Serious question for once?

Question

Do you think it's true that some people do indeed need a religion to live their lives in a morally acceptable way? And if you do, what do you think it is about those people that causes them to need it? I've wondered about this lately, and to be honest, I'm not sure what I think about it.

Thanks :)

That's exactly what I'm wondering, Bula'ia Aratyme: WHY do some people believe they need it? And if one believes that to be true about him/herself, then perhaps it is? (I suppose my question isn't very clear.)

I wish you'd give me your thoughts on it, because I've seen some great answers from you, and I'm sure I'd appreciate your insight.

Oops! ....wondering *about*.... :)

(((Ramjet)))

Answer 1

Hmmmm, I can think of cases were Eastern Religion makes people more moral, because it urges them to be compassionate and seek inner-peace. But monotheism (Islam, Christianity, Judaism) seems different to me.

If only I could remember the person who said it. One of the Enlightenment-era thinkers said, "Don't tell the servants there is no god; they'll steal the silverware."

If you're a medieval serf, religion might help you be happy with your station in life, as inequitable as it is, because it has the promise of equality in the afterlife. Similarly, it's no coincidence that as soon as African slaves were imported into the United States, their masters indoctrinated them with Christianity for the same reason -- the promise that the first shall be last and the last shall be first.

Whenever I look for times when Christianity makes people be moral, I find that it does make them nonviolent, but often in situations where violence would have been justified. The violence of the French Revolution was justified because the French proletariat had no meaningful political power in the Estates-General. (Although I don't think the tax collectors should have been burned alive...)

But in equitable societies, like present-day France or present-day Sweden, people are very non-violent without religion. In fact, they are generally moral without religion. Even in the puritanical sense of the word, there is more teen-pregnancy in the United States than any other industrialized country.

So, no, I don't think so. If people needed religion to be moral, then Japan, Sweden, France, etc wouldn't be so moral. Religion might help people be passive, but in the grand scheme of things, that isn't necessarily moral; again with my example, the French Revolution, violent as it was, paved the way for equality and dignity for millions of people.

Answer 2

I think some people just need to belong to something and need to be led and told that there is more to life than this one. They cannot face the truth. It is proved here every day with the questions they ask. "Without God, what is the point of living?", "If there is no afterlife, what is the point?". Just this week a girl posted that she didn't think there was anything wrong with letting people think for her and tell her what to believe. Some people just give it up, because that's the easy thing to do. Some people have a lot invested in friends and family's acceptance of them and social standing in their community. There are many reasons why people think that they do NEED a religion, but mostly it's fear. If they were honest with themselves, and really gave it some reasonable thought, they would know it was not true, but they have their own reasons for closing their minds to the truth.

atheist

Answer 3

Take a tooth ache for example.
There is pain both internally and externally.
This pain rises to a point that a medication is need to stop the pain.
The pain goes away for a short period but returns when the medication wears off, and then once again the medication is taken to stop the pain. Eventually the tooth must be repaired or removed.
The Dentist in question does make house calls.
It has been said that religion is the "Opiate For The Masses".
Man has such large pains! One example of this is the silly word known as "fear". Man fears everything, is it not so? This causes such pain in man!

If man can regain that original state when man was a baby, then there will be no more pain. Then man will be a most moral being.

Answer 4

I know people (some are in my family) that "like the idea" of either God or religion or an eternal happiness afterlife. I don't condone this thinking because it's a false view of the truth. People find their own reasons to live morally, and I believe the majority of the world does it for their religion, no matter what religion it is (yes, I include many christians in that number).

Some people feel a greater reason to live when they feel their moral acts are beneficial to either themselves, other people, or both. The only people that I know of that don't have a reason to live commit suicide. I think deep down inside everyone is the question/statement/question "is there a reason for life? There HAS to be! What is it?"

Because, in all seriousness, what are the odds that life is a coincidence? It's a statistical impossibility (and yes, it's agreed upon by non-believing scientists and mathematicians).

Answer 5

When you recognize that you don't know everything, you may find some of your answers in a particular religion.
After being in the religion for a while, you may discover that it doesn't have all of your answers. Some folks just don't want to think too much, so they just believe what they are told and it makes them feel safe. The really annoying ones will try to convert you to their way of thinking to 'save' you.
Joining a religion can give a person some guidelines to follow that actually improves their life.
My favorite people are folks who follow a certain discipline, but who also have a sense of humor about it and try to see the goodness in everyone without judging by saying that 'MY' religion is right and yours is wrong.

Answer 6

I don't think religion helps much with morals. It seems to almost do the opposite. It has throughout history facilitated horrible acts. I'm sure in the present in countries other than America it does help some. But for the most part just joining any group could keep people out of trouble and help them morally.

Answer 7

I'm not so sure that it is necessary for leading a morally acceptable life; I think that it gives them a sense of being, of purpose, and gives to them the answers to questions that cannot be answered rationally, for lack of a better term. People are very curious. But questions without answers are impossible to some. The fear of not knowing is so great that some need to make a savior that will protect them.

How many christians have no good morals, but pretend to? As many as any other group, I imagine.

Answer 8

It really makes me wonder, I mean it is like to say that if they did not have a religion to tell them what is right or what is wrong they will be going around shooting people!
I do not need religion to tell me what is morally right. It is common sense.
I am a deist and do not believe in any religions, I have many atheists friends with incredible morals.
Religion actually has promoted bigotry, wars, killings in the name of God. You can easily see morality and religion are two separate things.

Answer 9

It is quite possible for a well-adjusted to behave morally without believing in God. In fact there are some instances where unbelievers are MORE moral.

I think most of the people who claim that one can't be moral without believing in God are either gullible or lying.

But I think there are a few who sincerely believe it, because they have no moral compass of their own. Their fear of God really IS the only thing that keeps them from going on random murder sprees. And they generalize their personal lack of morality to others.

These people are extremely dangerous. If they can convince themselves that God would want them to kill someone, they will do it without remorse or conscience.

Thankfully, such sociopaths are very rare.

Answer 10

Of course it's true that many people need an organized religion to feel fulfilled in their lives. Look around you, and see how many churches are filled on Sunday mornings. They are filled to overflowing, and (I live in the Bible Belt) new churches are being built all the time.

Societally and historically, all cultures have had some sort of religious belief system to base their lives on, even as far back as history has been recorded. One of the reasons for this is that people need a rationale for their existence, and they need to know that they will have an afterlife. Without organized religion, neither of these things usually have justification.

I believe that organized religion gives most people a peace to their existence, in that they have something to look forward to when they die, and it does give them an explanation for their existence (besides evolution).

It also gives them a reason to act in a morally acceptable way, although personally I don't see why society needs a reason to act morally acceptable. (And it's not working. Even with as many churches and religions as there are, crime and morality has taken a nose dive!)