Mace

I really just came across this thought randomly while pondering one day.

And for most of you you probably feel like stamping a huge "DUH" across my face but...

Isn't it true that most Christians (and many other religions, I just mainly mean Christians.) only worship out of selfishness?

A: The Christian worships so they are saved from hell.
B: The Christian then worships for the sake of continuing to be saved from hell.
C: The Christian then says that they love their God.

I mean that MUST be the priority list for most people. It all comes down to the base of wanting to go to Heaven. It's like a kid on his birthday! He wants this and that and this. Then loves his parents for getting him all the cool gizmos.

And for that matter.

Would you go to hell to save a friend's soul if hell was real and humans had souls?
______________________________________________
(3)Loving God
(2)Wanting to be saved from hell
(1)Getting saved in order to be saved from hell

The base of it all. The priority list of most (all?) Christians.

Amaleq13

This seems more like a General Religious Discussion than Biblical Criticism & History so I'm switching you over.

-Amaleq13, BC&H moderator

Mace

Thanks Mod.

southernhybrid

Perhaps you are referring to conservative evangelical Xians. I personally know many Xians that either don't believe in hell or believe that going to hell will be based on your actions and not on what you believe. I even know a few Xians that don't really believe there is an afterlife. They consider hell and heaven and much of the Bible as symbollic. I usually don't sterotype Xians since there are so many very different sects of Xianity.

I think there are probably many reasons why people are attracted to Xianity. While some of the reasons may be selfish ones, I think it's often more likely the result of upbringing, culture, and tradition as much as anything else.
There are many people that get a sense of security from tradition.

Ovazor

I think that for a rather significant proportion of christians the reason to worship is that they have been raised to do so, nothing more.

Friend? Probably not. The woman I loved? Much more likely.

Mace

Yes I agree the upbringing has a lot to do with it, but if you asked the most diehard Christian why they believe... they just couldn't deny it. They'd try to lie and say that they loved their Lord and Savior with all their heart... but most of it is just "please don't send me to hell" in my opinion.

Selsaral

It's not a coincidence that most religions feature some sort of life after death.

Mace

You mean like reincarnation? Even though that is a bit different from others...

satur9poet

hey, i never thought of it that way, but it makes sense. Maybe Xtians aren't of themselves selfish, just childish. I mean, it seems that Xtianity teaches believers to follow in a certain way, and they'll get X reward. If not, they'll get Z reward or punishment. Depending on if you're a "normal" Xtian, you'll get a small prize, but the BIG prizes (i.e, the New Car or Vacation) are rewarded to the saints and Popes. It's like a sliding scale of rewards similar to the ones from your credit card company--spend this much money or time on the church, and you'll get your (fill in the blank) :rolling:

In this sense, it's better to have your own view of life than to be a child depending on its parent (the religion) for presents!

Asha'man

Hiya Mace :wave: (I hadn't said hi yet)

Actually, I've always seen selfishness is a huge source of motivation for humans in just about everything they do. Adding religion to the list doesn't surprise me in the least.

The trick, of course, is making selfishness work for you. If you recognise that you live in a society, like most humans do, then you recognise that hurting that society also hurts you. To protect yourself, a very selfish goal, you must also protect your society.

The real trick is to have the intelligence and vision to see that all of humanity is part of the same society, and that all must be protected for the most selfish of reasons.