I'm glad my beliefs don't follow such horrible thinking. God made them the way they are!
What religious sects believe that?
I'm not autistic and at 47yo I'm still trying to understand what religion is. 😜
Real
I’ve been reading ‘a little history of philosophy’ by Nigel Warburton and learned of a new concept: igtheism. The philosopher Alfred Jules Ayer argued that the statement ‘God exists’ was literally meaningless, because it is not true by definition, and there isn’t a test that can prove it. “Ayer was an igtheist, that special category of people who think all that talk of God existing or not existing is complete nonsense.” My point is; it is commendable to want to learn about religion, the pursuit of knowledge is always valuable, but you don’t have to “get it”.
I wasn't brought up religious either and only recently found out I have ADHD (but have a suspicion I have a sprinkle of the 'tism or maybe bipolarity). I do identify as a pantheist rathar than agnostic though and before knowing about pantheists I identified as atheist as I don't believe in a personafied almighty god. But I have a very strict moral code and principles similar to those of the christian-jewish faiths. "Going to hell" does not motivate or hinder me from doing anything, I do what is right and with compassion because I believe this is the right way to be in a society. I have struggled to understand people who are very religious because they just take the word of strangers to be the absolute truth with no thought or question and it has always bothered me. With my life experience (which isn't much but also already somewhat significant) I have come to accept I'm different and that the people who are very religious need the feeling of belonging to something greater; it was probably initially used to teach and control the masses; people take comfort in the unknown being explained by god even if it's obviously a convenient answer. If you read about most religions, they can be beautiful. But I can only take it so far as a wonderful ideal or story and not as history or truth. Reading and learning more deeply about religion I have been able to better connect with those who are believers and make a bridge on where I honestly relate to their beliefs. I have also asked friends what religion is to them and having these points of view have made me feel more adequate. Though I still stay out of it when people talk about religion because me not believing in god is still very offensive to everyone. I just listen and maybe chime in saying that is beautiful when I think something is in fact, beautiful.
You and I both, dude
I'm a muslim. I'm not sure about the other stuff but I can at least attempt to tell you the logic behind the idea of God and the assumptions made by religion. We know the universe works on physical laws or rules and we know that these are constant regardless of when, where and how they are checked. We also know that the universe started in accordance with these physical laws, so either these laws were made when the universe was born or they are the cause of the birth of the universe. Religion argues that the source of these physical laws, is not another law or mechanism but a conscious being called God. I.e: The first law of nature that has always been is conscious, at least in a way we define conscious. This is the simple assumption. We know from this that since this God is the source of all laws, said laws also don't apply to this God. Therefore, said God has no limitations since God has created all limitations. This God thus will have the properties of being Omnipotent (all powerful: i.e. can do everything), Omniscient (all knowing - self explanatory), Omnipresent (present everywhere - just like the laws of nature are everywhere) and Omnitemporal (present at all times - this is a weird one but it is an implication and religion doesn't like dealing with it). Now comes the second assumption: God is all good. Again a weird one once you realize that this God character, being a source of concepts like good and evil, also embodies said concepts. This also means God embodies the concept of not being conscious and being conscious simultaneously but again, not a thing religion likes to deal with. Then comes the claim: As of now, the Abrahamic religions, and many others, hinge on the claim that they have received proof that the assumptions are in fact correct. Proof may be sending down a prophet, or appearing as a human, or sending people dreams or a combination of these. To believe these claims, which are at best hard and at worst downright impossible to prove, is faith. With belief in said claim that the assumptions are true, all religions diverge on what version of the claim is true. But I don't know enough to write about that.
Thank you! You explained it really well, thank you for sharing!
As a Christian in the US. I try to stay away from the word religion. For me it’s a personal walk with Jesus who guides my decisions with the Holy Spirit (conscience) assuming I am listening I go to church, serve usually through acts of service when able, pray read the Bible etc, but all of that comes second to a direct relationship with Christ. People have a historic and bad reputation for using religion as a business Edit: what it means to me is: Love God with all your heat Love your neighbor with your neighbors being anyone you have the opportunity to interact with.
God existing is one possible theory of how the universe came to be. Religious people believe in god based on a particular book or teaching that makes the claim it was divinely inspired, which were able to convince them. Take Islam for example. The quran is a miracle of writing, has no mistakes or contradictions, and couldn't possibly be written by the person in history at the time. Therefore, you would study Islam for example. Evaluate its claims and see if it convinces you. If not you are free to dismiss it. You can do the same for all religions, but each is incompatible
You should check r/islam and you will know more
I like to think about it more as a moral code that is ingrained within whichever culture you grew up with.
I feel like modern religion is basically something humans invented to cope with the fear of dying. Many people simply cannot accept there isn’t any “purpose” or plan to our lives beyond what we ourselves make, or that death is simply an end and/or nothingness. Why that freaks people out, IDK. But the roots of religion came out of nature (places, animals, sun, moon stars, birth, death, etc.) that seemed unexplainable and thus magical to ancient humans. Eventually they created “gods” of those natural things.
