Why do we need to have a religion if we can just believe in God?

Question

I'm Catholic but i'm not proud to be one. I think this is just the idea of Spaniards. They conquered nations long ago and implemented catholicism. I was baptized at the age of 1, do i have a choice? I am also thinking why Catholic church are against birth control?
I don’t know if anyone here is aware that a number of
years ago the crime rate for theft and robbery in the
US went down but about half over just a few years, the
reason was simple, it was about 17 years after the
legalization of abortion. About 80% of these crimes
were performed by youths that did not get the
opportunity to grow up in a family unit but were
either single parent families or simply an unwanted
burden of their parents. It would seem so easy to any
educated person that a massive reduction in theft,
violence, child prostitution etc could be achieved
simply by the Priests preaching contraception and
restraint instead of “go forth and multiply
(regardless of the social consequence)”.

Answer 1

That's what I always ask myself. I'm a good, caring person. I have morals and beliefs and I obey the law. I love my friends and my family and I'm willing to do almost anything for them. I believe in a higher existence, a "god". I don't know what his/her/its powers are and where it begins and ends or if it ends anywhere at all. And, frankly, I don't care. All I care about is what I know and can see. I know I have to be a good person for me and for the people around me and I don't need to fear a god's wrath in order to be so.

I think it has to do with evolution. In Ancient Greece, people sacrificed animals and persons as a ritual... We may not want to admit it, but every religion has rituals and "traditions". Why would god care if you don't eat anything while the sun shines for a specific month every year? Why would he/she/it care if you light a candle and go to the church to pray? It's all within us, or at least it should be. I don't go to church. I don't fast. I just believe there is a god and I know that no one, NO ONE can grasp what he/she/it is about.

Answer 2

You don't have to have a religion, and your parent's decision to baptise you as a baby is their promise to the Church, not yours. If you were baptised as a child or later, you can decide to stay or leave without guilt or regret.

The Church is against contraception because they claim to believe in life. They believe that their definition of when life begins supercedeS the decison of the mother and the law. They believe the fetus should be protected by the law, not the mother or the medical practitioner. Do you really want thousands of women and doctors on death row because they made a choice about their bodies that others declare to be murder? I hope not. Making something illegal doesn't stop it, it just changes who you get it from: Doctors or back alley abortionists.

As you probably know already, 'religion' comes from "religio" - relinking or rejoining.Many times people forget that thry're spiritual beings and lose the link between themselves and the numinous or divine.

The conquistadors came to get rich quick, and plundering other cultures was their top priority; that the Catholic Church's preists tagged along to look for converts isn't that surprising. The missions did enslave native Americans and were oppressive, but the preists were doing what they thought was right - what they had been taught was right. The Europeans of that Age were a filthy, disease ridden lot, and they brought their diseases with them, and that was the cause the massive depopulation of indios.

Our society is deteriorating morally, and our culture is being debased for profit. The libertine road the present pop culture pied pipers are pushing us in will lead to even more crime and disfunctional families. The Christian Church in general is becoming morally bankrupt, and what influence they are having on society is waning fast - they've lost what moral authority they once had. This dark trend looks like it's speeding up -- evidently it's what people want ...

You can believe in God, be spiritual and not attend church, there's nothing stopping you, I'm not really in any position to tell you to whether you should stay a Christian, because I didn't. To me the Pope and his collegia aren't infallible, and the Protestant's biblidoloatry isn't infallible either...

Answer 3

In heaven, God is there with the angels. That is an organization. In the beginning, worshipers were few in number, so God gave instructions to family heads and these in turn instructed those of their household. Later, Moses instructed God's people. Then, God's people were organized into a nation. The priesthood taught the people God's laws.
Jesus came to earth and gathered followers and these formed the Christian congregation. The governing body of that time was in Jerusalem. The local congregations had "older men" or "elders" to teach the people and administer discipline, when needed.

Hebrews 10:24,25 commands that fellow believers meet together. To do this, there must be religious meetings to attend on a consistent basis.

1 Corinthians 1:10 speaks of unity. How can you be unified with fellow believers if you aren't meeting with them, getting the same information, showing respect for the channel by which you received the information?

Matthew 24:14 and 28:19,20 speaks of the preaching and teaching work we are to do. To effectively do this, you must be a part of an organization that is overseeing it to do it in an orderly way.

Answer 4

Good question? But it isn't really that easy just believing god. You need guidelines on how to live your life in what ever religion you choose. Why are you catholic if your not proud of it? If your not happy with the catholic church then convert to another branch of christianity? Or another religion whatever suits you

Answer 5

Well, you raise an interesting question, why have religion if one can just believe in God?

I can't give you the answer to this, but being more on the philosophical bent I immediately notice a difference between religion and a simple belief in God. The simple belief in God makes "God" an idea to be agreed to or to be believed about. Religion, on the other hand, at least at its basis and not necessarily as people "push" it today, looks to have a relationship with God. God is then a person with whom one relates.

