A World Without Organized Religion
- Thread starter LukeEl
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you get rep for John Lennon
i've always been a fan of the man and his music. the reason why i'd like to vist england someday...too bad i never will.I always saw the term "organized religion" as being in the form of buildings, hierarchies, with a codified set of non-religious rules, and religious rules where people high in the hierarchy are the ones that try to make them. The organization will also often tend to involve itself in politics to get what it wants and often wants to control the populace on how they should live. Like all organizations they can become corrupted by people, and have.
I don't see people merely believing in the same thing as an "organized religion" so somebody that's Christian or people that practice Islam, for example, wouldn't necessarily belong to an organized religion in my view. (Although worldwide I'm sure the vast majority of Muslims do and in most of those cases it's because they are either brainwashed into it or have no choice in the manner or both.) In that sense, considering the amount of people that aren't connected to an organization or only minorly so say they share the same religion, I think there are a lot of places in the world now where the majority of people don't follow a church or an self proclaimed sanctioning body. The problem is that the people that do tend to belong to an organized have a greater chance of being very vocal, of trying to force themselves to be heard, and trying to force their beliefs on other people.
I don't see people merely believing in the same thing as an "organized religion" so somebody that's Christian or people that practice Islam, for example, wouldn't necessarily belong to an organized religion in my view. (Although worldwide I'm sure the vast majority of Muslims do and in most of those cases it's because they are either brainwashed into it or have no choice in the manner or both.) In that sense, considering the amount of people that aren't connected to an organization or only minorly so say they share the same religion, I think there are a lot of places in the world now where the majority of people don't follow a church or an self proclaimed sanctioning body. The problem is that the people that do tend to belong to an organized have a greater chance of being very vocal, of trying to force themselves to be heard, and trying to force their beliefs on other people.
This has probably been stated here in this thread already, but I'm too lazy to read the posts. Religion initially was an answer to the questions people had about life. "Why are we here? Where did we come from?" Now that we are in an age of science and finding legitimate answers, you'd think religion would be almost ignored but it's not. I feel the reason people still choose religious reasonings is that it may be easier to comprehend the answers it gives
I don't have any problems with religion, I have several friends that are extremely religious, but for me, it is hard to ignore the discrepancies on what we have found out about where humans came from and where religion says we came from
I don't have any problems with religion, I have several friends that are extremely religious, but for me, it is hard to ignore the discrepancies on what we have found out about where humans came from and where religion says we came from
meesterperfect
Hiliary 2020
south park dealt with this, so did star trek.
my thoughts,
religion. people can't live with it, can't live without it.
basically a lot of people have been killed in the name of religion, and a lot have been killed in the name of a lot of other things.
religion can be a very good thing, if people didn't get carried away with it so often.
my thoughts,
religion. people can't live with it, can't live without it.
basically a lot of people have been killed in the name of religion, and a lot have been killed in the name of a lot of other things.
religion can be a very good thing, if people didn't get carried away with it so often.
No religion=no Dark Ages
Technology would be a hell of a lot more advanced
Technology would be a hell of a lot more advanced
unfortunately, we'd most likely find some other reason to try and kill each other
All religions have organisations that keeps them going no matter what denomination (including non-denomination religious organisations) it is. Religion is the biggest industry in the world and also the oldest if you include religions that are no longer around, altogether religious organisations have more money then every industry in the world combined and they only use a very small amount of that wealth to actually do good since they use the rest of it to buy their way into politics and media and so on.
All religions make the following mistakes:
1. Religions claim to be true
2. Only religions can give people morals and values so that means only religion can make you a good person
3. Only religion can solve problems in society
4. Only religion can give people a good healthy life.
All those claims are complete bullshit since there is no evidence that supports them not to mention that it is always religious organisations that releases such statements and research that they have made up (their huge wealth can easily make things look genuine). You have the same problems in society regardless if they are religious or not. People may say it is personal experiences that makes religions true but that is not the case since these experiences are different in countries that has a dominant religion like for example in countries that are mostly Christian in the event of someone having a near death experience or a vision or a dream etc people will say they encountered God and/ or Jesus, in Muslim countries it is the same thing but it is the main figure/s of Islam that people will see and the same thing for other religions in other countries, so that will depend on what the society is like and how a person is brought up.
So lets have a look at a world without religion:
1. There will be Human Rights for everyone regardless of gender, race, sexual orientation, belief (non-religious ones that it) and way of life.
2. All viruses and diseases have vaccines and cures developed
3. Technology will be at least hundreds or maybe even thousands of years more advanced.
4. The Earth wouldn't be overpopulated since there maybe 100% effective and safe contraceptives. Let's face it the real reason why religions are against contraceptives is because they want more followers to out number the non-believers and they don't care how they get them since they can't murder non-believers any more and get away with it despite the fact that they have the wealth and influence to cover that up.
