Teté

Hi All:

I'd like to know your opinion about this subject. Is religion or the need for something or someone 'transcendent' something biologic related to the human being? Just in case, I don't think so. I'm convinced that what really biological is is sheer fear, mostly of the unknown, as well of death. Trying to overcome those fears is how humans come up with the idea of religion. It is a kind of response in order to tranquilizing our natural anguish before so many things we cannot explain in a rational way. It's also an answer (of course not one of the rational kind) to the problem that represents freedom and its problematic aspects. On top of that, the loneliness issue. Have you noticed that the very important acts of our life have to be faced by ourselves in complete solitude? I find that trying to accept this reality is a very hard task to perform without the consolation of, somehow, a magical response. But I don'tfeel the necessity of let others the right to make the decisions for me. Let alone, to think on my behalf. Yes, I experience anguish, and fear, and insecurity. But I am convinced I have the means to work things out in a earthly, human way. That implies being in a sort of permanent questioning and intellectual daring attitude. As my mind reminds open, I will always find things that nourish my knowledge and bring me new and rich perspectives of the world I myself am immersed in.
Well,my friends. I'm really interested in knowing your opinion about the fear thing as one of the main causes of the appearing of religion.
I will be waiting for your answers.
Thanks a lot and see you around!

Teté

Don Alhambra

Try having a read of Religion Explained by Pascal Boyer. It's quite comprehensive and well written, and although it has some flaws it's a decent introduction to a complex topic from an anthropological and scientific perspective.

Selsaral

When I try to imagine what it was like for the humans who lived 40,000 years ago, the development of religion makes a great deal of sense. Fear certainly plays a large part IMHO, but ignorance also. The world is a big, complicated, wierd scary place...especially for emotional, social, intelligent animals like us. Add a lot of hardship and tremendous ignorance and you can start to see a lot of psychological and social needs that are neatly met by religion.

MonCapitan2002

I think religion is a crutch that weak minded people use to face reality. There is nothing wrong with that so long as they don't shove their morality and beliefs down the throats of people who are strong enough to not subscribe to their nonsense.

GermanHeretic

Exactly, plus it is a perfect way to control people, when organized, hence its appeal to political powers.

truthie

Religions give hope, moral, comfort, the supernatural ("cool"), protection, order, control, something to live for, simplicity, like *religious explanations of things that occur in the world are way simpler, therefore easier to understand.*
Example. It is preferable to believe that the presence that you felt behind your back last Sunday was that of a spirit, that way you do not have to bother yourself with more rational explanations from the difficult language of science…
Ignorance.
Now, religious folk are more accepted in society. :boohoo:
A mind set? Comformism?
That's all I can say for now.

T.

Norseman

People need religion like they need a wheelchair. For some of us, it slows us down, we really don't need and don't want it. For others, you couldn't live without it. And of course you have many brands of wheelchairs, each brand being better and worse in its own ways. Some people advocate their brands so much they get the nice idea of putting their healthy kids in wheelchairs as well. Many people act like salesmen of their brands, trying to get other people to switch to their brands, and of course encouraging people that don't have a wheelchair to get one, they'll even help you get the wheelchair (of course it will be their brand). What they don't seem to realize is healthy people don't need a wheelchair, but they've been living with people who need wheelchairs their whole life, so they really don't understand what life without a wheelchair is like when you don't need one. What I find curious is many otherwsie healthy people can be found in wheelchairs, for no apparent reason. People that don't need the wheelchair shouldn't use it, and many of us have figured that out, hopefully more will follow.

mrmoderate

Religion is a man made organized structure to try to explain why we have spiritual beliefs.

Spiritual beliefs are not just taught, it is felt. There has obviously been an interaction between spirituality and man since the beginning of mans mortal existance as spirituality is noted in all of mankinds historical and even prehistorical evidences.

I think more than what has caused man to be spiritual we should be asking why does man deny spirituallity? This can be explained easily by ego. As man progresses in intellect of his material world some come to the belief that they themselves can know everything through physical and scientific means.

This attitude has been prevelant with a minority of persons throughout history. It is usually the "intellectuals" who subcumb to the egotistical belief that there is no Creator, that they are now smart enough to not need God to lay reasons on for why things happen.

By the way, every era of "free thinkers" and "intellectual elite" has been proven wrong in many of their scientific beliefs by later science. While God has never been proven to be, God has never been proven to not be either.

trendkill

Well, the wheelchair analogy seems insufficient to encompass all of the reasons for religious belief.

Personally, I think the cause of religion does have a strong physiological component. But I think if I were to give one primary reason why religion survives, it has to be the cultural coherence it promotes. Groupthink, submission to leadership, self-righteousness, fanatacism--all of these things serve to enhance a group's ability to wage war and exert control. And of course war has historically been the main factor in determining what the face of human society will look like; which culture will win out. If religion assists in warfare and domination, we can expect religion to flourish.

Godless Wonder

Your parents.