Isn't religion just a "Boogeyman" story meant to scare people into doing good?

Question

"If you don't go your butt to sleep, the boogeyman is going to eat your fingers off!!"

That's what parents used to tell me at bedtime. Now, I sleep with gloves on....

Answer 1

yes, exactly. I've always considered the whole 2nd coming thing christianity's version of "wait til your father gets home"

Answer 2

OK, yes, that is one long question! What can i say? Well, look at it this way. Back in the Bronze Age, the Israelites were living in a harsh environment and so they themselves had to be tough to survive. They also had a very limited understanding of the nature of the world. For instance, they thought that pi=3, that insects had four legs and that the Universe had been created very recently for their benefit alone. They also had a number system which wouldn't let them count in tens in case they put the letters which spelt the name of God together. Later on, people invented a more sensible number system which had place value, then proper fractions, then decimals and they invented a way of expressing the value of pi more accurately. They also invented a new morality in the form of the Sermon on the Mount, and the Old Testament went out the window as outmoded, rather like the old number system, because it couldn't express morality accurately. That was a step in the right direction. You can't expect people in Old Testament times to be able to make a mobile 'phone, a laptop or a spacecraft which can leave the solar system or perform a heart transplant. However, they could make pots, they had writing materials and basic public health measures were built into their religious code. They also understood the need to rest the land and allow it to replenish its resources on the Sabbath, at seven-year intervals and at the Jubilee. In the same way, you can't expect them to have modern values or a sophisticated understanding of ethics. However, just as if you had two points on a graph you would be able to draw a line through them which suggests the direction a third point might be, so you can take Old Testament values as one point, New Testament values as another and metaphorically draw a line through them in order to predict the direction in which ethics can be expected to go. So, the Torah says men who have been castrated are not allowed into the temple, but Christ's disciples accepted them. Nowadays i can't go to church in a dress although i'm a transvestite, but the day will come when i can (maybe after i've been ordained!), and that's a point on that line.

Answer 3

Religion was born of humanity's desire to make sense of the natural world and to provide comfort for the fact that we are all finite, mortal beings. Today, it is little more than an implement of collective polarization used to distinguish and identify a group of individuals by a commitment to some set of rigid doctrines and the tedious execution of mindless rituals.

Answer 4

Woe Johnny Woe!

Answer 5

Religion is totally diffident from the bogyman. That was used for little kids. Apparently you haven't grew up yet.

Answer 6

theres no such thing as a boogey man and why would u worry about that ?? it just seems silly [even if u do sleep with gloves on how would that prevent this from happening???

Answer 7

No. Religion is a way of life for people who want spiritual structure in their lives.

Answer 8

I think it's more of a story to ease people's fears about dying.

Answer 9

yes its ways to keep the brainwashed christians under control

Answer 10

You seem to have been mentaly effected and medical treatment may be needed.