Why do we need Religion. If we do......?

Question

Do you think that Religion has always been used to control the masses, by 'The Rulers'?

Answer 1

I believe in GOD. I don't believe in religion. Religion is an establishment of humans knowing how easy it is to manipulate the masses by fronting itself as something they hold near and dear. People need to be led. Human beings cannot stand being alone and don't like being personally responsible for their own flaws should they occur. It is this concept that keeps government together. Religion is far more potent because humans love the thought that there is some omnipotent entity that can crush like ants but doesn't. When there is someone or something that claims to interact with it, ohhh yeah you've hit the jackpot. The masses will follow you, because they think that you have found GOD and therefore you must be His friend and someone worth listening to. The Church is human and nothing else, but people need to be led, otherwise they feel empty, alone, responsible for their own outcome. Humans don't like that feeling at all. Religious officials know this and exploit it to the fullest.

Answer 2

Yes we do but, --
The Christians the Romans fed to their lions went on for 350 years before the Romans discovered Christianity, and from that beginning today's Western religions became a fragmented part of it.
Over the years Roman Catholicity has changed to become benign but it still has total influence over most of its followers.
Today's religious feature is Islam and that has also changed over time, but it has more power as it makes its own laws.
In this way it is able to politically influence any country as it did Iran when it overthrew its Monarchy.

The so-called West side of the world has thrown its power into Monarchies and Politics that is separated from Religion, and these last two decades of change have left the West open to those who wish to infiltrate it with control following.
The Middle East is the cradle of all our knowledge and beliefs, but since our religious base broke away from the rest living in that area before Muhammad, we in the West have his part missing from our beliefs.
Even some of Muhammad's teachings have themselves been reclassified, and Islam today is not what is was when our Religious origins started.
So do we need Religion?
Yes, if only to set us on the path to seek God, and herein lies the problem.

Currently we seek our own solution and whether that is right or not so right, it becomes an issue with some Religions, who through their own interpretation turn it into an offence against their own followers.
Now we have one Religion wanting to control thus making others resisting control. Couple this desire with weapons of Mass Destruction and an indoctrinated people ready to believe we should die at their hands, then we have today's problem.
At the moment all our futures are in the hands of a the rest of the World's disunited authority who will ultimately have to seek a solution.
It will be a race against time as to whether this is the cause of our demise, or that of Global Warming that is really Global Warming boiling over.
Just like the Dinosaurs, the next inhabitants of this Earth will never solve the reason for this self destructive path we are running down like hares in the name of the God that created us all.
Nature will rebuild Earth over time but there will no human on it for thousands of years, if ever.
Why should there be anyway if this is what intelligence leads us to?

Answer 3

The fact that is overlooked insuch arguments is that the mass cant rule. A part of the mass can control the whole because they r gifted. Religion is one of those gifts. It gives people the sense of morality which is necessary for a civilization. If the goal of the few is a civilized society what better can serve their purpose than religion?

Answer 4

this answer is going to be short and sweet. Need is the word, life of the masses is easier if given the incentive of reward in heaven, and also whilst alive and living a hard life, as many of masses do, it helps to aleviate the lack of control we feel, ie. basicly, using faith in an all powerful being, who is in control, and thus there is a purpose for everyting and all that happens, although we may not understant it. Hope that makes some sense, I tried to condense it. It is used by those in power to placate the masses, to dampen jealousy and unrest, which arises due to awareness of obvious difference between the have's and the have nots.

Answer 5

Organized religion, yes.
But religious faith has many other purposes. It explains things to people, it gives them hope, it is a set of guidelines to live by, it gives people a sense of fellowship and connection to a group, it gives some people's life meaning and purpose, it serves as an authority, makes sense of the unknown or unexplainable, and provides incentive for people to have a consciene and conrtol their behavior and impulses.
Faith is catagorized into different religions with different rules and interpretations of creation. Almost all share some common ground about respect for life, fellowship, and purpose.
Some leaders have distorted their faith th justify their own views and behaviors, and to control others. We refer to tham as fundamentalists. Their certainty and insistance is a powerful force when ratioalizing their distortions in the face of the faithful, the uninformed, the desperate, the insecure, and the otherwise well-intentioned individuals. Charisma is necessary for brainwashing people or the masses of people.
I am a Unitarian Universalist, so I can understand, though I do not agree with those who take it upon themselves to behave in such ways. I also do not believe that any religious documentation condones the use of force and violence in the name of any faith. I think it goes against any faith to substitute the values and beliefs of that faith for one's own personal agenda.
We all are born with this pesky little thing called Self-Preservation. It tells us that our views are right, justified, and most important. Sometimes they conflict with others. Organized religion is a guideline for controlling our impluses and behavior as to not allow our self-preservation to trump that of another individual. It sounds good in theory, but is not 100% efficient. There are those without conscience.

Answer 6

I agree with you its a manipulation of the masses to create conformity. If one person spouts religion then others will follow.Its like shepherding sheep.
Then with that what happens to free will? Doesnt people have a choice?
If rulers cant rule fairly they have to find other ways to such as fear or manipulation.So religion isnt always used but its the easiest way to get peoples attention.Faith is strong if given the right incentives.

Answer 7

We dont need it, Yes it has.
As an Atheist you KNOW there is no God, (are no Gods), if you do not know then you are an agnostic. Join the Brights:

www.the-brights.net

The Brights: Persons who have a naturalistic worldview should not be culturally stifled or civic-ally marginalised due to society’s extensive super-naturalism. Rather, they ought to be accepted as fellow citizens and full participants in the cultural and political landscape.

97% of The US National Academy of Sciences are Atheist.
93% of the UK Fellows of the Royal Society are Atheist.

US Atheists remove "under God" from the Pledge of Allegiance (it was inserted as late as 1954), remove "In God we Trust" on every dollar bill ( it was inserted only in 1956), Stop the tax-free dollars amassed by televangelists, fleecing gullible people of their savings. Stop the unconstitutionality of Ten Commandments posters on classroom walls and courthouses.

UK Atheists Support a secular State, remove State funding for faith schools.

Answer 8

No; I think the spiritual impulse is inherent in the human. Whether you choose to obey that impulse or not, and whether you consider it to be a true search for a true God, or just the need to have something bigger and wiser than ourselves to lean on, the spiritual drive has been around forever, from the most primitive cave societies to the most advanced. The fact that it has been manipulated to control people is a sad reflection on the human psyche.

Answer 9

i don't think it has always been used to control the Masses for 1 if u go back to the early days of mankind they say we worshiped fire and there were no rulers and also i don't think it works in to days times do people in general stop doing bad thing because they think it's wrong in god's eye's no they try to erase all signs of god from civilization to hide their guilt and shame of doing those things.

Answer 10

We need a freedom to believe. Religion to me is the organised stuff for those that need something other to believe in than themselves.
Always there has been individuals who have been more than willing to look after the spiritual well-being of those that can't look after their own.
That is your religions. The institutions for those who want to be looked after.
Do we need them? If you took them away (the religions),it would only serve for something else to come into being to take it's place.