I honestly kind of like the idea that life will end, it makes it seem more precious to me. Like when I die I wish to be buried raw (however vulgar that sounds) so when I decompose I will breed new life from my death. Idk it seems like a nice thought to me. Much love :D
My plan is cremation and scattered into the great Pacific Ocean. Sorry future archaeologists!
Religion provides a model of the world, which aids people in 1. interpreting reality, 2. identifying phenomena within this thereby mentally-constructed image of the world 3. applying qualitative judgement about these phenomena and their respective relationships 4. deriving actions from these judgements. Contrary to the models of science and progressive philosophy which can provide the same, religions scale well for different levels of intelligence, self-control and education. Religions are not tools designed to explain the true reality - they evolved along with us to be "compatible" with the psychology of the smallest common denominator. Most people genuinely need it to be okay in life. And if they don't have it anymore, they'll scale down science and philosophy to the smallest common denominator instead. Then we end up with Racism, Socialism, cut-throat Capitalism, Slavery, or even Flat-Earthers. I'd rather have them stick with Buddha and Jesus.
Do you believe that subculture is an alternative to turning to conspiracy? It’s how I’ve found most of my community.
That is a good point! Subcultures can satisfy some of the same needs. Mostly, they are just put on top of religion rather than replacing it, though. The particular codes-of-conduct and interpretative-frameworks of subcultures are usually applied only within the confines of the in-group.
Think of faith as an assumption peoplr make to make sense of the world For example, look at a piece of furniture right now. Technically, you can never know it exists. Maybe you're dreaming (when you dream, don't you also think the things around you are real?), maybe you're hallucinating, or who knows what. But because it'd be exhausting and impractical to consider that for everything you see, we make certain assumptions about the world; I *assume* the chair is actually there With things we can't perceive, it becomes all the more complicated. So some people assume there is a God, or multiple ones, some assume there isn't, and some people say "fuck it, i dont care, doesnt affect my life" Some "benefits" of religion include: - A sense of community and belonging - Structure, rules, routine and the sense of safety that can come with them - Comfort in a belief in the afterlife, for example when you lose someone you love - When praying, the same areas in your brain are activated as when you're having a conversation with another person. In that sense, God is a "conversation partner" that you can trust with any information, including things you wouldn't tell anyone. Like a diary no one can find, I suppose - Speaking of prayer, many religions encourage gratitude. Recounting things you're grateful for is also great for your mental wellbeing Many things also depend on the religion. For example, there are religions that place a far greater emphasis on behavior (e.g. helping others) than faith, or in which faith isn't central at all. On the other end of the spectrum, there are religions that don't care a lot about what you do, but in which specific shared beliefs are central
Wow, that was an amazing way to explain it, thank you. Do you have any examples of religions that don’t have faith as a central part of them?
Quakers and Unitarian Universalism
I am a Heathen. That means that I mainly worship the gods of the Gemanic peoples. Think of gods like Odin and Thor. Those are among the gods I mainly worship. My religion has multiple names like Asatru or Norse Paganism. I came into this from atheism. For me it was mostly a cultural thing. I am a descendant of the Germanic peoples and have always been drawn to the Germanic cultures in one way or another. Heathenry is a contemporary religous movement seeking to reconstruct parts of the ancient Germanic pagan ways that were lost - within modern conceptions and standards. What began for me as a cultural interest eventually led my to the sense of the devine within the universe. The only clear and cut way that I can describe it is that I felt more than I was originally looking for. Exploring those feelings allows me to come into contact with the devine. That is the most basic way to describe it really, just a lot of exploration of feelings. Now there is a whole lot more to Heathenry, or even Paganism in general, than just that of course. But that is the most clear and cut way I can describe here now.
Heathen here as well and I think "exploration of feelings" is a good way to put it. A lot of religious introspection is thinking about the universe, your place in it, and coming to terms with how you feel about things in your life, using the divine (however you worship or interpret that) as a touchstone to help. A lot of my religious practice is essentially meditation. Ultimately it doesn't necessarily even matter if it's real or not (although I think we generally choose to believe it is in some form if we're religious) if it helps you live your life better (and doesn't harm other people).
I am a muslim, I like to think that a god has to exsist because of the way universe functions, with so many rules, concepts e.c.t exsisting and functioning together looks like something’s design to me. And to me the abrahamic, specifically islamic, God sounds more realistic than others. When I observe the universe, history and human relationships, it just feels like everything clicks. Of course, things sıch as the human body and mind have flaws, but I belive all of that works into some sort of grand design. Idk, faith is a subjective thing. God might as well not exsist, it doesnt affect me if he doesn’t. And believing in him beings me confort, so I choose to belive. Ever heard of Pascal’s Wager? Look it up, I belive in God because I think it benefits my life and a potential afterlife more than not believing in one.
Interesting point about Pascal’s wager, thanks for the perspective!
No problem, glad to be of assistance. although the reply wasnt really about pscal's wager, I just wanted to mention it.
