im going to be mean with this question im sorry....?

Question

do you think that maybe religion was divised to keep the poor content and under control? now i belive the message in most religions are great and all but cant you see religion as a form of control as well?

Answer 1

i can see why you might think that, you do have a point. Now get ready for all the crazy peoples answers....

Answer 2

Of course, do you think if some spiritual adviser didn't tell them those young men would fight to the death or fight other religious groups? When the fighting is over do they get any of the benefits? No, the politicians or religious clerics who run the country's do. they don't die and they benefit. Leaves all these extra women so they get multiple wives and get rich enough to afford them. So tell these young men you got 70 virgins waiting for you. Since no one can come back to say that isn't true it works.They use religion in every country to control the masses.
The Churches convinced everyone Bush was from God.
They still believe it with a religious fever, while everyday on the same roads young men travel back and forth being blown up like ducks in a shooting gallery. If you doubt it call a chaplain and he explains that you go to heaven and your Nobel and dieing for your country and that's a good thing. Heaven awaits you.
Bush gets his oil, everyone worships him and all it costs is a few lives.

Answer 3

Depends. The poor is already controlled by their hunger and desperation for money. Altogether with politics, I don't see much space for religion to control them.
Catholic is mostly bashed by others as "keeping too many gold for ourselves" just because the church uses the best materials for the ceremony. They forgot that people like Mother Teresa who worked and lived among the poorest, are also Catholic.
By the way, no, you are not being mean.

Answer 4

Actually, I can see how religion is viewed as a form of control by some ppl.

But I'd doubt HIGHLY that religion was devised to keep the poor content. Yes, I believe in Adam and Eve as the first worshippers of God (and the first sinners). However, even if I didn't believe in them and believed just that cavemen were the first humans, or Lucy or someoone, STILL who had money then? In that case, I'd say he first religion probably would have started b/c they looked up and realized THEY didn't make the trees, whoever discovered fire hadn't MADE it and lots of things existed long before they did. It all had to come from somewhere.

Answer 5

I don't think you were trying to be mean and it is an honest question.

I don't think that is the case though. For example in the case of Christianity which is an easy target, who is doing the controlling in this following case-

My friend Bert is helping his cousin raise money to help the people in the middle of Mexico. This is not the area near a big city, it is in the middle of nowhere. People in this small town live in the garbage dump because they have so little. When he gives a family a small bag of rice, it helps them survive for a few months more. He's doing it because he believes in Christ and he believes that is what Christ called him to do. So he left his comfortable life in the U.S to go there. He doesn't seem to be controlled by anyone with another agenda.

I actually know personally of an even better story about saving the lives of thousands of orphans in a Communist country but I can't tell you about it. However the person is also motivated by her belief in Christ and the risk of her own life. She is like Schindler in saving so many lives but her story can't be told.

In countries like China, the governments attempt to control the people by suppressing religion. It makes more sense if people are trying to control the poor to remove religion.

Answer 6

Yes you took the words out of my mouth. Religion there will never be a wrong or a right. A final word, & tooo much politics. That's why I believe in God but not to be or join some kind of religion, where the members make me feel that if I am not bauptized I am doing wrong, or just anything for that matter.

Answer 7

In order for a religion to be popular, it usually has to appeal to the majority. Unfortunately, when most of the major religions were created, most people were poor, thus the religions appealed a lot to poor people. In Islam, for example, around 2% of one's income (if you could afford it) is to be donated in order to be used for public good and to feed, clothe and shelter the poor.

I don't see religion as being a form of control. Who would be doing the controlling (besides God, unless that's what u meant)? For some, religion gives them hope that they may pull themselves out of poverty by devine intervention, or through karma. Others see it as a way of pleasing a supreme being(s), in order to obtain success and not end up in hell or a worse off position. This usually goes hand-in-hand with a moral belief system or laws.
Some religions or ideologies may have been established to control people by governing their actions. Instead of jail or imprisonment, the idea of an afterlife (eternity) of anguish probably got the message through much better.
Religion did not do much to stop the French revolution. Some religions are hard on the poor, for example, hinduism and its caste system restricts the poor to being poor. Most people don't want to be poor, and their religion doesn't really keep them content. In fact, many are digressing from the caste system and finally pulling their family lines out of poverty.
Religion can be used to control people, reguardless of wether it was ment to or not. For example, when the pope began to encourage the crusades to obtain jerusalem centuries ago, it was spread around that if a man of faith killed a non-christian, he would be putting money in the bank to go to heaven. For some, especially nobles, this was enough to establish entire armies and start marching for months to go kill saracens.
In conclusion, it would seem that religion is a form of controlling one's actions, however this does not always have to apply to poor people. Anyone can follow any religion these days, and the topic of religion can be very contraversial. Some may agree with you while others will remain steadfast that religion is a necessary part of humanity and is a blessing from the heavens or a supreme being.

(excuse me for any spelling errors.)

Answer 8

I don't believe in organized religion. I think it generates hatred and prejudice. That said, I would never take it away from anyone who subscribes to it, because that's a revocation of human rights, which I also believe is wrong. But for me? I think it does more harm than good.

Do I think it was devised to control the poor? Possibly parts of it. But the main origins of religion came from a need to explain the mysteries of the world.

Answer 9

Religion, at its worst, is definitely a form of control. There are a lot of people that are brainwashed into doing things in the name of religion. On the other hand, most religious people will think for themselves and not do something in the name of the church...but some will.

Answer 10

The spiritual and social laws brought to mankind by the Divine Messengers (Buddha, Moses, Jesus Christ, Mohammed, The Bab, Baha'u'llah, etc.) show no signs of control, but rather guidance and protection for an ever-advancing civilization. Man-made religious systems, dogmas, administrative orders, etc., on the other hand, show clear signs of control. If humanity strives to see with their own eyes and hear with their own ears AND holds fast to the Word of God, religion will be a very positive force in this world.

www.bahai.org

Answer 11

Don't confuse Relgion with Organized Religion. There is a difference between the two...

Organized Religion, having a structure, preisthood, property, often makes itself an arm of the state. It gets privledges, so it has to perform a service for what it gets, often keeping the masses in line, and content with their lot.

Now Religion itself, is man attempting to contemplate the universe, and asking questions about the Creator. This, is more of a personal journey.