why do we believe in a religion?

[loveispoison]

hi all

this post is not against any religion and dont have any intentions to say bad about any religion i respect all religions i dont have nothing against it its just whats in my head that is eating me around:biggrin:

why do we believe in a religion and why is there a religion and what for?
example im born in a islamic family right so i follow them but what if i was born in a cristian family same thing i will follow my familys religion and it keeps going on and on generations after generation and yes there are people are christian or budhist or hindu or mulsim etc they change the religion for something they believe so the main question is is the religion true or just made up just think for a momment we we just believe in what others believe or what we believe in and in religious holy books it has been said about miracles etc were is the miracles know ? why there isnt any miracles anymore to show people that what to believe in some time i think maybe its all made up who knows maybe it is maybe its not and maybe im :nuts: so what do you think?

mods if you think this thread shouldnt be posted please delete it thanks

 

[xPlozion]

I personally do not believe or practice a religion, nor do I hate any one's religion. I'm a christian since birth, but have never been to church on sunday. As I grew older (now 20), I started to pay less and less attention to it (as many of my generation are).

My guess is that religion is something that people can believe in during their time alive, so they can think that they are going to heaven, thus making the growing older and dying parts much easier to handle?

Again, I don't know, practice, nor care about religion, and it's entirely up to the individual.

 

[loveispoison]

I personally do not believe or practice a religion, nor do I hate any one's religion. I'm a christian since birth, but have never been to church on sunday. As I grew older (now 20), I started to pay less and less attention to it (as many of my generation are).

My guess is that religion is something that people can believe in during their time alive, so they can think that they are going to heaven, thus making the growing older and dying parts much easier to handle?

Again, I don't know, practice, nor care about religion, and it's entirely up to the individual.

i gree with you and my self havent been paying attention to my religioni i did pray for some time and know i dont im 25 know so its just it comes to the mind no body knows when some 1 is gona die or is some 1 gona live so main thing is what if im wrong and if i die what will happen to me? m i gonna go to hell ir heaven no 1 can anwer that but in holly books it says

 

[zen-r]

Hi.

You may also be interested in a similar thread over here ; http://forums.x10hosting.com/crossfire/93828-do-you-believe-god.html

(It's a bit long, though!)

 

[loveispoison]

Hi.

You may also be interested in a similar thread over here ; http://forums.x10hosting.com/crossfire/93828-do-you-believe-god.html

(It's a bit long, though!)

i saw that and my question is not about god and some people believe in god but they dont believe in a religion so thats why i post this

 

[omniuni]

Religion is essentially the predecessor to government. Religion provided and to this day provides a framework by which people live their lives. It gives hope, advice, and sets a precedence from which we can build more modern opinions. A good religion will adapt to the times or it will eventually come to an end. I am Jewish, but were it not for the ability of my religion to adapt and accommodate modern science, I would leave. More than anything, what I enjoy about my religion, and what anyone should be able to get from their religion, is the wealth of general guidance. Judaism helps answer for me many tough questions that are related to my life, not directly to religion. It influences my views on politics, social situations, and my own ideas of what is right and wrong, sin and mitzvah (good deed). I feel comfortable with many of the conclusions, given the 5000+ years that it has been discussed by the greatest scholars in our geographic area. I find if fascinating, really the depth with which the supplements to our religious literature covers issues. Jewish law covers the death penalty (under strict Jewish law, it is incredibly difficult to issue the death penalty, and as such, only one person has ever been executed in Israel), and the Talmud discusses how one should care for their own body. The Cabala discusses the details of reincarnation, and the meaning of heaven. (Yes, we believe in reincarnation in a certain sense, and no, we do not believe in Hell.) So in short, why do we believe in religion? It gives us a basis for living our lives, and a more abstract meaning if we require it.

 

[sandogg]

I believe that there is a need for belief.
And that this manifestation (or one of the manifestations) is called Religion.

Personally I don't believe or follow a religion per say but I do observe certain religious practises related to the religion I was born in.
This is not however due to belief in the religion or its practices but more towards respect for the tradition and the beliefs of everybody else in the family and community who do believe.

I think if there is need of religion and belief for a community or family to interact better, via things such as cultural aspects which can include several things from communal prayers to dance programmes for everybody and I mean everybody is welcome then I am all for it.

Communities are built on common beliefs. Be it religion or even a common approach to lawful practices.

It creates better communal ties, interaction and commutation which I think is essential for peaceful living.

It is when there are differences due to religion that I begin to think everything would be much better without religion.

I am sure you are aware of these differences on a global scale.
However what touched me most is in relation with this community I belong two where there are two groups who follow the same religion and practices, yet they have two separate places of worship, on the same street within meters from each other. One half of the community adheres to one and the other to the second. Also these were originally one "church" not long ago.

Ok so you may say that this happens in major religions and no harm done?

But that is not true because this difference in opinion on one religion leads to violence and worse as it progresses. In the case I am talking about it is only beginning but has already created tension within families which are split between the two "churches" and then follows amongst the children who may be the best of friends at school etc. but have a "friendly" rivalry when it comes to the churches wih each trying to outdo each other... for now.
This is only the beginning.

So in summary I believe there is a need for belief and if this manifests itself as religion and that this leads to betterement for the community and the individual then I am all for it and I will even "practise" the religion based on this.
But when there is discord, violence and worse due to religion, I wonder if it would not be better not to have any religion after all.

