What is the point of life - what is the ultimate goal? From a purely secular point of view, if it's self-fufillment and it's up to us to decide our own meaning for ourselves - why does it bother you that religious people have decided their meaning is found in religion? The majority of the people on this earth have.
You seem to think religious thought is bad for society in general - but again let me ask you from a secular point of view what is so wrong with religion? If the point of life is evolution and natural selection, might I say that some religions are quite adept at aiding in reproduction. "Be fruitful and multiply" for example.
Infact religions that incorporate polygamy seem to have truly adapted to maximum reproduction - one powerful man with many females - there's a rich Muslim who's goal in life is to have his 100th child before he dies - he's quite close.
Tell me what is the ultimate goal of life according to you that religion hinders?
2007-12-21 05:26:04 · 40 answers · asked by Anonymous in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
If they kept their religion to themselves, there would be no problem.
Unfortunately, we live in a society where a great deal of our national policy is being set according to religious superstitions and dogma. Are you honestly blind to this?
The banning of the single most promising line of scientific research (stem cell) was not due to any scientific problems with using stem cells..... only due to the fact that the idiot in charge decided it was immoral to use eggs and sperm leftover at fertility clinics to create stem cells. I honestly shudder to think what leaps we might have made in virtually every scientific field were it not for the hindrance that is religion.
Don't even get me started on Iraq.... With a president who claims he was "chosen by god" to lead us in our fight. How about the crusades, the inquisitions, the rape of the new world, WWI, WWII, Israel, Ireland, Somalia, 9/11, or virtually any country in the middle east for the last 2000 years......all these stem from religious differences, or the belief that some god had destined some group to rule the world.... If you're not sensing a pattern, you're not looking!
I guess to me the goal of life should be to live a good life and help those in need of helping. Religion tends to make this more difficult, not less. I know I'm generalizing, but you were asking my opinion, and you have it. Religion is simply not good for the world today; socially, medically, environmentally, educationally, etc, it's poison.
2007-12-21 05:28:52 · answer #1 · answered by the waterbourne AM 5 · 11⤊ 2⤋
If your meaning in life is "religion" then you have an extremely limited view of life. I had thought for religious people the meaning of life was an ultimate reward in heaven which always made me ask, why don't you just end it now and reap your reward. My personal point in life is to live it as fully as I can, which to fundies means sin and debauchery, but I know for a fact that I live a more pure and meaningful life than most "Christians" that I know.
Religion is bad for society. It has killed billions of people throughout history and usually in the violent or heinous manner possible. Christians love burning people at the stake and there can be few things more horrendous than that if you think about it. I agree with you that polygamy is best for of functioning in this society and was a way of life long before people could think beyond fire and were a million years from religion. Also, religion made polygamy a sin and punishable by being burned at the stake or being boiled in oil about 1000 years thus forgoing the natural process of the human species and destroying thousands of years of societal processes and only for the purposes of controlling people.
2007-12-21 05:47:28 · answer #2 · answered by bocasbeachbum 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Secular thought never advocates that the purpose of life is "Self-fulfillment". If anything, this is the purpose of religion, to give people ancient and violent codes to live by, in the hopes that they'll survive their own death and spend eternity floating around a fantastical cloud palace or raping the many virgins Allah would give them.
The purpose of life is to make the world a better place.
Whether attacking science or anything else that deviates from ancient fairy tales as "blasphemous", to killing people who are not of the same faith, to preoccupying yourself with the state of people's "souls" rather than their mortal suffering,
religion hinders human progress and burns it at the stake when it does succeed in occuring.
2007-12-22 11:36:50 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
It may well be that religion served or continues to serve some evolutionary purpose. I think it's more likely that it's a side-effect of something else that's useful for human development. But that's neither here nor there.
Everyone's ultimate purpose in life is something they have to figure out for themselves. I've been reconsidering my career choice lately because I don't find it very (I'll borrow some of your words) "spiritually fulfilling" -- I'm thinking of changing careers so that I can do something that helps society more.
If you find meaning in religion, I won't condemn you for that. But I don't, and I think you should respect that, even if you don't understand it.
As much as I like killing time by teasing you all, I don't really have anything against you. :)
2007-12-21 06:12:33 · answer #4 · answered by STFU Dude 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
There is no "ultimate goal" of life beyond surviving and passing on your genes (from a purely biological perspective)...except what you choose to make of it. There is no "Grand Plan", no "Ultimate Destiny", no divine puppetmaster pulling strings or tinkering with a broken universe.
Everything is wrong with religion: Religion today actively hinders scientific advancement, justifies atrocities, and fuels dissension. It enforces an "Us vs. Them" mentality, typically in the form of "the Saintly vs. the Heathens/Godless". The Abrahamic faiths in particular deliberately demand that religious dogma trump observable reality.
2007-12-21 05:34:10 · answer #5 · answered by Scott M 7 · 2⤊ 0⤋
~~~ M ,,,, Soul Growth via Reincarnation, which is NOT a religion anymore than Atheism, although this concept is found in some established religions such as Hinduism and Buddhism for example. ~ The Dogma of ANY religion hinders soul growth as it nullifies Freewill & Freethinking. ~~ My challenge is to Your Assumption that Atheists think the same and have the same values or belief systems outside of their Common Denominater of the non-existence of a Supreme Being. ~ Namaste`
2007-12-21 06:22:08 · answer #6 · answered by Sensei TeAloha 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Which religion are you talking about? None of which is the same. Treating women like they are to be owned and do nothing more than have children - nice moral concept.
Your challenge is lost from the beginning - it is not a challenge - it is pure ignorance. not worth commenting on further that what I already did.
Such love........You should be proud ... Your religion certainly has done much for you. Polygamy - pathetic- sexist -ignorant.
2007-12-21 05:37:17 · answer #7 · answered by Tricia R 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The ultimate goal of life is to sustain the future. Religion hinders that by not moving forward.
2007-12-21 05:34:06 · answer #8 · answered by Blame Amy 5 · 2⤊ 0⤋
As a skeptic and cynic, I could really care less what anyone else wants to or does not want to believe. The moment their belief or non belief starts to cross into my personal life I have the right to challenge their intrusion into my life.
Life is just the natural consequence of carbon based organic chemistry.
There is no purpose to life, it just is what it is.
The ultimate answer to life the universe and everything is that there is no answer. The really hard part to wrap your mind around is that there is really no question.
2007-12-21 05:36:26 · answer #9 · answered by ? 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Posts like this filling up the Internet...
No really, your making allot of assumptions, also, I am sorry if I am wrong, just your tone suggests superiority, which as I believe everyone is equal, offsets the balance and the peace. This same "superiority" seems to cause allot of people to get hurt.
Also there is allot of evidence to suggest the purpose of religion was control of others.
You wont change any opinions.
Peace.
2007-12-21 05:37:18 · answer #10 · answered by Conjord 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