Question on religion. Some say that religion was invented just to control people. How did or does religion?

Question

control a person? Control means to command, make, and force. I'm a Christian and I have the same rights, privileges, and freedom as do you. Living location, schooling, work, R&R, buying, selling, etc. etc. I can do these things just like anyone else. So-How am I being controlled? I'm not forced to go to church and I'm not forced to give money. I might be asked to do so. but I'm not forced to do so. Religion doesn't force me to keep the commandments. But keeping the commandments is good for you and good for me. Is there something wrong with keeping "thou shall not steal"? Is it supposed to make me say that whatever the government does is fine and I'm not supposed to "rock the boat"? I can protest, run for office, belong to a union, etc. just like you can. Is the media, radio, TV, movies, newspapers, and all laws controlled by religion? Please, name what specific thing religion has FORCED YOU TO DO. How is religion forcing/controlling me? How is it trying to force & control you?

Answer 1

You are right to a point. Religion does not MAKE you do anything but it does shape the way you perceive things. You are taught from day one what is right and wrong and much of this is backed up from teachings of your religion. I'm not saying that this is wrong, most religious teachings are for the betterment of everyone in general.

Lets look at this another way. As a christian you would have no problem eating pork or beef. This is perfectly normal. If you were raised as a Muslim or Jew it would be unthinkable to eat pork, if Hindu beef would be out of the question. Why? Because since you can remember you have been taught that this was wrong or this was right because your god or prophet said so. Yes, the final decision is up to you but a person raised as a Hindu would see the decision to eat a nice juicy burger a hell of a lot differently than a christian would.

If you were raised in a community where it was normal and expected to take what you wanted from someone who was weaker, even if it meant killing them you would not have the same revulsion to taking a life as you probably do now.

I am not a religious person, just never bought into it but I can definitely see the benefit of organized religion. I have a beef with religion when it pits one against another when the teachings just about always come down to the same principals.

Answer 2

Don't think about today's religions, but think back to when societies were forming out of small family groups. This is when religions started. At this point, there was no government or laws and rules would change from leader to leader. Religion was a way of "codifying" social rules and maintaining a degree of social order. It also served the purpose of answering great mysteries like why is there no game to kill or why is my baby sick. This gave the "priest/shaman" a good deal of power.

Some societies combined the roles of "leader" with "priest" and others kept them separate.

Edit:
In today's society various religions try to influence laws to enforce a given set of morality, and have done so for many years.

Edit 2:
Religion has been around for many years, the earliest evidence of a religion dates back around 35,000 years ago and the Neadnerthals seems to have a belief in the afterlife.

Answer 3

Some religions are more like social movements than others. Meaning some have definite agendas to promote and are less about matters of the spirit than they are about politics and getting people to 'behave well'. Not all churches are like that. I cant say all Christianity is like that, or Hinduism, or anything. But, Christianity and Islam kinda seem, more than other faiths, to have well defined 'proper behavior' and 'bad behavior' roles and seem to promote more political agendas than most other world faiths. Religion is supposed to wrangle with Mysteries, the hard questions like 'the meaning of life' , 'where did it all come from', 'what happens when we die' and stuff. Some enjoy the Mysteries, some say they have answers or The Answers. If you tell someone there is only one Right Answer and all others are Wrong, aren't you trying to control them to some extent?

Answer 4

One specific thing that religion FORCED people to do?

Convert to christianity or be tortured and killed as heretics.

It was called the Inquisition. Check it out. It was kinda a big part of European history. Check, especially Spain.

Oh, yeah, and then there were the armies that went out and just slaughtered people, not even being sure if they weren't Christians, just because they lived in the holy land. It was called the Crusades. Another big part of European History.

More towards the control issue, the fear of Hell kept people going to church, and following what the church said was the right path.

True, today we have much more freedom, but in the 14th century, for example, if you didn't go to church every single Sunday, absolutely NO EXCUSES, you ran the risk of being tortured and killed as a heretic, and your family could be in trouble too. Even friends.

Answer 5

I find people who simplify religion to such a statement have a very shallow view of both religion and history. Yes, some people have used religion to control people, such as "you're going to hell if you don't give us 10% of your income" or "we'll set you on fire if you don't agree with us or suggest people not listen to us." But that doesn't make control religion's primary purpose, and it certainly doesn't make religion an invention whose sole purpose is to control.