 

[loveispoison]

Religion is essentially the predecessor to government. Religion provided and to this day provides a framework by which people live their lives. It gives hope, advice, and sets a precedence from which we can build more modern opinions. A good religion will adapt to the times or it will eventually come to an end. I am Jewish, but were it not for the ability of my religion to adapt and accommodate modern science, I would leave. More than anything, what I enjoy about my religion, and what anyone should be able to get from their religion, is the wealth of general guidance. Judaism helps answer for me many tough questions that are related to my life, not directly to religion. It influences my views on politics, social situations, and my own ideas of what is right and wrong, sin and mitzvah (good deed). I feel comfortable with many of the conclusions, given the 5000+ years that it has been discussed by the greatest scholars in our geographic area. I find if fascinating, really the depth with which the supplements to our religious literature covers issues. Jewish law covers the death penalty (under strict Jewish law, it is incredibly difficult to issue the death penalty, and as such, only one person has ever been executed in Israel), and the Talmud discusses how one should care for their own body. The Cabala discusses the details of reincarnation, and the meaning of heaven. (Yes, we believe in reincarnation in a certain sense, and no, we do not believe in Hell.) So in short, why do we believe in religion? It gives us a basis for living our lives, and a more abstract meaning if we require it.

but isnt it the religion that brings the war and what ever is going on right know in the word bcoz of war what about this ?


if there was no religion there wouldnt be a war as it is right know killing each other, one human being killing another human being for what? and it leads back to reiligion

 

[farscapeone]

I don't

 

[iwaproductions]

In my opinion, Religion is simply our way of structurally displaying that essence within us, our connection to what we might call divinity. Some people are so in tune with their own spirituality that they don't require a structure, but others might beleive the only way to have a link with the divine is through some denomination of worship. I find it so odd that so many people who believe in religion turn around and rebuke that religion's denominations over the most trivial details, instead deciding to go to a different denomination... "I don't want to eat just fish" or "I believe in Rapture"

Isn't it also ironic that the structure of organized religion caters to the same subconscious logic that people use to deny religion altogether? I don't know, and I personally look at religion as the structure, and spirituality as the art, two sides of the same humanity/divinity coin, so to speak.

Again, just my opinion, don't take anything I say to heart.

 

[Twinkie]

I believe that religion is an archetype (look into Carl Jung), and there is a need to believe in something greater than yourself. Not speaking for all people of course, there are those who don't really think about it. For a person with a hard life, it is overwhelmingly comforting to think that after their life is over, something greater will begin rather than believing they will sink into blackness. That everything happens for a reason, for your benefit in some indirect way. Also religion serves as a way to explain the unexplainable. Sciences can't explain it, so there must be a divine reason beyond our understanding. There are many reasons for religion.

I personally do not believe in religion, but I do believe its ideas. Religion is exploitable, but beliefs are not. I don't really want to get too much into my beliefs, but I will sum it up for you: I believe much more in Mother Teresa than the pope.

 

[btfog]

If you ask me, a practicing Catholic, religion is something more then anything for humans to hold on to, and to hope for. The only reason we have religion is so that we have someone who will always believe in us, someone we can reveal ourselves to, but most of all someone we can hold on to through thick and then. Most religions when you look at them have the same base. One central person that most people in the religion look to. I am a practicing Catholic and yes I do believe in God.

 

[the_site]

It keeps our society steady, or is that so???
haha

 

[loveispoison]

It keeps our society steady, or is that so???
haha

indeed it does but also destroys it as it is doing right know

 

[idfizbo]

It's cognitive dissonance, really. People are faced everyday with evidence that the world is not run by a deity of some sort, yet they choose to ignore it because they are afraid of death and the uncertainty of life. By putting their "faith" into the notion of both fate and life after death, as absurd as they are, they simultaneously reassure themselves.

This puts religion in a position approaching mass hysteria. To quote Voltaire, "If god did not exist it would be necessary to invent him," and Deus Ex, "God was a dream of good government."

 

[tregtar]

I've had people tell me that without religion or a fear of God there wouldn't be any good people.

Now I hope that fear of God is not what keeps people good. I hope that people are good because it's the right thing to do/be.

And if people are good only because they fear God, then they aren't actually good are they?

 

[ichwar]

And if people are good only because they fear God, then they aren't actually good are they?

Very insightful question. And my answer to that is no. If the only reason someone doesn't do something only because he's afraid of God punishing him, he's morally as bad as the person who went ahead and did that thing.

 

[loveispoison]

I've had people tell me that without religion or a fear of God there wouldn't be any good people.

Now I hope that fear of God is not what keeps people good. I hope that people are good because it's the right thing to do/be.

And if people are good only because they fear God, then they aren't actually good are they?

thats were the evil comes in iswell , some may fear god some may not some people fear god and say god exist but they dont believe in a religion

Very insightful question. And my answer to that is no. If the only reason someone doesn't do something only because he's afraid of God punishing him, he's morally as bad as the person who went ahead and did that thing.

why would you think if some 1 is afraid of god punishing him and he's morally as bad as the person who went ahead and did that thing.

 

[tregtar]

I would think that if someone only behaves because of fear then they are not really good and that the only thing keeping them from doing something bad is that fear. If the fear were eliminated then that person would just run amok. --- I hope this is not off your topic.

 

[ichwar]

why would you think if some 1 is afraid of god punishing him and he's morally as bad as the person who went ahead and did that thing.

Note, I said "If the only reason someone doesn't do something."
If there are other reasons that he didn't do it, then it may be different. But if the only reason he doesn't do it is that he's afraid of punishment, I think that he's as morally bad as the guy who just went ahead and did it.