The thought has occured to me recently about the negative sides of organized religion.

I think that it is undeniable, even to athiests, that religion is a great thing for certain people. I mean, there are countless people that survive near-death encounters, make incredible discoveries, and have the will to do so because of their faith in the power of a diety (that subject of magic on the other thread is too long to discuss .-.)

However, I'm sure you've all also heard about the atrocities of organized religion, most noteably Catholicism, and people that start their own church to brainwash people into giving tithes, etc.

I've also read and understood the viewpoints of true athiests (ones that aren't just athiest to be cool) and well, logically, they make very good points.

However, mostly because of unique life experiences (the main one is a long story, basically my stepdad survived through a very intense battle with leukemia, he had so many other things wrong with him along the way and with the cancer that he was told he was going to die almost every other day) I believe that a God exists, even from a scientific standpoint, it just makes more sense to believe that SOMETHING did something at one point to help us thrive.

And opposed to the masses, I don't follow the masses. I believe there is a God that intervenes when he must, that he allows the course of the universe to flow as he has staged, but leaves room for improvisation.

I believe very strongly in patience, meditation, and balance within things and events. I do my very best to withold anger (although, you gotta admit, it's REALLY hard) and try to be as helpful as I can.

I believe that no matter who you are, that if you act on what you believe is good (Morality is subjective, period.) that you're good to go. Neurological and philosophical (religously biased and not) research has shown me that the mind could be in itself the universe and the afterlife (or lack thereof)of beings.

For example, the most unusual theory of come across is the idea that when you die, you know all those chemicals released in your brain much like the waste released from your body, cause you to basically trip so hard that what goes on in the few moments before you slip into biological death feels like the eternity of the afterlife percieved in your mind.

The placebo effect, in my opinion, is one of the more overlooked phenomena in life. Maybe it's just me but it's very, very striking that someone could be given something that scientifically speaking should do absolutely nothing for the person but instead actually works. The mind creates its own cure because of what it belives.

Since time distortion is a noted side-affect of psychoactives, and shitloads of DMT and god knows what else is getting set off everywhere in your head, I think it's fairly plausible to think that the heaven (or hell) that you believe in is exactly where you end up.

This leads me to think that religion is what you make of it, and that has led me to believe that religion shouldn't be organized because of the corruption in man, and that beliefs shouldn't be something to die for. Religion should not guide ones life entirely but rather be a sanctuary in life.

Opinions?

I agree with alot of what you said.



People everywhere have always had

strange mind-blowing mystical experiences.

I think things like angel vistiors,

faeries, leprechauns, alien abductions,

shit like that, are all variations

on a similar function in the brain.

That experience is then interpreted

or taught in the form of the moral

and superstitious traditions of the

mystic's or shaman's locality.

If you pray and fast in the desert;

if you meditate in a cave;

or eat 1/2oz of mushrooms in the woods;

if you drink ayahuasca in the amazon;

or smoke dmt on your couch, you'll

probably eventually find what you

are looking for in some form, whether

that's Jesus, Ra, ET, machine elves,

Zeus, the jaguar god, Mothman,

or interdimensional tentacle monsters.



So, while there may even be some kind

of transcendant reality to the direct

personal experience, the religions

based on them are probably just a

reflection of culture and bullshit.



[This message has been edited by Viraljimmy (edited 09-04-2006).]

Belief without evidence (faith) has a net negative affect on this world.

I suppose organised stupidity could be slightly worse than stupidity, yes.

quote:Originally posted by Real.PUA:

Belief without evidence (faith) has a net negative affect on this world.

That's not entirely true. Believing something without evidence CAN be extremely harmful but can also be extremely beneficial in some cases. It can assist people in using various brain processes to help cure themselves, to resolve pain, and many other things. Sometimes slapping people on the face with cold hard evidence can damage them more than it benefits them. You have to understand that with most things there is an up side and a down side.

A knife can be used for good or for bad, for positive results or negative results, it is a tool like everything in this world including Religion and your very own mental processes.

I don't believe in organized religion myself. Although I still consider myself a spiritual person. I look for those things that will enrich mr both body and spirit where ever they may be found.

All organized religions (aside from Buddhism, which is not really a religon) were founded for reasons that I consider evil and a crime against humanity. I honestly do not think any of the founding fathers of Christianity believed Jesus to be the son of god, and probably the higher-ups still do not.

im in a rush, so i didnt read anything. But i think:

-organized religion corrupts

-has too much dogma

-get manipulated.

but i enjoy religion itself alot. i just think people should gather their own belifes, and keep an open mind to everything.

Never underestimate the power of stupid people in large groups.

Religion attracts all types. Generally the types branch off, leaving all the stupid people together. Then stupid people do bad things, like kill Jews and burn things and whatnot.

Yes, I disagree with organized religion. Religion itself is not so bad.

Honestly, if we grew up with no religion, everyone would still be doing those great things. Like.. getting out of bed once a day.

Everyone should have the right to believe what they want, but honestly.. I dislike all religion. It's moronic, baseless, ignorant, mindless, hypocritical and often repressive to those that don't agree with them.

Wether the religion is organized or not doesn't really matter, beliefs can be just as crazy when believed alone.

quote:Originally posted by Real.PUA:

Belief without evidence (faith) has a net negative affect on this world.

Uh.. I have to strongly disagree, there are plenty of physical objects that we don't fully understand and have no evidence of, however, we believe in its existence.

I suppose dark matter/energy would be something like this. Or dark energy at least, since dark matter was basically proven just recently and would imply that dark energy exists. Anyway, I'm sure there is more on that list besides dark energy.

And belief in things without evidence of them would probably have contributed into many great advances in humany, back in the day when we didn't know so much.