Atheists - You seemed to have missed the point of my last question?

Question

I asked from a secular point of view - what was the ultimate goal of life that religion hinders.

Many of you mentioned religious people "bothering you" and spoiling your fun or your own personal freedoms being violated etc.

Are you saying the ultimate goal of life is all about the happiness and quality of life of the individual? I'm asking you to take a broader perspective - isn't it true that religion bonds communities together with a common belief and a common morality? (If you fail to see the value of this, think about the value of our young being raised in a stable home & being taught to respect other members of society, not to steal or kill etc.)

Further, isn't it true that in the long run, religions that encourage reproduction and charity and "love your neighbor" and so forth are more valuable to the survival of our species than your individual liberties and freedoms?

So in your mind, what exactly is humanity to strive for that religion hinders?

Answer 1

I like your question, and how respectfully you asked it. I didn't see your previous one, and I'd like to respond...

in my humble opinion... one of the important tasks of our life is to define our self, our values, and our purpose in life. Religion hinders that by providing a "canned" identity, purpose, and meaning of life. It requires no thought or self-development of the believer. Religions always have pretty firm standards that their participants must abide by... but the participant does not develop those standards.

As an atheist, I've had to look at my values and purpose, define what I believe is important, and follow through with that in order to have a stable identity and a high quality of life. I have met many believers who cannot answer the question "who am I" without spouting of rote memorization's provided by their religious leaders.

It looks like an easy way out, to me. I don't mean this to be mean... I am trying to offer you my take on your question.

Happy Holidays!

Answer 2

There is no ultimate goal in life for religion to hinder. I think you'll find that most people see their goal in life as being very different from the goals of others. However, religion is pretty good at thwarting the goals of individuals. Like all the people who've been killed in the name of religion, for example.

The uninhibited reproduction of human beings encouraged by religion will inevitably lead to overpopulation and subsequently the biggest loss of human lives the planet has ever seen. We'll be lucky if it doesn't result in the extinction of the species.

Answer 3

"Are you saying the ultimate goal of life is all about the happiness and quality of life of the individual?"

Yes. When people talk about altruism and noble sacrifices, they usually mean what YOU are willing to do without. The hive mentality where the individual is subservient to the State (or the Church) has caused a tremendous amount of misery in the world.

"isn't it true that religion bonds communities together with a common belief and a common morality?"

Are you saying that the utilitarian value of a religion is more important than whether or not it's true?

"Further, isn't it true that in the long run, religions that encourage reproduction and charity and "love your neighbor" and so forth are more valuable to the survival of our species than your individual liberties and freedoms?"

No. By discouraging birth control, religion is responsible for a heck of a lot of poverty.

Answer 4

And I pointed out that your question is presumptuous.

Instead of cutting and pasting the same answer
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=As1Xp2gWWbtno9FDtP4N1Kjsy6IX;_ylv=3?qid=20071221102604AAV5fVF

"Further, isn't it true that in the long run, religions that encourage reproduction and charity and "love your neighbor" and so forth are more valuable to the survival of our species than your individual liberties and freedoms?"

Reproduction no. People will adequately reproduce without religion The examples of over-reproduction you gave before are detrimental to society.

Charity & love. I see little evidence that religions actually make either a priority. Politics war and wealth seem to be the driving forces now as they were in the past.

And without individual liberties and freedoms you might have 'survival' but nothing more. And who would want that?

Why not just believe the way you want I'll not believe and we'll both be happy? Life is way too short for anything else.

Answer 5

Religion does not hinder the "ultimate goal" in life, ti simply blurs it to the point of confusion.

And no, morals do not come from religion and that binding in a certain belief is what gets atheist, Muslim or x-religion families out of christian majority neighborhoods.

Some of those religions that encourage "love thy neighbor" don't really practice it (example R&S), therefore do not contribut to the social developement of the human species.

Natural given freedoms, stem cell research to cure diseases, and the abolishment of censorship in the arts.

Answer 6

Religions should bond communities together, what they do in fact is polarize people so that there are "us" and "them" and us shall not accept them. You may have other perspectives on that but again, because of the "us" and "them" billions of people have been killed. On a personal note, I am the only person I have ever heard of being asked to leave a sanctuary church, one that opened its doors to all people and hid those who were in fear of their lives. I was not in fear of my life I was only wanting to observe their mass. Also, you are assuming that religion makes for a stable home and religion is the only way to learn to not steal or kill. in my own case it was the most de-stabilizing factor in the home. Many religious people have stable homes, but for thousands of years before religion came about people had stable homes, religion at that time de-stabilized the home. I encourage love your neighbor, in fact the atheist group in my town are the ones putting together the christmas dinner of the old people in town and the old folks home. The many churches in this town do not contribute to our cause. We are the only ones who bring dinner to the shut-ins.

If religion were to be what it was supposed to be, people gathering as a community to support themselves and their community as a whole then i would accept religion. In this day and age it is a means to an end - that end being a few people making millions of $ off the gullible, or killing those you don't happen to like.

Answer 7

"Are you saying the ultimate goal of life is all about the happiness and quality of life of the individual?"

No, but why do you think that people need religion in order to do good things for others and help society? I know plenty of non-religious people who contribute quite a lot. It IS possible to be a good person w/o swallowing a lot of bullsh!t and obeying a bunch of rich old men who don't even know you.

Answer 8

Religion only hinders when you decide to not use your own brain in conjunction with it. Some people let their religious leaders do the thinking for them, some don't. My parents are liberal christians who don't let their religion run their life, it's merely a small part of it.

You can't apply that statement to a whole because there are so many vastly different religions with their own doctrines. It is only applicable to the single person.

I'm not an atheist because I feel my life would be hindered by religion, I'm an atheist because I've ~never~ had any belief in deities despite being exposed to various religions.

Answer 9

Couldn't I rephrase your question to ask something like this: "Religious people, with all the hatred, ignorance, war, bigotry, and bloodshed that has been caused by religious beliefs (christian, muslim, pagan, or whatever) and/or the intolerance of other peoples' religious beliefs, why do you insist on believing that religion is the exclusive source or morals and cohesion in society? Isn't the exact opposite the case? Without the ignorance, superstition and violence that has been and continues to be religion's main contribution to humanity, wouldn't the world be a much better place?

Answer 10

What you're arguing for is "belief in belief". I concede that religion *can* do all of what you say, but that wouldn't have any reflection on whether its teachings are accurate.

I'm not going around telling people that they shouldn't be religious, or that they shouldn't do their thing. It isn't religion itself that hinders society, but what some specific religions teach -- hatred, intolerance, etc.

So when humanity strives for tolerance, and some religions interfere, that's a problem. For example, right now humanity is striving for equality for homosexuals and religion is hindering that.

But it isn't religion generally so much as specific kinds of religion.

EDIT: Sometimes people call religion a "useful myth". It isn't useful for me. If it's useful to you and you aren't hurting other people with it, all the better.