Religion was created by mankind as a way for primitive cultures to explain the unknown. Now that we are able to answer many of these questions, don't you think it would be best to do away with religious belief? Why or why not?
2006-10-06 05:33:29 · 21 answers · asked by mutterhals 4 in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
I agree. Ditch the conditioning and divisive authority of religious psychosis and practice love and kindness.
2006-10-06 05:37:35 · answer #1 · answered by Bran McMuffin 5 · 0⤊ 1⤋
First of all, you appear to claim that mankind created religion. By that statement, it would seem that either you don't believe in it, or you are unsure of it. I admit that other than Christianity, I do not know a whole lot about various religions. Having said that, there are pieces of documented evidence from non-Christians that verify some of the events in the Bible. Granted, I have not heard of enough to confirm absolutely everything, but, for example, letters have been found that were written by some of the Roman centurions to their families mentioning Jesus, and occasionally, some of the miracles he performed. Also, many of the health and cleanliness rules found in the Old Testament book of Leviticus have been claimed by modern health experts to have been very effective ways to do things like limit or prevent the spread of many of the diseases that are known to have been around in that time. And since these people had no knowledge of germs, they are very unlikely to have been able to come up with these guidelines on their own without some sort of outside knowledge or influence. It is also known that the neighboring cultures generally did not follow similar health guidelines. I bring up these points not to say that my religion is right and everyone must believe it too, but to point out that there is some factual evidence to support it as not man-made, or at least not completely man-made. Another way to look at it is, like the possibility that aliens exist on other worlds, how do you know that one or more religions are not actually true? I cannot prove that what I believe is completely accurate. If I could, I wouldn't need faith. Because of this, I do not condemn people who believe differently than I do. However, to answer your question, because there is some factual evidence that at least one religion is real and not imaginary, I don't think religion should be done away with. Just as alchemists were thought of by some as magic users when they were using what we now know to be basic chemistry, and apothecaries and herbalists were at one point accused of witchcraft, when they were practicing early medicine. If we don't currently understand something, that doesn't mean it isn't real. Lastly, I would like those who are arrogant enough to claim that religion is not real to prove that God doesn't exist. That would be interesting to see. C. S. Lewis once tried to prove that Christianity wasn't real, and in the attempt came to believe that it was real. The book Mere Christianity is the result of this.
2006-10-06 06:18:20 · answer #2 · answered by Jonathan R 4 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Actually religion was not created, the primitive cultures were answering an inert calling to worship their creator.
It is absurd to say primitive cultures invented religion, when they couldn't start a fire.
It is still seen today, all cultures found today, even the most remote, have some sort of belief of a great being than them, a creator of all things.
Only the supposed enlightened in the "civilized, industrial, well off" countries question this matter.
Search within yourself, you too believe.
God bless always.
2006-10-06 05:41:44 · answer #3 · answered by Perhaps I love you more 4 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Honeydew:
"Religion" in the form of organized religion has been a scourge to mankind. People have used it at various times to control entire populations. Popes have made Stalin look like the Good Humor Man.
Religion in the form of "seeking God" or seeking spiritual answers is a personal quest that will never be fulfilled by science and will never cease.
Ironically, Early Christian churches were bound by a common set of beliefs rather than laws. There was little administrative hierarchy as well.
True Christians today walk in the same spirit. They seek a personal relationship with God and are on a personal quest to know him and, yes, to share the truth they've found to anyone willing to hear.
To those who are not, we are instructed to brush the dust off of our shoes and leave.
So - the answer is no, short of total mind controll it cannot be done away with and in the correct format it is benign or even helpful to society. For every attrocity done in the name of God, there are local rescue missions, prison ministries and relief organizations that change peoples lives.
2006-10-06 06:46:34 · answer #4 · answered by Salami and Orange Juice 5 · 1⤊ 0⤋
There are still a lot of things we don't understand, so religion is still useful to a lot of people. The big one is the mystery of "What happens when you die." A lot of people have a really hard time coping with "nothingness" or the idea that dead is dead. So having faith in the promise that there is something after this life can be very comforting. Also - I think religion provides people with a lot of comfort. With the world as messed up as it is, it offers hope to believe that something larger than us is watching out for us, or will show up (poof) and everything will be better again.
2006-10-06 05:40:08 · answer #5 · answered by swordarkeereon 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Religion gives manking a conscience. Religion was also created to introduce morality and kindness and create civilization as opposed to anarchy and resulted in many of the laws that we live buy. While mankind has abused religion to do terrible things in the name of god, thou shalt not kill was a new concept at the time it was introduced. Prior to religion, the planet was ruled by the biggest and meanest who raped, pillaged and burned at will. This activity, while it still occurs, has been reduced.
Human tendency is to get whatever they want when they want it.
Many people know that we are only discovering how god did things.
"I want to know how God created this world. I am not interested in this or that phenomenon, in the spectrum of this or that element. I want to know His thoughts; the rest are details." - Albert Einstein
2006-10-06 05:51:40 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
no because even though societies have evolved into more scientific ways of living Religion still is one of the ways in which certain mysteries can be explained. granted there is still the old way of those who use religion in order to gain power in society but even now religion serves a useful purpose for science can not answer all the questions.
2006-10-06 05:45:05 · answer #7 · answered by Marvin R 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Actually Religion was created as a way to control people's behavior. And for those still using it for these purposes, I'm sure they would say it hasn't outlived it's usefulness.
2006-10-06 05:36:35 · answer #8 · answered by Darien 3 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Nope.
Until humankid has 100% evidence on what happens after we die and can explain the unexplainable, religion will always exist and always be useful.
It helps people conform to social norms and be peaceful (believe it or not)
2006-10-06 05:34:44 · answer #9 · answered by aliasasim 5 · 2⤊ 0⤋
No, because in case you hadn't noticed, and I doubt you have, life still sucks for the overwhelming majority of us--and religion didn't just explain scientific things, it explained why bad things happened to good people--as long as life remains inherently unfair, we will need some form of religion to keep us functioning in it
2006-10-06 14:44:52 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