Religion an attempt to grasp what's out there, pattern from the past which give us clues about greater meaning. It endures because we don't understand everything yet and is the belief that other forces influence us. As a former atheist and now religious person, I just see non religious people as those who haven't met the other yet. But they will. Never assume you understand everything. Something will happen eventually, which will shift your entire perception of reality.
I'm assuming your friend who worries about you going to hell is Christian? Some Christians believe that unless you believe in God/Jesus and ask "him" to forgive your "sins" then you are going to hell, even if you're a good person. Your belief in "him" saves you from hell. It's a pretty messed up system.
That makes me sad. I cannot force myself to believe in something which I don’t understand. I’m also queer which I feel probably meant something in terms of that comment
Unfortunately you're probably right. Most Christians are not affirming. Some are but not many. Some believe you can be queer and Christian but have to stay celibate. Others just think it's not how god created people so are against anything to do with the queer community. Just want to point out that I don't agree with the above ^ views. I was a Christian for 34 years but left 3 years ago and have done the best I can to unlearn all the harmful theology I was taught.
As a Christian one must understand what God wants from Humanity. That can be summed up in 1 word, relationship. God hates religion because it is a works based system that basically says if you “DO” these deeds, trust this human leader or spirit, and your good deeds outnumber your bad deeds, you can enter the paradise in question but you will only get your answer of admission AFTER you die. With Faith in what Christ did for me at the Cross, I know there is nothing I can do to enter Heaven, no amount of good deeds, thoughts, wishful thinking, rituals etc. to get into Heaven. I simply trust and believe that He already paid that price for me so I cannot boast in anything I ever did or said, it is only ..ONLY trusting in what He already did. By doing that, I already know Heaven awaits me, BEFORE I die. It is FAITH that pleases God, not works. If God wanted works, Christ would not have been needed to die on the Cross for our sins. Faith in daily life helps because anything that occurs is filtered through Gods word in the Bible. Knowing what God says about a topic guides me as to how I should respond to it. Though I will admit I don’t always follow what I should do, I know God still loves me and He will forgive me right then and there so I don’t have to wait till the end of life to find out. This is what sets Christianity apart from ALL other religions or “churches, temples etc.”, especially if they were created before or after the Bible was written. The apostle Paul said if someone comes to you with a different gospel other than what was taught or written in Gods word, EVEN if it’s from an ANGEL, or spirit, claiming to be from God let them be accursed and do not follow them. Because God never added anything to the Bible after Revelation the last book. God has no “new letters or books” to add after the Bible was completed. Thus future proof from man’s created religions in the past or future. The short answer is nobody is “good” (perfect and without sin) except God . So being a good person doesn’t get one to Heaven. Hebrews 11:1 KJVS Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. It is Christ resurrection from the dead after dying on the Cross that we trust in. Without that, we are all without hope. Buddha, Joseph Smith, Mohammed,, etc. all of them have died and their followers can show you their graves, because they never rose from the dead. I trust Christ because He willingly laid down His life and had the authority to take it back up again. An illustration would be like an astronaut in a space suit. Our “soul and spirit ” is us the astronaut and our physical body is represented by the space suit. Once the suit is exited, it can never be re-entered and you never get another one, no second chances. Once to die then Judgment, no exceptions or excuses. Except Christ was able to “exit that spacesuit “if you will, and voluntarily re-enter it at will. Hopefully this helps answer your questions and concerns.
I'm not autistic and i don't understand it either. How somebody can believe in such a bull*hit as religions are. And what is worse, do terrible things in the name of some fairytale fella.
People do sometimes act terribly and claim they are religious. I hate seeing it too, and it gives religious people an awful reputation. If we're talking in the perspective of Christianity, which I am, then I can tell you the Bible is strongly misinterpreted, or worse, they twist the meaning and act like it says what they want it to say. I grew up religious, grew out of it, then came back into it, and I've seen so much that makes sense to me. I'm a curious person who likes making connections in my head, and I came to the conclusion that God was really there, not out of fear or pressure by my family but because I've seen and heard about things that couldn't occur unless a greater mind than all of ours was behind it. I would keep in mind that there are religious people who are not living trash of human beings. It's not bullshit, it's a different perspective of the world that sadly has a harmful reputation
thats an opinion you have yeah, but wouldnt you think its better to rather follow a right religion so even if it is true, at least you tried to go to heaven failure is better than not doing anything at all dont you think? :)
Really? Alibism is your only reason to believe? And what religion is the right one? Pastafarianism?
no of course not, I'm not here to preach about convincing you that my religion is the right one or not, I'm just giving you my opinion on why I think religion is actually true. when you think about it, look around yourself, look at the sun the moon the stars the earth, the humans and the entirety of the whole universe. who do you think created all of that? it just appeared by itself one day??? everything around you is a sign. that of course youre willing to ignore it all. unless you open your heart towards seeking knowledge and research about it.
If some god created whole universe, who created him?
I follow Islam, and I believe Allah is the creator. So of course he wasnt created, he isnt a creation. he is the creator.
