Do religious people give up the freedom to think in order to feel they belong? That's seems to be the point of

Question

Sophia in the following answer that I got from her. I can understand her point!
Religious fanatics are mostly emotionally and mentally weak people. They have a hard time dealing with turbulence's of every day life, so religion offers them a constant support. It must be nice to be able to blame all of your actions on God, so you do not have to take responsibility for them. They also enjoy getting together with others like minded people: their strength is in numbers. They gladly give up their ability to think as a payment for sense of belonging. Being led by the nose by power hungry religious leaders is their every day reality.

However, intelligent and self assured individuals could never partake in an arrangement like that. Because we are used to question everything.

Answer 1

This was how I did it. Let the preacher tell us what to do. Then when some of their beliefs didn't make sense to me I would join another religion. It was much like jumping out of the frying pan into the fire, or at least another frying pan.

It was very hard for me to leave Religion and all its safety, but when I started to think a little without some person telling me "this is what that means" I was glad to leave.

At this time being Atheist makes me feel that Christians and other Religions are but a form of mental illness. Like praying to something that has never been around. Or some man with white hair sitting on a throne somewhere in the heavens.

The social community was what bound me for quite a while, but now I have to think myself away from things that bind and control our minds.

Answer 2

I believe that many people enjoy being in a church family/community which acts as an extended family to help you out when you need it and to give help to people they've come to know. It's a place to go every week to find like minded friends who often work on do-good causes together. I don't think that all people going to a church necessarily believe what their church leaders are dictating i.e. many Catholics use birth control and there are conservative Baptist who drink alcohol.

I do not go to church but I have many friends and relatives who do go and I sure can't call them lacking in intelligence or self assurance. Many are college educated and have high profile jobs in their communities. They just have a different view of God and the church systems than I do. No big deal. I firmly believe that if I want to be respected for my belief system (or rather lack there of) that I need to respect the belief systems of others. Belittling their intelligence because they believe in a higher power is short-sighted at best and just plain rude at the worst.

Answer 3

Although I am an atheist, I sharply disagree with your idea. Zealots are often geniuses. bin Ladin is an engineer. Gandhi was an attorney. Zealots are people who precisely understand what the implications of their belief system are and act on this. Since religious belief systems are static, and we teach people to learn by copying, zealots are the ultimate in learning by copying. They conform not through the absence of thought, but rather they are the A students. They copy the ideal in closer and closer approximations until they perfect it. Rather than be weak, they are usually emotionally and mentally strong. This strength, however, blocks out alternative view points precisely because religions are static.

Intelligent self assured people often think less than others because they close out alternatives.

Now, the most intelligent and charismatic do develop followers who may not think, or rather they adopt the stronger thinking of others. It is foolish to believe that being a follower of Gandhi, Francis of Assisi or bin Ladin is a bad idea or wrong. Rather, it is the sign of intelligence that people do follow them. The problem with each of these individuals, however, is that they are accepting that the religions they belong to are in fact valid.

Religious individuals do not give up the freedom to think, rather they allow their thinking to be structured in order to be effective in doing what they value. This structure however guarantees a form of blindness, as does the better forms of structured thinking such as science. How many people rejected relativity or quantum physics at its beginning because it was contrary to observation and accepted theory?

Science, however, has the advantage that it knows its models are incorrect. Religions fail because they believe a divine power, the Truth, or some such revelation is correct and therefore all reality must conform around it. Zealots of all forms actually work to inform the world the true beliefs of a religious way of thinking.

Answer 4

I'm glad you are so intelligent and self assured, however you are also quite condescending, and misinformed. In all my years of attending church, I have not lost, nor given up my ability to think. If anything, attending church gets me thinking about much more than my own narrow little world. It makes me realize that none of us has all the answers. In fact, it often raises more questions than it answers. I have never heard of a church or religion that allows a person to blame all of his or her actions on God. People of faith know that they have free will, and that God is not controlling their actions. I'm happy you are so independent, but some day you may feel the need for something bigger than yourself, and a community to support you. When that time comes, God will be there for you.

Answer 5

im a christian...and i try to solve my own daMn problems if i can..

i have enough sense to realize that sometimes...i do have to stand on my own 2 feet and get through things myself or with the help of family. i dont follow any church...in fact i rarely go to church because for the most part i cant really stand them. I do however pray..not much as i should..but i do. and its not because i expect an answer...it more or less..helps me focus..

so stick ur generalization ..... where the sun dont shine.


Love my Angel....I love ur answer! my thoughts exactly!

Answer 6

I think that religious fanatics are mostly emotionally and mentally weak people, but only religions like Christianity. Sorry. But Buddhists, they say that you have to find the power inside you, not a god that you have to pray for. Buddhists try to solve their problems on thier own. They can look inside themselves for strength instead of worshipping to a god becuase it makes them feel better. They are stronger.

Answer 7

wow, that is just so wrong!! Blame God? What is she talking about? I'm not religious, i believe in God But i don't ''blame Him'' for my actions, everything i do is my own responsibility.. that is called free will..

Answer 8

The way faith works is to believe - without question - if you question, you challenge your belief. It's like having a black or white thinking process - once you're aware that life is actually millions of shades of gray, you can never go back to black or white thinking.

EDIT To" I Block Everybody" - thank you cause now I'm in the BEST of company!

Answer 9

Some people don't bother thinking on their own and that is what is happening. They didn't give up the ability. They never had it or used it, in the first place.
C. :)!!

Answer 10

That´s a brilliant question. So brilliant, I´ve decided to block you for it.

I´m blocking Kessie too. Char´s already blocked, but if I could, I´d block her twice.