Is life without religion truly human?

Question

I know there are atheists, but this is how I see the question:
It would seem that animals are the only ones without any sense of the transcendant.

People get passionate over art, politics, economic models, philosophical ideas, we hold beliefs for the future and we get impassioned with ideas and we seem to have a very deep need to have a sense of purpose in our lives which transcends rationality. Whether or not we express this purpose in metaphysical terms or not, it would seem to me that a person without any sense of meaning beyond the material world would be a brute.

So is it possible? Can one truly be without religion?

I guess what I'm trying to ask is exactly what is the sense of religion. I wonder if we don't set an arbitrary belief between a religious belief and a non-religious one. I suppose I kind of have a mystical bent.

Answer 1

There are some people that become aware, we are more than a body,,a mind,,,,we realize we have a spiritual side as well...a person who does not know this,,will always be incomplete...some call it a God vacuum in their heart....

Answer 2

Religion is a man-made word to me. I think of God and His Son as Life and Reality. The life giving source!

There are people who prosper for a moment without a Higher Source and thinks it was their power that got them what they have. When their health is taken from them or they get into something bigger than themselves, they usually start looking up. Frail puny man with breath in his nostrils are like the wind. Here today and gone tomorrow. They don't even sit back and wonder how all this got started. We don't make air, heck we can't see what's going to happen the next minute. A gunman can come and take their lives and who is to prevent that! We (humans) live as if we own and made our atmosphere (planet) we breath and hang the sun in the air at the right time. Then, when it is the right time again, we go and take it down. Hog wash! If we are so super, why not stop death from coming?

Answer 3

Yes, it is human without it. Even animals have emotions but not always as complex as humans do, which is good and bad. Have you never seen any animals who got depressed, for example when their owner died? Or who got really happy when they got their favorite present? Some are arrogant and self-centered, some are very friendly.

Do you think that only humans are like this? And do you think that a human being really needs to be religious to be truly human? Being religious means that you are thinking in a certain way, that there are laws which you must obey and that you have to live a certain way. To you, this might seem to be THE right way to live, but there are others who think that they know the right way. None of you can prove it.

Answer 4

I get passionate over art, politics, economic models, philosophical ideas, I hold beliefs for the future and I get impassioned with ideas, and my purpose is to make this world a better place for my children.

Atheist only means no belief in any god. That doesn't mean no passion.

And I have a question for you: You do know that de-humanizing people is what people do when they want to kill them without feeling any guilt?

Answer 5

(1) A healthy discussion and reading on what is morally and ethically correct is good for which no religion is needed. Though religion also does the same thing, but it is rigid in making people accept it principles with blind faith. Moreover, religions indulge in meaningless rituals and in describing universe and scientific phenomena which are outside its purview. (2) We should not worry about afterlife and concentrate on our work and duties. (3) There is no need to discuss whether God existed oe not. It can neither be proved nor disproved. Time spent on it and its outcome are futile. (4) We definitely would have been better off if the physical and mental resources spent on religions were diverted to more productive channels like housing for the poor, schools, hospitals and scietific research in the constructive direction, not in developing weapons of mass destruction. (5) This is true. We are wasting our time in trying to keep religions alive in their present form. People who get offended are not religious minded.

Answer 6

Religion is simply a superstition . Why do you think it's necessary in any way ?
The natural world if wonderful , sure it's not all lovey-dovey , but it's there , right in front of our eyes . No fairy-tale imaginations are necessary . We are all part of nature , Nature is believable , understandable , simple , beautiful , available , seeable . In many ways , we are closely related to the other animals , birds , trees , weeds , bugs , fish , and all other living things . We come , we mature , we reproduce , we grow old , we die . No mystery , no fairy-tales , no impossibles .
Yes , it's very possible to not believe in the impossible . Why are you Holies afraid of what common sense tells us will happen after death ?

Answer 7

I do not practice religion nor do I adhere to a specific religious belief. I'm a peaceful human being. In fact, I try to keep peace in the forefront of my mind at all times. This is fundamental to Buddhist practice.

Answer 8

Who can say, but for me I can't find a rational explanation for everything. I have to say, gosh I just don't know, about a lot of things. Does this lead me to believe in the supernatural? Why should it?

The world is filled with beauty. I don't need to believe in magic to experience that. Yes, I too am human.

Answer 9

There is no proof that animals don't have a sense of the transcendent.

For all we know, ants think we are Gods and have developed a religion around avoiding the evil Gods who continually destroy their homes and spray them with plague like chemicals that kill millions of them.

I would guess that they have developed sacred text that requires an unreasonable standard of living, and thinking that can then be used to blame other ants when the humans attack.

Answer 10

Yes, they can. Animals do not have religion. So what? Animals also do not have nuclear weapons. Does that mean that they are more peaceful than humans?

Have you ever talked with atheists? You might be suprised to learn that they are human. In fact, many of them are more concerned for the people of the planet than some christians.

Finally, Hitler had religion. Does that mean he was not a brute?

Answer 11

it's human nature to wonder about the supernatural realm. we also wonder about what happens after death, etc. we long for understanding and balance of the universe and through believing in God (or some sort of deity) we are able to make some sense of the invisible realm.

i personally would fall apart without my religious beliefs. it is comforting to me to believe that God loved us enough to send his son to die for us so that we could have eternal life with him. i like the idea that there is more to life and to the universe than what we feel through our senses.