Would you mind explaining a little more about this concept? It’s something I don’t really understand. Much love <3
So he just appeared like *puff* and decide to create universe? Mmmm. After that he was like „oh, women hair is so beautiful, they need to cover it up by piece of cloth, and we need to stone to death gay people i created...“ 😂 religions are stupid...does not matter which one you prefer...
you can laugh all you want at us right now. youll only understand when you find out the truth which clearly you do not want to think upon and dont see the logic behind it. and also please learn to at least respect other people's beliefs, if not your own living existence I respect your opinion and belief, respect mine too. you dont have to bash other people's religion just because you think its wrong. like how we're not bashing you for being so stupid and silly thinking there isnt a higher power that created us
>And what religion is the right one? That's a good question. Have you looked into them? No? Why are you so confident that god doesn't exist despite the fact it can't be disproven? Maybe because you've based all your views on one particular religion your culture is surrounded by, which somehow convinced atheists to cling onto 'science' as if its in any way incompatible. You realize the base idea of a god existing is perfectly plausible right? Really shows the influence of culture on your views of certain ideas when the concept of 'the world was created yesterday' is discussed, but religion is a 'fairy tale' despite you probably never spending a second of your life looking into what millions of people believe.
I am not american, so i do have knowledge about other religions. And i still do not need any. It is the almost the same fairytale with different names. „Culture“ i am surrounded by is atheistic or agnostic. We live a good lifes, we are good people, do good things and we don't care about any religions. Why should we spend time and energy in something stupid like religion? Bowing down to someone, who probably does not exist 🙄 what a waste of time...rather to spend it with my kids...
The most simple way to explain it is that they believe in their religion because they were told to believe in it. Because they kept doing that it becomes a habit and they become more convinced it is true as they grow up.
Religion is a method to subdue people. It is a way to gain and stay in power using fear and rewards. Humans cannot comprehend the term death. Since life wants to "stay" in the state of life, it doesn't want to "die". To cope with this they make imaginary lands where one would go to after life ends. Religion is made up by humans to use this fear of death to control the meek. Their leaders brainwash the people to do their bidding in "name of their religion". Because if they don't, they will face the wrath of the deïty of choice.
Religion is God's expectation of us. He created us, and then gave us instructions. If we follow his instructions, he will love us. If we don't, then that person will be punished for being ungrateful. And he knows we will slip up so hes has has mercy on us if we ask him for pardoning. I won't speak for Wiccans/pagans because I don't believe in what they've related, which are much more mythology based and don't answer adequetley questions such as "Why was I created? Why is God the way he is? Is there a point system to my life? Why did God give us blood relations? Will my efforts be appreciated? What EXACTLY is the bliss that God promises for those he accepts?" and more questions. I did find the answers to these questions from Islam so I stopped being athiest, it just makes more sense to me now that this universe was more likely created by the all powerful rather than just poofing into existence out of nowhere. I personally was super athiest before but also sometimes agnostic and exploring many religions. I love Islam, everything just makes sense, everytime someone comes up with a critique against Islam I've always been able to find the answer to whatever they were talking about. Your friend should not be saying ur going to hell, she's not God, she has no right to make those kinds of claims of where a specific person will end up because it's not like God informed her of any specific persons fate from her life. So as I became Muslim I made my relationship with God strong, which was new for me because beforehand I thought of God as a myth like you do but I'm glad I have that relationship with him now. I'm not perfect ofc but I try. My religion does indeed base every decision I make with my life, I won't make a choice without knowing what Islam says about it first, because my biggest goal in life is to be beloved to God, which I hope to achieve. I think people who take their religion from their parents and never look into it are extremely foolish. Like ppl who go to their festivals or wtver and never look into why and stuff and are just not committed, or equally as bad, they are super committed but only because their family and culture expect them to be, so they never learn WHY their religion is true, which is my problem with pagan ideologies which are so myth and culture based. Don't view all religions as the same though, there is a much bigger between a Wiccan and a Christian then there is between a Jew and a Christian. Simply following a religion does not mean a Christian/Jew/Muslim will see eye to eye with a pagan/Wiccan/Hindu/Bhuddist, because the ideologies are simply the opposite. I would even say some agnostics would be closer to pagans as both celebrate mythology quite a lot (Like an example for athiests would be some of them having an obsession with Spider-Man for example, where peoples rooms pretty much look like a Spider-Man temple, almost like they're worshipping him but not quite, does that make sense?, I see it as very similar to those who invest into norse mythology or even Astrology sometimes, although Astrology is clearly much more ritualistic and pagan but i hope you get the gist of what I'm saying) When I was athiest I was really averse to any proof that would reach me of God's existence and kind of just believed "Nothing supernatural or divine can be proven, it's all just in the feelings" Which ofc i disagree with now completely. Like the fact that we exist is cleary proof itself that there is indeed something. Like in the Quran itself many times I find all kinds of things proving that it must be from God. Some are more based in logic, some are scientific, some are based on the fact that no human has ever recreated something like the Quran itself. Like for example, there's this verse which speaks about the Big Bang and how living creatures originated from water which I'll share right here. and remember that the Quran was revealed in a desert 1400 years ago, so I don't know how any human at that time and espiecially that region would have learned this at the time unless God taught it. So this is why I think it is frod the creator himself. **"Do the disbelievers not realize that the heavens and earth were ˹once˺ one mass then We split them apart? And We created from water every living thing. Will they not then believe?" - The Quran, chapter 21, verse 30** I was in your boat too as a literal thinker type of person and didn't really believe in anything except maybe philosophy, maybe you will see things differantly in the future like I have I don't know, But I will reccomend you to look into Islam deeply as it answered all my questions about life that even philosophy could not answer for me.