I doubt there wouldn't be violence or wars without religion cause violence is in our nature but I imagine that it will be at least 50% less then it is in the world that has religion in it. There are other bad things in society as well which has very little to nothing in some cases to do with religion such as gender supremacy, racial supremacy, sexual orientation supremacy, political supremacy, social supremacy, belief supremacy, ideology supremacy and so on. Those are fueled by things that may have to do with religion in many cases in all those things but also nothing to do with religion in many other cases too but are similar to the religious causes.
By the way Hitler was not an Atheist, the Nazis created they own Christian denomination called Positive Christianity which is a Christianity for the Nazis (plus the far right conservatives in all democratic countries:1orglaugh).
All religions make the following mistakes:
1. Religions claim to be true
2. Only religions can give people morals and values so that means only religion can make you a good person
3. Only religion can solve problems in society
4. Only religion can give people a good healthy life.
All those claims are complete bullshit since there is no evidence that supports them not to mention that it is always religious organisations that releases such statements and research that they have made up (their huge wealth can easily make things look genuine). You have the same problems in society regardless if they are religious or not. People may say it is personal experiences that makes religions true but that is not the case since these experiences are different in countries that has a dominant religion like for example in countries that are mostly Christian in the event of someone having a near death experience or a vision or a dream etc people will say they encountered God and/ or Jesus, in Muslim countries it is the same thing but it is the main figure/s of Islam that people will see and the same thing for other religions in other countries, so that will depend on what the society is like and how a person is brought up.
So lets have a look at a world without religion:
1. There will be Human Rights for everyone regardless of gender, race, sexual orientation, belief (non-religious ones that it) and way of life.
2. All viruses and diseases have vaccines and cures developed
3. Technology will be at least hundreds or maybe even thousands of years more advanced.
4. The Earth wouldn't be overpopulated since there maybe 100% effective and safe contraceptives. Let's face it the real reason why religions are against contraceptives is because they want more followers to out number the non-believers and they don't care how they get them since they can't murder non-believers any more and get away with it despite the fact that they have the wealth and influence to cover that up.
I doubt there wouldn't be violence or wars without religion cause violence is in our nature but I imagine that it will be at least 50% less then it is in the world that has religion in it. There are other bad things in society as well which has very little to nothing in some cases to do with religion such as gender supremacy, racial supremacy, sexual orientation supremacy, political supremacy, social supremacy, belief supremacy, ideology supremacy and so on. Those are fueled by things that may have to do with religion in many cases in all those things but also nothing to do with religion in many other cases too but are similar to the religious causes.
By the way Hitler was not an Atheist, the Nazis created they own Christian denomination called Positive Christianity which is a Christianity for the Nazis (plus the far right conservatives in all democratic countries:1orglaugh).
emceeemcee
Banned
Oh, of course. It's not like he blabbed it out loud to Bob Woodward and then the PA or anything.
As interesting a hypothetical as it may be, a world without organized religion is not conceptually reasonable. People always seek a way to explain the unknowns in life and opportunists will always step in to fill the void with their own dogma. In America alone we've had Elron Hubbard, Joseph Smith, and Elijah Muhammed acquire an absurdly large following.
FYI, Hitler was an occultist who believed that the blood of the "pure race" possessed mystical and spiritual properties. I'm not certain exactly how the rumor he was an atheist got started, but it was likely coined by someone too lazy to avoid lumping together things and people he found distasteful. It's not exactly fair to blame Christians for the acts of his uniformly Christian followers, is it?
FYI, Hitler was an occultist who believed that the blood of the "pure race" possessed mystical and spiritual properties. I'm not certain exactly how the rumor he was an atheist got started, but it was likely coined by someone too lazy to avoid lumping together things and people he found distasteful. It's not exactly fair to blame Christians for the acts of his uniformly Christian followers, is it?
StanScratch
My Penis Is Dancing!
Christians have killed a lot in the name of the Crusades, the Inquisition, every war during the Dark Ages, the Salem witch trials, the Spanish and South America, the foolhardy and invasive British Empire, the U.S. and the American Indian (they were, after all, nothing but savages), slavery, reconquista, the European Lutheran wars in the 14th to 16 centuries, the KKK...the list goes on. The wackjob extremists there have done a mighty fine job of fucking humanity up throughout history and sure seem bent on continuing the same.
