Why Does Man "Need" Religion

SatansGift

SatansGift

Active Member
Just like the title says, why does man feel a need for dogma? What good does it do to believe in heaven and hell? Why not just live life to the fullest without the fear of eternal punishment? Now don't go saying I'm just against god and things like that. I grew up in a Christian household, my grandfather was a Baptist minister. Yet I just can't understand why man has to have belief in a higher spiritual power. Hell I was clinically dead for 47 seconds before and I saw no light, no loved ones that had passed, and no ultimate truth. It was just nothingness.
 
SatansGift

SatansGift

Active Member
God I hope this post makes as much sense as I think it did. Sorry had a few rum n' cokes tonight, along with my usual downers as prescribed, and a fat blunt of purple moonshine. So not sure how much sense this will make, but it did make sense in my head, lol.
 
turkish420

turkish420

Active Member
Money. . . thats the real roots of organized religion. . . more people have died or been killed over organized religions quest for the almighty dollar than for any other reason in the history of the planet. I believe there is a higher power but I'm not gonna let any person tell me who or what that is or who or what I should believe in
 
leeny

leeny

Active Member
it's certainty and safety. black and white. you do this and you will get rewarded with this but if you do that than you will be punished with that... there would be no "life rules" which might result in either total chaos or total freedom... and the chaos is too risky... (money too)
 
A

AutumnSpliffs

Member
The people who fear uncertainty and believe anything to comfort themselves have become a tool of our industry corrupted government that commands our tax dollars, military, domestic and foreign policy. It is not black and white but it's important to recognize the difference between the gullible who think they get an eternal luxury cruise in the sky in exchange for abstinence and the snakes who preach to them to get ahead because we live in the era of American megachurches. The important thing is for people like us to do more than be curious about why they're so stupid and do more to minimize their impact. As for the effect of faith on man's cognition you should check out Patton Oswalt's bit on sky cake.
 
SatansGift

SatansGift

Active Member
I'm loving the answers so far. I'm also loving the fact that this thread hasn't become an argument, yet. I was expecting this thread to become an all out fight between theists and non-theists. Let's keep this thread alive, because I'd love to also see some answers from those that have religion in their lives, as long as they don't start claiming we are going to hell for not believing or using the bible as historical proof.
 
briwaller

briwaller

Active Member
i also grew up in a christian home and saw the game that people are playing, with other people at an early age., its so easy to do something bad, then say " im forgiven", because ive confessed my sins, then you see the same person going and @#$%ing up again the next weekend, then they are in church first thing sunday morning, the preachers are laughing all the way 2 the bank, people "find god" in prison all the time, the world is full of hypocrites and backstabbers, i found most of them in church, im not trying 2 hate on it, cause i know it helps some people, im just saying i believe what i know, and im not going 2 let anything or anyone, (religion wise),control me, that way, i know my consequences are mine, i will not blame god for my misfortune but take responsibility 4 my own actions.
 
greenyield

greenyield

Well-Known Member
turkish420 said:
Money. . . thats the real roots of organized religion. . . more people have died or been killed over organized religions quest for the almighty dollar than for any other reason in the history of the planet. I believe there is a higher power but I'm not gonna let any person tell me who or what that is or who or what I should believe in
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well said turkish:clap:, i agree.
however, the masses of people in general need something to believe in to lift their spirits out of a dreary existence of the routine of work and what little social life remains after a long work day etc etc. for me it is simple, i do what i like, believe what i like (my own thing)and dont preach it to others. our time is better spent living the life we have rather than creating war over whose religion is the right one.
 
jfgordon1

jfgordon1

Well-Known Member
People need religion... because people are scared to die. Want to have something to look forward to.

YAY God ! lol
 
olishell

olishell

Active Member
It's been said,(I don't know by whom)that "If God did not exsist,Man would have felt the need to invent Him"People seem to need the feeling that they are being "watched out for"
 
i grow everglades bud

i grow everglades bud

Well-Known Member
here is my philosophy on religion!!
there is money to be made in it
and mostly what i feel is the weak minded need somthing to make them feel as they have a purpose in life,
also religion is a good start for morals, rights, wrongs , and "societies laws and rules for a smoother government ruleing"
because with out religion , there fore, reasons to treat people good, there for honesty and morals, there would not be a governent, just .... survival of the fitest!

well makes sence to me, what do you think lol
 
SatansGift

SatansGift

Active Member
PrincessTurdstool said:
"The following is opinion only... it is based only in personal experience and in no way claims to be proven fact... but that doesn't mean it isn't true"

IMO man initially invented gods to explain away forces of nature for which they had no answers... "Why does it rain... i don't know... someone must be pouring water on us" etc. then through an evolving sense of comprehension they assumed that they could change natural forces by appeasing that person or thing which was controlling them... hence sacrifices to volcanoes... rain dances... etc. All forces of nature change eventually.. rain eventually stops, volcanoes eventually calm, etc... so it was easy for primitive man to assume their little dances and sacrifices worked. Somewhere along the way every tribe develops an intelligent leader type and that person figures out they can control people through fear of the "Unknown God" and from there dictators emerge and theocratic governments evolve.

I tend to believe most "religious leaders" are closet atheists manipulating the sheeple like puppets... as the religious leaders of the world could not truly believe what they claim to believe and still do the things they do knowing they could drop dead at any given moment without a chance to utter the words "forgive me".

Why the common man clings to religious beliefs? IMO it is a social conditioning... not just to believe in gods.. but to respect the words of your elders as wisdom. "Old and wise" is a common assumption and more often than not grossly inaccurate. I know MANY old people.. and few of them are wise in most of what they say. They believe anything they hear on TV. They believe anything their parents told them when they were children. The vast majority of them are religious and claim to have faith in a god yet when you ask have they ever read the entire bible they will tell you "NO"... what they have faith in is their pastor. They have faith he is telling them the truth about what is in the bible.

Religion exists because of willful ignorance... willful because letting go of it means you have to let go of the notion that you can treat other people like crap, lie, cheat, steal, and still sleep with a clear conscious because you asked your sealy posturpedic for forgiveness... and it also means you don't get to be a shitty person and still look down your nose at decent people because you have a Yahoo Personal relationship with Jesus.

Yesterday some JWs came to my door with watchtower books. I have dealt with these people enough to know they think Atheist means "Satan worshiper". They cant reach the logical conclusion that lack of belief in a god negates the belief in the existence of Satan... so I always tell them "No I don't want a watchtower... I am Atheist... wanna come in and talk about Satan?"
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Great post, intelligently put, and more in depth then I could have ever hoped for. I agree 100%.
 
skiskate

skiskate

Well-Known Member
As everybody else said, because people are scared of what comes next. They need an adult fairy tale to tell them what to do.

I dont need religion, I just need weed..
 
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