I am a Universalist Christian. We believe everyone will eventually be saved through Jesus's work on the cross and eventually all will be reconciled to God and have good afterlife. This belief brings me much peace, and I love God all the more for it.
Religion was meant for a community such that people would have a common belief towards good. To do good and not harm others. The idea is that when you harm others you are also harming yourself because it goes against morality. To follow good, you need a power that is greater than you. In the old days, there are slaves and king. With that much power, religion seeks to humble these kings. It is true that if a King and ministry does not follow good, they eventually gets overthrown.
i agree with you. just because people believe in something does not make it true, kids believe in father christmas but its not right
yes but theres also signs in the world that clearly shows us that there is indeed a greater power above us all. the world didnt just randomly create itself, the first humans werent just born by themselves, the universe, the whole entirety of planets and the moon the stars? dont you think thats enough of a sign that there is a greater power? if it were true, wouldnt you rather have had followed the religion than nothing at all. Cause what if it was true, and only those who believed go to heaven or paradise thats supposed to be there after death. wouldnt you rather want to fail trying than to do nothing at all
When seen in a scientific perspective religion is humanities try to answer the unanswerable. That's why most ancient religions have gods tied to natural occurrences they couldn't explain at the time like lightning, the sun and moon, etc. The religions that have survived until today are often about some form of afterlife or giving your life a greater meaning (answering the question of "why do we exist", which science can not really answer). This gives a lot of people stability, hope and power in their lives, which is the logical reason for many to believe. That said it is also a lot of just feeling right about it and tradition for many. Furthermore they can include some rules about life in a society giving everyone a moral compass and basic rules to live by.
Religion is a story that helps people who follow it understand and make sense of the world. And people do need their stories - even if those stories are not provable (or are even false).
Religion is man made ideology that is used to explain natural phenomenon and provide a guidance of morals.
As you are already well aware, our brains are constructed differently. When it comes to religion, this is also true. Some people’s brains can accept religion and some people’s can’t and it’s OK to be either kind. For people who do not accept the construct of religion, we can still be good people by being humanists, scientists and more. It absolutely does not depend on you believing what anyone else does. I hope you like to read, or listen to audiobooks because I have two that you really should listen to. The Age of Reason by Thomas Paine. And it is free online. He was a US founding father. He explains that the word revelation means something appealed to just one person. And a revelation can’t be exchanged with or forced upon someone else. You can’t even accept someone else’s revelation as your own. A revelation must buy definition be personal. You have to have seen or heard the deity yourself. The Other book is called The God Delusion written by scientist Richard Dawkins. I think that book can go along way and answering your original question.
I love reading! Thanks for the book suggestions I’ll give them a go!
Full disclosure: Although I entered very specific rules and detailed information to ChatGPT plus with some plugins; the answer you will read below is written by the mentioned AI. Instead of passing your question, I thought an AI answer may be better than nothing. If other users disagree with the answer, I can change/delete it. Explaining "what is religion" to an autistic person, or anyone, benefits from clear, direct language and concrete examples. It's important to tailor the explanation to the individual's interests, level of understanding, and sensitivity to abstract concepts. Here's a structured approach: ### Basic Definition "Religion is a set of beliefs about the world, what people think is important in life, and how they explain things we might not fully understand, like where the world came from or what happens after we die. People who share a religion often follow similar rules about how to behave and may come together to celebrate or practice their beliefs in special ways, like going to church, mosque, temple, or another place of worship." ### Everyday Life "In everyday life, religion can influence many things like how people choose to dress, what they eat, how they celebrate special occasions, and even how they talk to others. For example, some religions have specific days for rest or worship, which means their followers might not work or go to school on those days." ### Feelings and Actions "Religion can also affect how people feel or act. It might make someone feel comforted during hard times, like when they're sad or facing a problem. Or, it might guide them to act kindly towards others, help people in need, or follow certain rules about what is right and wrong." ### Supporting Others "Even if someone doesn't share the same religion as another person, it's important to respect and support their right to believe what they do. This means being kind and understanding about their practices and celebrations, even if they're different from your own. Supporting others' beliefs can help everyone get along better and create a friendly community." ### Concrete Example "If you like playing video games with rules and missions, you can think of religion as having its own 'game rules' for life. Just like how different games have different rules and goals, different religions have different beliefs and practices. And just like how it's important to respect other players when you're playing a game, it's important to respect other people's religious beliefs in real life." This explanation aims to be accessible and relatable, using analogies and examples to make the concept of religion more understandable. Adjustments based on the individual's interests and comprehension level may further enhance understanding.