There are some studies that seem to disagree that the world would be better without organized religion. I'm not a particularly religious person, but even on the surface, the benefits of religion are pretty obvious, to me at least. Think of the ways religion improves individual's lives, religion helps in spiritual and therefore personal growth; Aides in better mental health by means of reinforcement of beliefs; Provides an inherent avenue for friendship through congregation; Improves a person’s strength for adverse conditions through faith and prayer; Helps people to sympathize with other's grief; And can be found to improve physical health.
Read the Full Text of the Study Here
Most of the studies that disagree with that the world will be better off without religion are funded and done by religious organisations. They have the money to fake half of the research and go to areas that are super religious. They will do anything to make it look like they are superior to non-believers. The thing is as long as religion has a foothold in society, politics, media etc then many people always think that religion is the only answer to problems, there is always another way but again religious organisations don't want to admit that. If the term of religion changes to something like anything can become a religion then thousands of religions will pop up overnight and will be a serious threat to the main religions, that is why smaller religion are called cults which is odd considering that all religions starts off as cults til they have enough followers for it to become a religion. I can think of loads of things that can become religions and the difference between those and todays religions is that it is 100% human rights, equality, sex-positive and science friendly and compatible. :1orglaugh
Rattrap
Doesn't feed trolls and would appreciate it if you
Things are going a bit slow, so... :stir:
Has anybody read Carl Sagan's The Demon-Haunted World, Richard Dawkins' The God Delusion, and/or Christopher Hitchens' God Is Not Great? I'd be curious to gather any opinions, if any, on these three and how they might go together as a platform.
Has anybody read Carl Sagan's The Demon-Haunted World, Richard Dawkins' The God Delusion, and/or Christopher Hitchens' God Is Not Great? I'd be curious to gather any opinions, if any, on these three and how they might go together as a platform.
Will E Worm
Conspiracy...
I imagined a world without Lenon and Hitchens and...:elaugh:
Is Bill Maher next?
Do not mix Catholics with Christians. :nono:
The Klan was not a Christian invention either. You are far off base.
No, those are garbage. :tongue: God took care of those two. :elaugh:
Is Bill Maher next?
Do not mix Catholics with Christians. :nono:
The Klan was not a Christian invention either. You are far off base.No, those are garbage. :tongue: God took care of those two. :elaugh:
Interesting to discuss, but this coule never happen. Even if contemporary religions were all eradicated, humans would construct something else to replace it, and that new creation would be religion of some sort. Look at the Native North American society - they had no Christian contact, but had created various intricate religions. Their religions, which developed through the generations, were central to their society. Nearly everything had a religious significance.
Those who believe they have no religion are deluded. Everyone ascribes to some type of religion, be it Christian, Muslim, Humanist, etc. etc. etc.. Something is central in your life, and there is some form of worship. For many people, work fulfills this basic need.
So, I think that a world with no religion would be a pretty scarey place. Everyone would be seeking desperately for something to believe in, something to cleave to, and those who seek to exploit and take power would have an easy way to do so. Think Nazi Germany, and you'll get some idea of that which I speak.
Those who believe they have no religion are deluded. Everyone ascribes to some type of religion, be it Christian, Muslim, Humanist, etc. etc. etc.. Something is central in your life, and there is some form of worship. For many people, work fulfills this basic need.
So, I think that a world with no religion would be a pretty scarey place. Everyone would be seeking desperately for something to believe in, something to cleave to, and those who seek to exploit and take power would have an easy way to do so. Think Nazi Germany, and you'll get some idea of that which I speak.
Rattrap
Doesn't feed trolls and would appreciate it if you
Duly expected, noted, and disregarded.
I've read at the periphery about a 'God-gene' (or whatever it's being called) that's hypothesized to instill humans into believing in something; something like that would certainly explain how, as in your example, almost every civilization came up with their own 'Gods'. That Yalweh/Jehovah still survives past Zeus, Jupiter and the tricky Raven is simply a product of which believers had the bigger guns, so to speak.
It's curious to ponder what the evolutionary reason for such a thing could have been. Regardless, I think it's obsolete now, like our appendix. Of course, evolution has left us with many obsolete things, and just because they're obsolete doesn't make them any less a part of us.
I disagree, mostly semantically; I see 'religion' as a dogmatic doctrine characterized by a faith in something of a higher power. Everyone has at least a philosophy, however - the main difference, as I'm using it, is a philosophy requires no faith. A religion is a philosophy, but not all philosophies are religions...this is how I see it, anyway.
As much as I'd like to disagree, I'm not sure that I can; all I can do at this point is ask why: Why aren't people strong enough to stand on their own?
Sigmund Freud wrote a whole book more or less on the subject: The Future Of An Illusion. I read a couple excerpts some years back when I was studying this topic, but never got around to reading the whole thing. I should fix that...
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