Post by methos on Jan 31, 2007 16:12:27 GMT
Okay, given the fact that I Love discussions and that i have gotten permission to start one on This forum ^^(ty), I've decided to start a new discussion, I have also decided that this one will be about a favorite discussion topic of mine, one i have used before on other forums with great success: Religion
Yes yes, i know, you can barely control your enthusiasm about getting into this discussion, or your sudden need to grovel in awe of my magnificent genius, but alas, I'm just getting started, so you will have to control it, at least for a little while longer ;D *coughs*
Joking aside... Instead of doing like i usually do, with simply giving you my own opinion about the subject, or at least part of my own opinion, I'm going to do this.
I will start this whole thing with a question, then i will give My answer to the question, and ask you to:
1. Answer the question as well
and
2. comment on the answers already given.
Now for the question:
1: Why do we(humans) have religion?
2: What are the good/bad points about religion?
Now my personal answer to that one(well, its technically two, but you know what i mean...):
The reason we have religion is, in my opinion, fairly simple, but unfortunately, has a fairly long explanation, so here we go:
Consider the age of the Universe, that is alone far too much time for anyone to imagine, even by looking through telescopes into it, we can see the light of stars dying, light that is already several millions, if not billions of years old, now these stars have already before they died been there for millions or billions of years, and thats still (as far as we know) only a fraction of the total age of the universe as a whole.
Now consider the age of the earth, as far as we know the earth is 'bout 5 billions years old, only a fraction of a fraction of the age of the universe.
And the very first signs of humans go back 'bout 500 thousand to a millions years back, and thats going so far back in the human evolution that we were in fact no more than apes, again, not even a fraction of even the age of Earth, let alone the universe. heh don't worry, i wont start getting into how small we are size-wise compared to the universe.
Considering all that along with the fact that the average life-span of a human, is 'bout 70 years, give or take. Considering these pieces of information, a single human is not even a blink in the big picture.
Now, the human race in general has always been suffering from an inferiority complex, the human race is simply not capable of coping with the fact that we are unimportant, hell not even that, the human race has existed for a fraction of a blink in this universe, 'unimportant' is still overrating. Because the human race is unable to cope with this, it has created another world, a 'spirit world' centered around the human race, at first, spirits in humans, animals, trees, fire, making us a far bigger piece in the big picture.
Later the human race went even further, and came up with the idea of a Creator, a small group of supernaturally powerful beings that were responsible for the creation of the universe, and just to give our ego a boost, the human race made this small group, who were supposedly responsible for creating and running the universe, keep an eye on mankind, strike the humans with bad fortune when mankind failed to pray and give praise to them, and good fortune when the humans Did in fact pray, give praise and live according to a set of rules set up by said gods, of course, before mentioned gods were also made to Look like humans, another ego point for the human race.
Later again, the human race went even further in its ego-boosting, there is now, not a small group, but 1 single being, omni powerful, that is responsible for creating the universe, and is Still, despite now being only 1, keeps an eye on our microscopic corner of the universe, and listens to our prayers.
Also, since a single human only lives for approximately 70 years, humans have come up with the idea of an 'afterlife', mankind is unable to cope with the fact that this is IT, we are born, we live, we die, end of story. So mankind has come up with a way to make us stick around for 'ever' the 'God' grants us entrance to the 'spirit world' when we die, and lets us live there for the rest of eternity.
Now, the answer to the second part of the question, good and bad things about religion, is a bit more tricky, but here we go:
Religion can roughly be divided into two things: Personal religion, and institutionalized religion.
Personal religion:
Good points: Peoples own faith in a greater power can do a lot of good, it can help people through bad times, help people deal with pain, give people strength to fight on when they might have given up, give people a reason to live, when they might otherwise have tried to end it, it can bring comfort when you need it and make you feel safe.
most people find these things, or the ones they need, simply in praying, in their own personal bond to their God, however, religion can also occasionally provide these things, through a bond with another human being, the one that is 'responsible' for the connection between the individual, and his/her God.
Bad points: Personal religion can also be the reason for a lot of bad things, a person can go out and kill a bunch of people because he/she believes, because of his/her religion, that it is the right thing to do, or even in more extreme cases, because the person believes he/she has been Told, by 'god' himself, to do these things. There are several times, even in recent history, where someone has gone out and done something, like killing a bunch of people, and defended it by saying that it is Gods justice, or some other similar nonsense.
Now, Institutionalized religion:
Good points:
Just like your own faith, can provide the strength and support you need, you can also get these things from the priest. Many religious people use the priest as a lot of other people would use a shrink, to help solve various personal problems. In cases where a person believes that he/she has committed a bad/evil/sinful deed, the person can also go to the priest and be 'punished' for his/her actions, thus becoming capable of moving on by getting the feeling of guilt removed.
Bad points:
Institutionalized religion is probably one of the things(if not The One thing) that has killed the most people throughout human history, things like the Crusades, the Witch hunts ring any bell? no?, what about the Dark Ages? several hundred years where the entire known world were basically Christian, and the church ruled all, this is also, coincidently, the only large period of time where our technological level went Backwards, instead of Forwards... need i say more?
