ok let's put an end to all the "God" questions with this one, alright?

Question

First of all, think about this: When you are born, you have no knowledge of God, or Jesus or anything for that matter, so you are technically an atheist. You only begin to learn about God, and other things you learn in school as you're growing up.

Well what if you weren't raised by your parents? Think about being raised by somebody else for a moment. Somebody who did not care for religion, and showed you a different way of life.

People have to understand this: The ONLY reason religion still exists today, is because people pass it down to their children and write it in books. Now, what if we come to a point where nobody passes down religion anymore, and all the books are lost? Then religion will be wiped from the face of the earth, and not one single human being will know a thing about it.

think.

To: Darlene M

Nobody knows who created the world...

and the complex perfect creation of man???

take a look around you, and see for yourself what we have done to this beautiful earth.

To: Jim

Religion was made up by somebody who wanted answers to the "supernatural" things that were possibly occurring around him.

Answer 1

I have one trifling criticism of this: a child is technically born an agnostic, not an atheist. Otherwise, you are entirely correct. See:

Answer 2

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Answer 3

My goodness, you have certainly bitten off a large chunk. You propose to put an end to the God question. Quite an ambitious undertaking.

My beliefs are largely a product of my upbringing, although they are wildly different from my parents'. But a thinking person will always ponder the eternal questions---"Where do I come from? why am I here? Who or what made all this? How does this all work?"

Now I will attempt to "put an end to God questions", but I expect to have very limited success.

There are basically two choices here. One can believe that our universe is the result of an explosion and a dozen or so billion years of spontaneous generation and evolution, or one can believe in a creator. One can believe that once upon a time there was no consciousness, nothing, and then all of a sudden nothing blew up and it all landed where it is and started to grow, or...

Someone once said that the "Big Bang" theory is similar to the idea that a printing press could explode, and the fallout would arrange itself as a stack of encyclopedias. I'm not saying that the Big Bang did not happen---it did---in the control of our Creator.

studying science, microbiology, physics, etc, has pointed many thinking people in the direction of believing in a creator. Including Einstein.

I'm no Einstein. Are you?

Answer 4

Before I had any "religion" in my life, I came to the conclusion that the existence of some higher power was the most rational explanation for the universe, and only after coming to that conclusion started investigating the religions of the world.

Granted having organized religions in place made that quest go much faster. But were it not for them, I would still be seeking the answers as to the identity of that higher power. (I am and example of this).

So in your hypothetical situation, you might be able to destroy organized religion, but I doubt you would be able to forever eliminate the belief in God. And people would just have to create religion all over again--and they definitely would.

Then imagine if one book survived--when it is unearthed by someone seeking these answers, who has no knowledge of religion from the past, they will assume that this was THE religion of old. Imagine a whole world of people who were the same religion! Atheism thinks they have it bad now--imagine how much more annoying it would be if all of the religious people believed exactly the same thing!

Answer 5

Interesting. What if we couldn't pass down "anything" anymore, not just religion? Imagine if nothing that is taught today could be passed to the next generation; that from this moment on, no newborn could receive any advantage of knowledge of this and past generations; a tabula rasa. No language, no school, no nurturing of the young futher than would be needed for their survival, no presuppositions of love and hate and bigotry...

What would then be the same today as it would be 5000-6000 years from now (the amount of time, roughly, we have taken since forming "civilizations"--this time frame may be incorrect, I'm not an anthropologist, but it would suffice for the argument)?

I'm betting the only thing you would see (after a sufficient amount of civilization development) that would be remarkably similar to what we see today is math and science. Philosophy, religion, ethics, technology, history, art, etc, may or may not produce the same things we see today, but the fundamental laws that govern our natural world would certainly be very close to, if not entirely, the same (even if they have different names). Not to say that there wouldn't be philosophy, religion, ethics, technology, history, art, etc.; those things would just be much less likely, in my mind, to appear as they do to us today than math and science.

Just an opinion, though. Thanks for stirring up some interesting thoughts.