By the way, while I don't agree with your discussion about crime going down because of abortion (I find your logic a bit stilted), I would like to point out a falicy in your concept of "teaching of the Catholic Church". You say that Priests preach "go forth and multiply (regardless of the social consequences)". Yet that's not what the Catholic Church purposes. It purposes responsible parenthood. Take a look at this paragraph from the Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church:

"The family contributes to the social good in an eminent fashion through responsible motherhood and fatherhood, the spouses' special participation in God's work of creation [GS 50, CCC 2367]. The weight of this responsibility must not be used as a justification for being selfishly closed but must guide the decisions of the spouses in a generous acceptance of life. “In relation to physical, economic, psychological and social conditions, responsible parenthood is exercised both in the duly pondered and generous decision to have a large family, and in the decision, made for serious reasons and in respect of the moral law, to avoid for a time or even indeterminately a new birth”[Humanae Vitae, 10; GS 50]. The motivations that should guide the couple in exercising responsible motherhood and fatherhood originate in the full recognition of their duties towards God, towards themselves, towards the family and towards society in a proper hierarchy of values."

So, as you can see, if a priest is preaching "go forth and multiply" and not mentioning responsible parenthood, then he would not be teaching the personal responsibility before God and towards others that comes with the freedom of the sons and daughters of God.

By the way, the Church does preach restraint, but not contraception. Take a look at the paragraph that follows the one cited above:

"Concerning the “methods” for practising responsible procreation, the first to be rejected as morally illicit are sterilization and abortion [Humanae Vitae, 14]. The latter in particular is a horrendous crime and constitutes a particularly serious moral disorder [GS, 51; CCC 2271-2272]; far from being a right, it is a sad phenomenon that contributes seriously to spreading a mentality against life, representing a dangerous threat to a just and democratic social coexistence [Evangelium Vitae, 72, 101; CCC 2273].

Also to be rejected is recourse to contraceptive methods in their different forms [GS, 51; Humanae Vitae, 14; Familiaris Consortio, 32; CCC 2273]: this rejection is based on a correct and integral understanding of the person and human sexuality [Humanae Vitae, 7; Familiaris Consortio, 32] and represents a moral call to defend the true development of peoples [Humanae Vitae, 17]. On the other hand, the same reasons of an anthropological order justify recourse to periodic abstinence during times of the woman's fertility [Humanae Vitae, 16; Familiaris Consortio, 32, CCC 2370]. Rejecting contraception and using natural methods for regulating births means choosing to base interpersonal relations between the spouses on mutual respect and total acceptance, with positive consequences also for bringing about a more human order in society."

So as you can see, it is not a black and white issue of "go forth and multiply" without any consideration for the consequences of too large a family. Yet at the same time it is not embracing the other extreme of being closed to the gift of life by using artificial contraception, a method that also turns human sexuality into only a matter of recreation and leaves out the dimension of openess to procreation.

What one must remember is that in teaching these things the Church tries to keep the balance, respecting the two goods of human sexuality... the unitive good, which looks at the complementarity of the spouses and increases the union of their persons in the holy bond of matrimony, and the procreative good, which recognizes the beauty and dignity of human sexuality as a means of producing new life... that is, participating in creation with God's help.

So, though it may be true that one hears a lot of "no's," this is because the Church looks to educate its members to the "yes" of their own personal responsibility and to the high standard of ordinary Christian living, which is sanctity (something even married couples can live... not something just reserved to priests and monks and nuns). There is a beautiful calling out there and to say "yes" to it, by nature means to say "no" to that which is opposed to that calling.

Answer 6

We believe in The God Almighty as Creator of every thing and God Almighty sent us to earth.
Therefore we have to live according to His Instructions.
As when we by any product made by XYZ, then we read owners manual written by manufacturer.

Same way This universe Created by The God Almighty, We are also His Creation, we need a manual to follow.
Religion gives us that manual in form of Holy Book.


May The God Almighty give us wisdom to follow His true teachings, sent to us through Holy Prophets (pbu all of them), Amen.

Answer 7

Religion survives on dogma.
Dogma is a means of control.
Having faith is dependence upon someone else to do your thinking.
Some people need religion.
Some people don't.
We will be judged by what we do in relation to other human beings, not by what we do in the synagogue, church, mosk or temple.
That’s my opinion.

Answer 8

Your beliefs can be your own. Religion is man made so it has the capacity to be wrong but your belifs and ideas will be your own to keep to yourself or share with others. Its best to decide what it right for you and not be a follower.

Answer 9

who says we need religion? "mainstream religion" was founded because its founders wanted to contribute something to the world, probably from the divine or perhaps they were just high on drugs, but the problem came when the followers of those leaders started misinterpreting things and started to take control of their church members' lives by dictating things, spreading propagandas, etc, etc... religion is just like a record of what group or club you are in but i think what matters most is what you believe in.

Answer 10

well i guess u r really unsatisfied wid d social views of ppl living in america.. n if u r really serious abt wat u r telling den i'll tell u not to jus believe in god.. as u r in america u hav a very high freedom of choosing ur religion.. wat u must do is dat do a research on religions including ur own christianity n islam budhism judaism n if u think any other is better it'll really help u either get stronger in ur believe or move away to another religion. be sure to give equal importance to every religion. jus stop caring for d society abt d evils in dem for now n first correct urself in ur believes n den u can shout out loud abt wat wrong n wats rite once u r sure abt it.
i am born in in muslim family but do not believe in islam because my parents thought me so.. i clarified my doubts n compared y my religion is rite n others religions are not rite n i was satisfied wid d answers i got to improve my belif in my religion. please do contact me if if if u r serious i'll be glad to help u out as i hav been thru dis situation before..