Question mainly intended for the atheists?

Question

I am a spiritual person myself, and I do not follow any religion blindly. But I would like to know from the Atheists one thing - they always claim that religion is nothing but a tool used by kings, emperors and people in power to influence innocent people like us and our forefathers & make money off us. How can you atheists verify this claim? Do you have a full, detailed explanation as to why you think it could have been this way?

I think religion teaches us important morals that will help us when we grow older & mature. I personally feel why religion was forced onto us was because the older people were afraid that the religious values would get forgotten easily & they had no other option at the time other than forcing it onto us innocent people (i.e. basically they didn't want us to get addicted to hedonism). But I don't understand why you think it was used as a tool for gaining power and money.

Answer 1

I don't claim that it is NOTHING but a tool used by people in power (although it certainly has been).

Some people are simply afraid of death and need something to make them feel better.

The "morals" piece in the second part has been answered thousands and thousands of times previously and now I need to drink because you said that.

Answer 2

I think it IS a tool used for gaining power and money. Thats not to say there aren't positive things about religion, but if you think the republican party isn't exploiting religious outfits like the 700 club and focus on the family, you are living under a rock. And I tend to be conservative in my politics.

Religion has been used for power throughout the ages. Popes used it to certify kings and vassels in the middle ages. If a king was not blessed by the pope then the people in his kingdom would not follow his rule. The vatican recieved millions and millions in gifts from rulers throughout Europe as a result.
In current day Middle east, kings and leaders must have the blessings from mullahs and religious leaders, or they will lose power. It is just a reality in that part of the world.

To not understand how religion is used as a tool to gain power and money is paramount to sticking ones head in the sand.

Answer 3

Everyone thinks the first thing Gutenberg printed was the bible. Wrong. He printed up indulgences for the church, by the thousands. You could party all week, break every rule and sin there was, and then buy all of the right indulgences on Sunday and you were home free. The church made millions this way. Is that they way it was supposed to work? Of course not. But that is the way it did work. And my mother is still buying indulgences to this day. Is the church still making millions off the unsuspecting and superstitious? Yes. Are they still controlling people with this? Yes. That is one of many areas. This forum is too small to get into more of them. Where was the church teaching morals then? Where was the church teaching morals when Pope Sixtus the 6th lisenced all of the brothels to the church. You could have all of the sex you wanted as long as it was in a church lisenced brothel. Where was the church teaching morals when Pope Alexander was having sex with his mistresses, his mother and his daughter from one of his mistresses? Where was the church teaching morals with the priest most recently found spending $8 million on his mistress in Florida. Where was the church teaching morals when the church was laundering almost a billion $ for the Mafia and when Pope John Paul the 1st wanted to do something about it he was poisoned, 33 days as a pope. Substitute religion where ever church pops up.

Answer 4

I don't claim that religion is nothing but a tool used by oppressors, so i can't give you a full, detailed explanation of why people might say that. I myself am an atheist but i believe that religion can be helpful to people for those reasons you mentioned...morals, lessons etc. Also because it gives people meaning in a world that can feel meaningless. However, I do think that religion is used inappropriately to justify things like war. Religion itself is not bad, and i don't think it was created with any ill intent, but it can be used in bad ways by those in power and those who don't want to have personal responsibility.

Answer 5

The origin of religion was to explain things. I'm not an atheist, but I think most atheists will agree with that. They are correct though that religion has been used for power on many occassions. Ever hear of the "Divine Right of Kings"? Their authority to rule is from God. Some Christians in this country believe that God chose George W. Bush for president based on this premise.
Karl Marx believed "religion was the opium of the people" used by the rich to control lives and make people happy. To a degree, he was right as well.

Answer 6

That's interesting, because I've never said that.

However, that medieval Kings and the Catholic (and later Protestant) Church were conspiring to maintain power is hardly a revolutionary theory. Kings and Lords made room for the Church, and in return the Church preached to the masses that the rulers of the land were appointed by God. To rise up against the Kings meant to oppose God. Whether or not God exists, Christianity was very much a tool of the powerful.

Or, as Seneca the younger said, "Religion is regarded by the common people as true, by the wise as false, and by the rulers as useful."

Answer 7

I am a christian. But want to undertake this question anyhow. This is my theory all along and that of many others. So much has been proofen throughout history that the stories about God and Jesus have been communicated through human beings. How do we know they are all true. Like you say: Religion has been used in form of oppressions by the Popes, by the church, by the rulers in mid eval times, to burden its people. By making them undertan. Anybody familiar with European mid eval history has heard that often enough that the pope ruled its people. And there was no way out for these people. Thats why the church has become so powerful.

Answer 8

Religion and morality are not directly interwinned. While I do agree that those of strong spirituality have usually good morals, it is often because the religion they follow dictates them to act that way and promises punishment if they don't. Religion, I do not believe was created to serve as a tool for war and money but over time it became one.

Answer 9

It is a historical fact that religion has been used to control humans. You can find this out for yourself with very little research.

It is a misconception that those who do not believe in a god are not moral. All humans unless mentally impaired know right from wrong. Basically wrong is anything that harms someone or something. Doing wrong or doing harm is a decision. It is a decision based on selfishness. Selfishness is the feeling that one has to fullfill thier own desires. There is not one crime that you can think of that does not stem from selfishness. Think about it.

Answer 10

If you have paid the slightest attention to history, with witch doctors and priests in ancient times, the Pharoahs, the rise of Christianity from the Crusades through the dark ages and onward, the spread of Islam by the sword, and on and on and on, with the overwhelming tendency throughout history of the Church leaders and military leaders being the same person, the amassing of enormous wealth by religious leaders.... it really is quite self evident.