Yes yes, i know, you can barely control your enthusiasm about getting into this discussion, or your sudden need to grovel in awe of my magnificent genius, but alas, I'm just getting started, so you will have to control it, at least for a little while longer ;D *coughs*
Joking aside... Instead of doing like i usually do, with simply giving you my own opinion about the subject, or at least part of my own opinion, I'm going to do this.
I will start this whole thing with a question, then i will give My answer to the question, and ask you to:
1. Answer the question as well
and
2. comment on the answers already given.
Now for the question:
1: Why do we(humans) have religion?
2: What are the good/bad points about religion?
Now my personal answer to that one(well, its technically two, but you know what i mean...):
The reason we have religion is, in my opinion, fairly simple, but unfortunately, has a fairly long explanation, so here we go:
Consider the age of the Universe, that is alone far too much time for anyone to imagine, even by looking through telescopes into it, we can see the light of stars dying, light that is already several millions, if not billions of years old, now these stars have already before they died been there for millions or billions of years, and thats still (as far as we know) only a fraction of the total age of the universe as a whole.
Now consider the age of the earth, as far as we know the earth is 'bout 5 billions years old, only a fraction of a fraction of the age of the universe.
And the very first signs of humans go back 'bout 500 thousand to a millions years back, and thats going so far back in the human evolution that we were in fact no more than apes, again, not even a fraction of even the age of Earth, let alone the universe. heh don't worry, i wont start getting into how small we are size-wise compared to the universe.
Considering all that along with the fact that the average life-span of a human, is 'bout 70 years, give or take. Considering these pieces of information, a single human is not even a blink in the big picture.
Now, the human race in general has always been suffering from an inferiority complex, the human race is simply not capable of coping with the fact that we are unimportant, hell not even that, the human race has existed for a fraction of a blink in this universe, 'unimportant' is still overrating. Because the human race is unable to cope with this, it has created another world, a 'spirit world' centered around the human race, at first, spirits in humans, animals, trees, fire, making us a far bigger piece in the big picture.
Later the human race went even further, and came up with the idea of a Creator, a small group of supernaturally powerful beings that were responsible for the creation of the universe, and just to give our ego a boost, the human race made this small group, who were supposedly responsible for creating and running the universe, keep an eye on mankind, strike the humans with bad fortune when mankind failed to pray and give praise to them, and good fortune when the humans Did in fact pray, give praise and live according to a set of rules set up by said gods, of course, before mentioned gods were also made to Look like humans, another ego point for the human race.
Later again, the human race went even further in its ego-boosting, there is now, not a small group, but 1 single being, omni powerful, that is responsible for creating the universe, and is Still, despite now being only 1, keeps an eye on our microscopic corner of the universe, and listens to our prayers.
Also, since a single human only lives for approximately 70 years, humans have come up with the idea of an 'afterlife', mankind is unable to cope with the fact that this is IT, we are born, we live, we die, end of story. So mankind has come up with a way to make us stick around for 'ever' the 'God' grants us entrance to the 'spirit world' when we die, and lets us live there for the rest of eternity.
Now, the answer to the second part of the question, good and bad things about religion, is a bit more tricky, but here we go:
Religion can roughly be divided into two things: Personal religion, and institutionalized religion.
Personal religion:
Good points: Peoples own faith in a greater power can do a lot of good, it can help people through bad times, help people deal with pain, give people strength to fight on when they might have given up, give people a reason to live, when they might otherwise have tried to end it, it can bring comfort when you need it and make you feel safe.
most people find these things, or the ones they need, simply in praying, in their own personal bond to their God, however, religion can also occasionally provide these things, through a bond with another human being, the one that is 'responsible' for the connection between the individual, and his/her God.
Bad points: Personal religion can also be the reason for a lot of bad things, a person can go out and kill a bunch of people because he/she believes, because of his/her religion, that it is the right thing to do, or even in more extreme cases, because the person believes he/she has been Told, by 'god' himself, to do these things. There are several times, even in recent history, where someone has gone out and done something, like killing a bunch of people, and defended it by saying that it is Gods justice, or some other similar nonsense.
Now, Institutionalized religion:
Good points:
Just like your own faith, can provide the strength and support you need, you can also get these things from the priest. Many religious people use the priest as a lot of other people would use a shrink, to help solve various personal problems. In cases where a person believes that he/she has committed a bad/evil/sinful deed, the person can also go to the priest and be 'punished' for his/her actions, thus becoming capable of moving on by getting the feeling of guilt removed.
Bad points:
Institutionalized religion is probably one of the things(if not The One thing) that has killed the most people throughout human history, things like the Crusades, the Witch hunts ring any bell? no?, what about the Dark Ages? several hundred years where the entire known world were basically Christian, and the church ruled all, this is also, coincidently, the only large period of time where our technological level went Backwards, instead of Forwards... need i say more?
