Quizzes & Puzzles1 min ago
Is Religion A Necessary Evil?
78 Answers
Some of us here know Theland (amongst others) is wrong regarding his (their) beliefs that the alleged Christian God is creator of the world and savior of humanity. But isn't it important for us to understand where and why they believe these things as it is for us to realise the costs imposed upon humanity by those who harbour such beliefs and act accordingly? Isn't it better for us all in the long run to acknowledge and challenge what they are attempting to pass off as reality than to simply ignore them in the hopes that in turn they'll do likewise?
Perhaps there are important lessons to be learned by all from those who have succumbed to religion. Evil does not acquiesce to our reluctance to acknowledge it.
Perhaps there are important lessons to be learned by all from those who have succumbed to religion. Evil does not acquiesce to our reluctance to acknowledge it.
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Theland
Mibs - I always thought the bible was a load of cobblers until I looked into it and the prophecies, amazingly accurate convinced me that it had a supernatural inspiration. Therefore, God answers my questions, and my faith is founded on fact.
Science on the other hand requires lots of faith to believe in their account of the big questions.
21:19 Wed 07th Aug 2019
I suppose I could prophesy that eventually I will grow weary of treading once more down this very same path with you but should it come true, even so, I would not expect you to bow down and worship me. But just in case, let me summarise by suggesting that prophecies fulfilled, however incredible they may seem do not in and of themselves constitute proof of the supernatural.
Mibs - I always thought the bible was a load of cobblers until I looked into it and the prophecies, amazingly accurate convinced me that it had a supernatural inspiration. Therefore, God answers my questions, and my faith is founded on fact.
Science on the other hand requires lots of faith to believe in their account of the big questions.
21:19 Wed 07th Aug 2019
I suppose I could prophesy that eventually I will grow weary of treading once more down this very same path with you but should it come true, even so, I would not expect you to bow down and worship me. But just in case, let me summarise by suggesting that prophecies fulfilled, however incredible they may seem do not in and of themselves constitute proof of the supernatural.
For the record, should anyone be interested, I currently do not believe in any form of purposeful universally creative consciousness. I do believe to say, "I know no such creature exists." would be pointless without an exhaustive explanation of how I've reached that conclusion, although I have on occasion dropped hints in that regard.
Although I don't consider this a principal reason for reaching this conclusion, I think it is worth pointing out that in my experience, beliefs in a God have the potential to lead some people to do some incredibly stupid things.
In spite of the above, I do not label myself as an 'atheist'. For one thing, I consider the term to be ambiguous by virtue of the many interpretations given for what that term is supposed to mean.
I hope that clarifies my current position . . . for anyone who might be interested.
Although I don't consider this a principal reason for reaching this conclusion, I think it is worth pointing out that in my experience, beliefs in a God have the potential to lead some people to do some incredibly stupid things.
In spite of the above, I do not label myself as an 'atheist'. For one thing, I consider the term to be ambiguous by virtue of the many interpretations given for what that term is supposed to mean.
I hope that clarifies my current position . . . for anyone who might be interested.
The assumption of the question seems to be that one either believes in religion, Christianity, or science. My view is that religion (or faith) has a domain, while science (understanding our world) has another. However Christianity is only one of many religions, all with different (often very different) belief systems; Christianity, Judaism, and Islam have similar roots but are radically different from Chinese religions such as Taoism and Confucianism, or Indian religions like Hinduism and Buddhism. And that doesn't include "folk" religions such as animism and shamanism.
Beliefs are important. They are the basis upon which our minds make split second decisions when confronted with circumstances as we perceive them. Since the decisions we make determine the quality of outcome it is no less important that our beliefs correspond to the reality we face. Our very lives as individuals and as a species depend on it. It is for that reason, when time permits, I've devoted much of my 'free' time to questioning my beliefs placing a priority on knowing.
The human mind is easily decieved (sic), no less so for lack of knowledge and experience. We come into this world with virtuely no comprehension of what's going on around us. As we grow and before we learn (if ever) to reason we depand largely on the explanations we are given from others in trying to make sense of who we are, where we are, the nature of the world around us and what we should do about it.
I believe religion has been the go to in the past for filling the void in our knowledge and understanding. In order to progress further is our capacity to reason that must be developed. It is through a process of reason we are enabled to question what we think we know, the means and process by which we acquire knowledge of the outside world and the pitfalls of failing to interpret the input from our senses correctly.
Knowledge is hard work, even if some seem to enjoy the process more than others. At some point we need to acknowledge we may never have all the answers and realise that it is the quality of our knowledge that largely determines the quality of our lives.
People believe all sorts of things about just about everything, even about some things that are not at all. Apart from reason tempered by knowledge and mutual experience agreement will always be hard to come by. Of the two, agreement or disagreement I value the latter far more for it is through disagreement someone if not both parties potentially stand to learn something new.
I appreciate your encouraging words Theland. We all still have so much more to learn.
The human mind is easily decieved (sic), no less so for lack of knowledge and experience. We come into this world with virtuely no comprehension of what's going on around us. As we grow and before we learn (if ever) to reason we depand largely on the explanations we are given from others in trying to make sense of who we are, where we are, the nature of the world around us and what we should do about it.
I believe religion has been the go to in the past for filling the void in our knowledge and understanding. In order to progress further is our capacity to reason that must be developed. It is through a process of reason we are enabled to question what we think we know, the means and process by which we acquire knowledge of the outside world and the pitfalls of failing to interpret the input from our senses correctly.
Knowledge is hard work, even if some seem to enjoy the process more than others. At some point we need to acknowledge we may never have all the answers and realise that it is the quality of our knowledge that largely determines the quality of our lives.
People believe all sorts of things about just about everything, even about some things that are not at all. Apart from reason tempered by knowledge and mutual experience agreement will always be hard to come by. Of the two, agreement or disagreement I value the latter far more for it is through disagreement someone if not both parties potentially stand to learn something new.
I appreciate your encouraging words Theland. We all still have so much more to learn.
I too put great store in logic and reason.
My faith is not without foundation, something I would like to discuss.
Science, the search for knowledge through observation and experiment, has proven to me many indisputable truths that satisfy me and are beyond challenge.
Where I do challenge the scientists, is when they step outside of their areas of expertise and then pontificate as experts in an alien field, expecting to be applauded.
The scientific community is very conservative and dogmatic, and that often gets in the way of the search for truth. More on this again.
My faith is not without foundation, something I would like to discuss.
Science, the search for knowledge through observation and experiment, has proven to me many indisputable truths that satisfy me and are beyond challenge.
Where I do challenge the scientists, is when they step outside of their areas of expertise and then pontificate as experts in an alien field, expecting to be applauded.
The scientific community is very conservative and dogmatic, and that often gets in the way of the search for truth. More on this again.
Is religion a necessary evil? No. It can give hope to the hopeless, and comfort to the lonely. Unfortunately, like in every other walk of life, there are mouth foaming radicals who hate to be disagreed with, and spew bile and hate at every opportunity. Also there are people who believe this hatred, and act upon it. To ask if religion is evil is basically asking if humanity is evil. On the whole it isn't, but there's a minority who most definitely is.
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