Answer 6

the rulers of the US control their people by scaring them of things and bringing fear into their lives.this way they easily persuade them 2 do anything,even go to war with a so called enemy 2 serve the illegal wishes of their rulers.with their money(they pay as tax)and their lives.just fear of the wrong people,not religion

Answer 7

Some people might think they are following their religion willingly, but think for a minute that we are all born without any knowledge of god or religion therefore we are all born atheists. We get our religious values from our parents.....they indoctrinate us to believe what they believe....as young children we trust our parents to do what is best for us so if they tell us that doing or saying certain things is bad then we will grow up believing so because young children will not question anything their parents tell them to believe....I mean we all believe in Santa at one point even though he doesn't exist right?

So yes you are a free man and everything you believe, you believe willingly....and everything you do, you do them of your own free will. But why is it that there are certain things that most people think of as fun or harmless you would never do because you think you are going to hell if you do them? That is where the control comes in.

Religion controls not your actions, it doesn't force anyone to do anything...but rather prohibits its followers from doing certain things, saying certain things.

Sex can be fun, who cares if you're not married. Sex is not the devil....it just plain feels good. Religious people always say abstinence and blah blah blah. While us non believers would never in a million years feel guilt for doing something that feels good and that 2 people consent to. I guess porn falls into this category too somehow....religious people tend to think that porn is immoral and ungodly......and they probably think that people who masturbate while watching porn should burn in hell. If you think this way you probably think that you're doing so willingly....not so.....it is human nature to enjoy sex and is the same human nature to enjoy pleasuring ourselves and to see naked people.

Asside from sex there so many other things that religious people find are evil but are actually harmless. A childhood friend of mine wasn't allowed to watch "the simpsons" because his mom said it had dirty language in it. Dirty language? for **** sakes what difference does it make if a child hears the word damn or something like that? Do religious people not raise their kids to be smart enough not to say those things?

Some religious people think that Harry Potter and The Golden Compass are evil.....EVILLLLL. They're just movies.....get over it. Kids aren't going to become atheist by watching the golden compass any more than an atheist could become christian by watching chronicles of narnia.

Some movies and shows have sex and violence in them, there's no avoiding that.....but thinking that harmless cartoons are evil is just nonsense. So there is that control coming into play again.....some religious folks think that anything that is not christian is evil and that you will burn in hell for watching it. I'm glad I don't feel the need to think that way......some would feel an immense sense of guilt for watching certain movies which is just silly if you ask me.

Another example is music, do you think that artists such as marilyn manson should burn in hell? You probably do along with any other metal or rock band don't you? It's just music, some stupid people do stupid things and people will blame it on music or movies or video games because it can never be the parent's fault for not raising their kids right....or it can never be a classmate's fault for bullying someone to the extent that it would make a person do bad things to himself or others. No, it's always the fault of marilyn manson or grand theft auto or something. There's the control again......almost anyone who is religious is pretty much forced to think that a person is not responsible for their actions they are just victims of the entertainment they consume. I, as well as many others, on the other hand am smart enough to know that even without the music, movies and games that there are people out there who are just mentally/emotionally screwed up and all it takes is the wrong person to push him/her over the edge. Some christians/religious people probably think that certain movies/music/games should be banned altogether......I wonder video game Hitler played that made him so violent? Maybe Genghis Khan listened to some badass heavy metal in his teen years. Napoleon Bonaparte must have been watching some pretty gruesome horror movies or something eh? My point is violent behaviour long precedes the existence of the movies, games and music that we constantly blame for today's violent behaviour.

I can assure you that you would not think this way if your parents didn't brainwash you as a child that there are things you can't do or say because god will make you burn in hell if you do. People are allowed to have whatever opinion they want....but if people base their opinions on religious moral value instead of fact, logic and common sense then what value does that opinion have except to those who follow the same religion?

I apologize for the long read but I stand by my opinion.

Answer 8

People are different. You can, but you don't. Your beliefs stop you. I do whatever strikes me. You don't because you don't want to do as I do. You think my way of living is no way to live. I think your way of life is not worth living. You live as you please. I will live as I please. I don't need a preacher or a god to tell me how. I know how. I have been doing it for sixty plus years.

Edit. Again, Hound says it eloquently. I said it rough.

Answer 9

not so much now days not really at all, but in the past very much so. if you find out about the history of it in Europe its a whole other thing then now days.

Answer 10

It means that the fear of eternal damnation is preventing some people from doing bad things.