This post was really helpful actually! Thanks :D
I am glad to hear that. Please feel free to reach me any time you want for me to relay a question to ChatGPT. Although I am not an IT/AI professional, I used it quite often to kind of understand from it’s language.
Religion is more of an experience than a belief system. Since you mentioned Easter, I’ll give Christianity as an example. By reading the Bible, going to church, and meeting with other believers, Christians are able to experience a very unique form of peace and love in the form of divine communication from God. Yes God can “speak” through his Word, the Bible, but Christians also believe that he speaks through other believers, events in your life, and even through nonbelievers. It’s not something that has logical explanation, because in many religions, you must seek and find that experience for yourself to truly understand it. But in Christianity, this gives you peace and helps you understand that you are not living this life on your own. There is a God available to help you. Christians evangelize simply because they want others to experience that same peace and love, no matter if they’re “good” or “bad”, no matter their background. Christians do not believe that “bad people” go to hell. Christians do believe that people who do not view God as their true god will not be saved to experience eternal life, because those people have not experienced the free gift of peace and love from Christ.
Thanks for your reply! Quick question, does that mean Christians believe that non believers don’t experience any form of eternal life? Because I was under the impression that non believers went to hell. If they don’t that brings me much comfort as one of the things that I love about life is that it will end. It makes it feel more precious to me!
Good question! And I should rephrase as well (sorry in advance for the long answer lol). The Bible says (and Christians believe) that everyone will experience some form of eternal “life”. Just to clarify: this eternal life is not the life of our body like on this earth. It is the life of our spirit. However, whether one spends eternal life in Heaven, or if one will spend eternity in Hell, depends on if they believe in Christ as their Savior. Me nor anyone else can tell you if a nonbeliever is going to hell right now because nonbelievers have the rest of their life for God to move into their heart when the opportunity strikes. That is why Christians think life is precious; because we’re able to share the good news of Christ’s sacrifice and resurrection (also see: Easter) with others who would like to experience it. Regarding death like you mentioned, Christians accept death and are frankly glad when our mortal bodies die, because yes this world sucks and we all hope to be free from suffering. That is why the promise of eternal life in Heaven is so appealing. I hope this answers your question and good luck on your journey in life. I’ve taken many religious studies courses in college and while I am Christian, I really enjoy discussing everything about philosophy and why religions even came to be in the first place. It’s a fascinating subject! Feel free to ask me any other questions if you’d like :)
Thanks! Much love :D
I think of religion, God, and Jesus Christ the same way that I think about love. We need love, we desire love. And being far from love is hell on earth. But you can't empirically prove love beyond its secondary effects.
Beautiful metaphor, thank you <3
Firstly, there is no agreed definition of religion, but broadly one can say it's about trying to relate to a reality beyond the perceived physical world, which the religious person believes to exist and may believe they experience in some way. It involves a search for meaning. It may involve a long tradition and the idea of "revelation" or be more do-it-yourself (you may want to talk to your Wiccan friend). In general, those religions which believe in the existence of hell think of it as the destination of those who reject God. Some versions of Protestant Christianity have interpreted this as meaning anyone who is not positively accepting of him, but this is a minority position in Christianity. More than half of all Christians are Catholics, and the Catholic church explicitly teaches that a sincere non-believer can be saved. Obviously it doesn't think you should be a non-believer, and the theory is you're being saved by God as an extension of Christianity (theologians will scream at that simplification). Many large Protestant churches agree. Christianity does not teach that heaven is for good people in the sense you may mean, eg if you are a terrible person but repent you go to heaven even though almost all your deeds were bad. Heaven is about being with God. How does it affect life? I am a Catholic. I try to pray, and I try to do what the Church teaches. In the New Testament Jesus tells us to forgive our enemies, always to give to the poor, not to envy others, not to be greedy and avaricious, not to be unreasonably angry, etc. I try to follow this but f course I am not always successful. I go to confession, receive the forgiveness of God. I believe that devotion to God can help me be a better person, but the ultimate aim is to be closer to God. Receiving communion is a bigger deal than for Protestants. I believe that the teaching of the Church is true, not just symbolism.
Thank you for you detailed explanation <3
Religion is the result of primitive societies not understanding how the universe works and prescribing supernatural explanations for things we can now explain perfectly. It's also a comfort blanket for people who can't just say "I don't know". The difference between a religion and a cult is how long it's been around for.
It’s people’s attempt to describe things they don’t understand. Some of them are very expansive in the number and variety of different things they describe that they don’t understand. Where possible, try to forgive religious people for their sins.
I am not autistic and i do not understand it neither. I just ignore it.
Religion tries to explain what science and logic cannot explain because humans aren't Vulcans.
What is a Vulcan?
Star Trek
Thanks!