Answer 6

That certainly isn't true for me! My parents were not religious. I wasn't told about God. I came to God through what is called "natural revelation." That is, I looked at the trees bearing fruit, the things I was learning about the perfect placement of the earth to sun, how a baby bird knows how to weave a nest, and how the Monarch butterfly knows where to roost in Mexico when he's never been there. I simply concluded, logically, that there was a designer and Creator. Still today, I'm not in any man-man denomination, but the only book I needed at first was a verdent field covered in yellow flowers. Now I have read the Bible, but I wouldn't have had to in order to realize Someone loves me to provide all these delights, from peaches in the summer, to my baby's first hug. True, SOME people mindlessly accept the club or church of their parents, but one can't generalize.

Answer 7

I think it's interesting how people of hugely varied backgrounds, cultures, and upbringings, still have searched for something beyond human experience. Many people who don't have religious parents still search for God. I think religion is one thing, faith and belief are others. Religion can be taught and passed on, but at some point every person makes their own "leap of faith." If you really THINK about it, your conclusion about the only reason for religion still existing is because it is passed on is over simplified and shows a superficial understanding of faith. Throughout time people have sought meaning in existence and the concept of God, or the supernatural seems to be something innate and common to all cultures. I don't care for your assumption that people of faith must not think.

Answer 8

Hmm... by your logic then, religion would never have existed in the first place, if the only place we get it is from our parents or others. I believe that religion would and will exist no matter what, because it is the first codification of laws. When no civil authority exists, mankind will make up religion if for no other reason that to manage to get along and not kill each other off. If you were to wipe it out completely from the memory of all people, I believe that it is something that mankind would develop no matter what.

Answer 9

Don't you just love that we can discuss issues at last in a forum. I'm so glad for Yahoo Answers because It is interesting to see the variety of questions that arise-- and of course I know you're being facetious that this will put an end to questions regarding religion. Apparently you think religions are manmade, and you were born into a more industrialized society that tends to block out the Beauty we each long for and can sense and partake in every day, not because we / humans / or evolution evolved it that way. We are designed to appreciate a sunset, a flower, fragrances wafting in the breeze, orderliness, majestic scenes, the need to love and be loved, joyous laughter, and even such reasoning as we are able to do, even here and now. Have you ever considered that God has stretched Himself--bent over backwards as the saying goes to reach you. Why don't you read the Bible - consider giving God, creator of the universe, the opportunity to "show" Himself to you in your Spirit where life really is. "Come let us reason together. . ." Isaiah speaks God's heart. Isn't it marvelous that these 40 authors speaking God's Word - God breathed - have a continuity in speaking of God. He is revealed in the Bible in His consistency and goodness. It amazes me how joyous life can be irregardless of your position or class when you trust your heart and soul to your Maker -- He put it all together in His Wisdom and "His ways are higher than our ways and His thoughts are higher than our thoughts." (Isaiah) "We see as in a dark glass, but (after death) face to face." I Corinthians 13. Most religions are man's attempts to reach God and eternal life in the afterlife. Religion and religious acts are not really what God is calling us to. Jesus told Nicodemus when he sought out Jesus for some solid answers -- (John 3) "You must be born again -- that born of flesh is flesh, but that born of the spirit is spirit." Later in that same chapter, Jesus reveals God's plan of salvation: "God so loved the world that He gave His only Son that whoever would believe in Him would not perish but have everlasting life. God did not send His Son to condemn the world, but that the world would have true life." (John 3:16-17) It is not works that get us to heaven but believing on Jesus -- "By grace you are saved through faith and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God, not as a result of works so no one can boast." Galations 2:20

My parents did not pass down religion. I was young when I started thinking about God - around 4 years old, and began praying--just talking to Him. It was a few years later I came to read and understand why God had to send Jesus--and some of this was through school clubs. Later on, I actually talked to my Dad later and gave Him a Bible so he would understand God's love. He gladly pursued God.

Answer 10

Sadly I was raised by my parents & they told me nothing about God or religion except that there was no God. I can honestly say that most of what I now believe & have experienced throughout my life, has definitely not come from my parents, but from elsewhere. And when I say 'elsewhere' I dont mean other humans or books.

Answer 11

In your hypothetical scenario, after the disappearance of religion, it would be reinvented. Humans invented religion once to fill a need and this need is part of being human - fear. The insecurity of afterdeath would persist and once again, people would invent beliefs and religion to make them feel secure.

Religion exists for a few reasons: culture, fear, and influence.
Theoretically, you can eliminate the culture and influence aspects through social change, but fear would always persist.