When will people understand they don't NEED religion?

Question

Can you live a moral, guiltless, happier life without religion? Why is every religion set up to guilt its participants? Is religion an age old invention by man in the pursuit of power?

What about people who didn't choose their religion but were born into it? Do they believe they got lucky and got the correct religion?

Answer 1

Doubt it will ever happen. People are afraid to be on their own and hold themselves accountable.

Belief in a higher entity is something that can develop on its own, but the structure of today's religions are the inventions of man.

It all started from ignorance. People didn't know how or why something worked (fire, rain, sickness,etc) so they created stories to explain what they couldn't understand. Stories or "explanations" were told to kids and neighbors and eventually those stories became widespread and accepted by the local masses. Someone of authority (strength, charisma, wealth, whatever) came along and inserted themselves between the masses and the stories claiming to understand the "god"/"gods" intentions, or that they were chosen by the gods and so started to shape all the different religions we have today.

All the religious texts in the world are written by man, no more no less. Think how easy it is today with all our technology and learnedness to make mistakes in translations. For that matter, try whispering five sentences to someone and have them pass along the sentences through ten people and back to you, when it finally does I doubt it'll be what you orginally said. Everyone along the pass missed something, imparted their own words to what you "meant" to say and so on. Now, apply that to all the religious texts that are out there (the bible wasn't written down for 50-120 years after christ died if you believe the scholars) and you can imagine how distorted they potentially are.

Sadly, I don't ever see the need for religion (the greatest cause of death and destruction the world has ever known), from ever going away. It's too entrenched.

Answer 2

This is such a deep topic, that I've had to change my answer several times to get my point across. Anyway, I read once that religion isn't merely choice. It's human nature. Millions of years ago when Homo Sapien wasn't even an option, people buried their dead beacuse they wanted to believe the ones they lost would some how be preserved. Which they were, in the hearts of the clans. Sometimes it's religion that gets people through hard times. Sometimes it's religion that brings people together. And seperates us. There are thousands and thousands of religions around the world for a reason. But it gives people a chance to believe life isn't just a world full of suffering, that some where in the existance there's happiness. And what's wrong with that?

Answer 3

People don't NEED religion, but people do have a need to express their spirituality. Religions, for better or worse, provide a method of expression for millions of people. And yes, whenever there is a human need, people find a way to pervert it, exploit it, make money out of it and use it for their own purposes. Many bad things have been done in the name of religion - but no more than have been done in the name of power or money or consumerism. A useful comparison is sex and how, even though it is a basic human drive, people feel compelled to attach guilt and exploit it at every opportunity. Doesn't mean that it is a bad thing. So, while I agree that you can live a moral and happy life without religion, and therefore do not NEED it, religion can also be a positive experience for many people.

Answer 4

People will no longer need religion when it can be shown that removing it will not destroy morals and ethics, when science can answer the questions, "Who am I, why am I here, why was I born, what is my purpose, where did it all begin, where does it end, how does life work, what happens when we die?" The purpose of religion is to regulate the life, not to guilt people into anything. The purpose of science isn't just to ask the questions, but to answer the questions in a systematic, logical, reasonable way. Both science and religion instill fear, but in different ways. If we can govern ourselves without religion, the big questions would still remain. People are conditioned from early childhood in religion, and it takes a courageous person to ask rational questions about the validity of what they have been taught, and even more courage to break away if their questions are not answered satisfyingly. When I was a kid, I saw a video of the moon landing, and it looked hokey to me, so I started asking questions. I was immediately chastised for it by my teachers and parents. 30 years later, there are many, many people asking the same questions for the same reasons I did. People become so indoctrinated, that they can go their entire lives without questioning what they are taught, what they are eating, what they are believing, seeing, hearing. Religion is a system of governing the habits and behavior of people to bring them to a platform of learning. This system has been corrupted over time, like almost everything else, and abused to control people.

Answer 5

People will understand that they don't NEED religion, as soon as people like you stop PERSECUTING everyone for their beliefs... In other words never.
Come on how would you feel if someone religious posed the question... "When will Athiests realize that they NEED GOD?". Everyone has the right to believe what they want, whether you like it or not.
1. Not every religion is setup to guilt their participants.
2. Morality, Guilt and happiness are human attributes that have nothing to do with the pursuit of a religion.
3. Behind every invention is a man or woman attempting to gain power over their sourroundings.
It's just the way it is.

Answer 6

Even though I'm an atheist, I *do* understand that there are times when people DO need their religion. As long as people don't do harm to others as a result of their religious beliefs (the destruction of the WTC comes to mind), then they have the right to practice (or not) as they see fit. Many look to religion for comfort from the anxieties of life and for the fear of the unknown. I never have and never will condone fundamentalism of any kind--or extremism of any kind, for that matter--but your average citizen quietly living according to their belief system should just be left alone. Yes, religion of one sort or the other is responsible for many atrocities, but it's also responsible for some selfless acts of compassion. Lighten up and understand that, like it or not, we're all in this together, and we have to learn tolerance.

Answer 7

It seems to me that you have never been into Far East. In China and Japan for instance, there is no religion. There is religion as a matter of fact, but it does nothing to people. It does not make them feel bad or good about what they do.
The only way they govern their lives is by "respect". They work day and night to get their share of respect from other, and they do respect others for the same purpose.
In my humble opinion, I would say they were able to get the essense of religion. Correctly treating each other and living in harmony with the others.

Answer 8

Jesus tells us to be perfect as our Father in heaven is perfect. God told Abraham to walk before me and be perfect. So who exactly are you going to listen to, the wolf Paul or Jesus and God? Secondly Christ was not about religion. The Samaritan woman showed that when he went and talked to her. He did not ask her what was her religion because he did not care. He went to talk to her and to tell her about the truth. If you want to know the truth about the bible as a whole. Go get the book, The Other Bible written by Willis Barnstone. It is a fantastic book and it gives you scripture that had been taken out of the bible and explain it to where you wouldn't have to question the bible or God anymore. The Christian bible is half truth, unlike this book that explains life, the dinosaurs age. Many of answers that is not in the Christian bible.

Answer 9

Never.

Some atheists come here trying to tell people how great life is when you've dumped religion.

Then 90% of christians jump on the `stop persecuting us bandwagon` even though the religion forum here is filled with crap like `are atheists as stupid as their nonbelief in god?`.

So drop it. noone cares whether you are or aren't religious as long as you're happy in your (non-)belief.

Personally I am an atheist and a former christian, but i've realised that it's fruitless trying to change peoples' views when it comes to religion, and the sooner everyone (religous or not) realises that, the better.

Answer 10

Yes, people certainly can live without religion, but they can't live without Christianity. There is a difference between true followers of the Lord Jesus Christ and other religions, for true followers Christianity is a lifestyle and we choose to live a life of love and tell others about Jesus to save them from a eternity of eternal torture. There are many who thought they had it all, but there was always something missing, and that is why they fill that void with other things that only destroy them, such as alcohol, drugs and sex.
Everyone has the right to choose what they believe, the question is where do you want to spend eternity?