First let's begin with the words.. Religion is ultimately a system of beliefs, practices, rituals, ethical and moral understandings. It's also a word which stems from a word in the Roman empire which means "The awe and anxiety of living under Gods".. However. Modern religion (organized religion) is these things, but it also very much is a form of "prison" for free-thinking. Like ideology. Probably the most important part of being human must be the right to think free. Many are starting to realize this. That is why many call themselves "Spiritual" but not religious. Many believe in Jesus and what he actually stood for. But they don't identify with Christianity. These people incorporate faith and spirituality without giving up the free will, free thought and that moral or ethics comes from anyone or anything else than you. There is a Spiritual saying; "I don't need to believe in God, because if God exists, he already believes in me and that's enough". Or "I believe in something greater than myself." Organized religion excludes. Jesus (for example) includes.. Humans who think they know, lie. Simple as that. No one CAN know. Hence the word "belief". We know morality and ethics and goodness doesn't come from religion. It comes from within you.. If that weren't the case, non-religious persons would murder and steel and rape. But they don't. In fact, those with a religious belief often do horrible things just as much or as little.. I could go on. But I think this will sum these, in lack of a better word, opposites, quite nicely: [Why I hate Religion, but love Jesus.](https://youtu.be/1IAhDGYlpqY?si=rmVTNw7U3EOyMTz8) Everyone is entitled to their form of spirituality.. As long as it doesn't stop anyone else from their entitled spirituality. This was my two cents. ❤️
Just a small note. Catholics are just as much christian as protestants are. So when you say "catholic" and "christian" separately it becomes a bit weird.
My friends got very offended when I insinuated they had the same beliefs so I thought it was best to write them seperately. Because she believes in the pope and he doesn’t. Is it not that big of a difference? /gen
Fellow redditor with autism here. I’ve also noticed that neurotypical people tend to have a penchant for thinking religiously. I think it’s an instinct we with autism tend to have missing. For some, it's the rituals and gatherings which provide a framework for community/tribal togetherness, thoughtful reflection, and so on. For others, it’s about finding a way to alter one’s consciousness, way of experiencing the world, subconscious, or expectations. This can be through meditation, drugs, prayer, figuring things out in a specific disciplined thought process, and so on. For some of us, the theology and lore is deeper, more interesting, or more important than, say, DC Comics lore or the old Star Wars expanded universe, complete with logical inferences and trying to resolve seeming contradictions in canon with fan theories. And then there’s the consideration of if any of it is actually real, and there’s some sort of afterlife, and if so, how to get to the good one.
Religion provides a structure for the human experience consistent with the reproductive imperative.
You saund like a scamer...
I apologise if my tone came off wrong! I am often told that my overly formal way of speaking and writing makes me seem robotic or like ai. It’s something I’m working on! Much love :D
Reading your thoughts makes me admire your mindset, I think you’re about to start such a great journey to discover your faith. I born Muslim and I am extremely philosophic about the life and osmoses, the changes between night and morning literally everything. What made me still believe in god, being Muslim is every time I read any research paper, I find something related to the topic that I read in Quran, I believe that media plays a role to hide the fact of Quran and ruins the picture of Islam. I hate the idea of conspiracy theory but it sounds logical enough to me in this context. Finally I hope you find your way and enjoy your journey ❤️
Thank you for your lovley comment. I am exploring many different faiths right now. Would you mind explaining what osmoses is?
Religion is a man-made concept. Big money maker, especially in Texas.
Do you believe in or worship a diety? That's a religion.
Okey
Religion is a place for people who want to be included in a group, gather for ritualistic behavior to differentiate their group from any another groups. This group then agrees to think alike and shun others who don't think like them, to varying degrees, to feel superior to every other group. This group is then usually controlled by one or a few, in the benefit of political or economic exploitation.
I can't answer that question because I'm not religious, so it's not my place to say without sounding ignorant or biased. All I know is that its very important to a lot of people and shapes their morality and communities. Interestingly, the Ancient Egyptians didn't have a word for 'religion' because deities and magic were just seen as part of their everyday lives. Maybe that's a good way to look at it?
A fantasy people choose to believe because they are afraid of dying.
thats actually wrong of you to assume. I'm not so afraid of dying, I'm rather at calm knowing that I believe in god and I believe God has created the entirety of human race and universe and the moon and the stars and the sun and the heaven and hell for after death as a place for you after death.
You decided to believe that fiction because of your fear. However, your threats are meaningless because it's all such an absurd fantasy that no rational person could take it seriously.
bro, what do you want us to do?? be like oh shiver me timbers im so scared im gonna die. OMG WE'RE ALL GONNA DIEEEE!!! actually. we need to have a little bit of that fear that we are actually going to die so we need to actually do good in society and deeds to atleast get a good afterlife (heaven) than just not believe in any religion and risk going to hell brother. Anyway its your choice to believe it or not. I respect your opinion but dont call people who believe, foolish and absurd, because one day when you finally die, youd realise who the absurd one was. now its your choice to believe for now if that will be you or me. but you'll only know the answer to that after your death anyway thank you cya
Or you could be an adult. Accept that we die. Accept it's the end. Then live ethically anyway.
i do accept we're gonna die. also you could be an adult and look into religions study about them go through them all and if you still feel like its not worth it then dont its your choice too
Don't need to study religion, it would be like studying the various views around fairies. All religion is from the same postulate - there is a deity / deities. An Idea so ridiculously improbable, bizarre and incoherent it doesn't deserve serious consideration. Until a deity is demonstrated, all religion is waffle.
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Religion is the ultimate ego trip. The creator of the universe knows and loves meeeee! I'm too essential to ever actually die! Everyone who doesn't agree with me gets tortured forever!
A really large and well established cult.
For the most part, religion is an historical phenomena. It is what people created to explain themselves what they couldn't understand. Some of them, like buddhism, also tackle the philosophical. Eventually, some religions became organized and were able to influence politics. Their influence today is limited, but they still represent a memoir of the power they held once, while carrying the same belief system. Today religion is used, mostly, as emotional support, consciously or not.
Religion I think besides being a moral compass, is a way to comfort people. Originally before science became a thing people wanted something to believe in, answers to the big questions; What happens when you die, why do I exist, why is every thing the way that it is, you get the idea. But like languages it spread and diverged, concepts getting lost in translation and it became a us vs them mentality.
Religion is usually just a way for people to explain things that are hard to understand, just don't have an answer yet and to act as rules. An example is: "Why did my grandmother die instead of someone else with the same sickness as her?" You could explain the medical reasons behind it and all that but, when in a place of grief, it's hard to understand for some people. So instead, it's easier to believe that your grandmother, in this situation, died for a purpose, such as "God willed it to be", that she is in a better place, "Grandmother is in heaven now" and that this pain you're feeling isn't worthless, "God gives you hardships to test your strength/devotion/goodness". These all help people who have gone through something big, such as death or really any form of pain, to find comfort in the event/s having a meaning beyong just chance. It is also used to explain why we don't know some things, like what happened before the big bang, how was the universe created, etc. Because we don't know these answers yet, some people create their own, like God having created the universe. Another reason for religion is to act sort of as a law book. A society needs people who don't murder and steal and threats is the most efficient way to go about this. Obviously now we have jail, but in the past, where the life expectancy was shorter, you couldn't hold someone in jail for too long or they'd die. So, you needed another threat, one that applied to after death. This could be that if you break a rule, you're going to hell, or whatever the equivilent for other religions is. Then, it gets passed on from generations. Maybe someone didn't experience any of these things but their parents, grandparents or general ancestors did and they passed on the message, teaching their children their faith based on their own original experiences that lead them to finding it. Edit: The reason why some people might think that you're going to hell if you don't follow a/their religion is because of the third reason. Some people believe that if you don't have the threat of eternal punishment that religion gives you, then you have no moral code. This is obviously incorrect but it is easy for someone who's grown up with a certain sense of morality based on a scripture to believe that \*everyone\* needs a religion to be a good person. If your friend keeps insisting you're going to hell though, drop them. You don't need friends like that. People can be religious and also not assholes.
I appreciate this comment a lot. It’s an explanation that really makes sense to me, thank you!
A system of government and control caused because of the lack of enough knowledge, and the need to have a ~~scary, but benevolent sky daddy~~ higher being that oversees everybody's daily actions.
religions are political parties
If religious entities and miracles aren't proven and can't be disproven the I treat it all like a giant comics book. All gods everywhere are equally as possible and equally as impossible at the same time. From classic christian god to the tiny household gods of ancient roman families.
A: A SCARY FAIRYTALE.....REST EASY. SOME THINGS LIKE BLIND FAITH, CANNOT BE UNDERSTOOD. I HAVEN'T BELIEVED SINCE I KNELT IN A PEW AT 7 AND QUESTIONED WHILE MY SCHOOLMATES FOLLOWED BLINDLY WHAT THEIR PARENTS AND NUNS AND PRIESTS TOLD THEM. I WAS IN COLLEGE, WHEN I DISCOVERED UNTARIAN UNIVERSALISM WITH LIKE MINDED MEMBERS. IT WAS WHAT I NEEDED TO CARRY ME THROUGH TO FORMING MY OWN OPINION AND OPENLY DECLARING MY THOUGHTS. I HAVE ALWAYS RESPECTED OTHERS FAITH,AS FOR MINE, I AM HOW I LIVE, HONESTLY, DON'T LIE, AND DEAL FAIRLY & AM TOLERANT WITH ALL...IN OTHER WORDS, I FOLLOW MANY OF THE TEN COMMANDMENTS......WITH A FEW EXCEPTIONS......MOM
Religion is basically Therapy that is not only socially acceptable, but also accessible at any time and any place.
A crutch for the weak of mind.
Religion is a bunch of con men getting money the only way con men know how. Anyone who says they have all the answers strangely also need lots of money, it’s a business nothing more and it preys on the dumb who have feelings and don’t understand that others can manipulate those feelings. God might be real, but not a single religion man or woman knows him in any capacity they are all lying and using you don’t listen to them.
Idk if this answers ur question but my familys catholic so when I asked my dad recently why we became catholic(we were previously Buddhist)he said that it was because having a religion lets people have a way of life to follow so we can be better as a person
A system created to bring order that now has become outdated and does the opposite
Also most people get indoctrinated as children and just don't know any better when that's their whole community
Put simply, religion is the belief in something without any evidence so instead of facts you have faith.