Hello, I never really been taught, or thought about religon. Why are people religous and why is it such a big deal to people? I'm not a troll just young, faded and this jsut came across my head while skimmin around.

Because some people like to think a little less then others.

Why are people religious? That is a tough question. There are many reasons. One thing is for certain, however, for all pratical purpose, nobody is born knowing how to be religious. It must be taught to a person, like language and math.

Most religions are big deals to people, b/c the religious meme tells them it is a big deal. World altering big deals. Non-infected loved ones suffering for eternity, big deals. It guilts them, shames them, and seperates them from those who are not infected with the meme.

The main goal of the meme is to obtain social control. Not order but control. The meme preys on the weak of will, and is most dangerous to young more easily supceptible minds (religions target youth).

The main goal of the meme is to obtain social control. Not order but control. The meme preys on the weak of will, and is most dangerous to young more easily supceptible minds (religions target youth).

This.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Middle_Ages
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catholic_church

Also, people want to feel "connected" to the world, spirits, etc.

In prehistoric times, nobody had any idea why things were the way they were, so they invented gods to rationalize things. Later, people hoping for social control co-opted these gods to enforce their brand of control. Fast forward a few millennia, and those people are still in control.

What will be done about it? What will you do about it?

I would like to flatter myslef by thinking I make a small difference educating theists as to their folly, but this belief is tenuous at best.

I speak out against and point out flaws I find in religion. I point to past, present and possible future transgressions. I suppose this may give people pause, but I don't think it really reaches an infected theists mind and most times shatters against a mental brick wall, built out of guilt and shame.

Politically speaking I give my votes to those who recognize the seperation of church and state (sorry Huck), I have recently discovered an anti-scientology movement and have researched and dabbled a bit there.

But like most people on totse and the webernet.............I just talk. How about you? What steps are you taking against religion?

Why are people religous and why is it such a big deal to people?

You'd probably get 10 different answers if you asked 10 different religious people. So far all the responses in this thread have been from an atheistic viewpoint (which I share), but for someone like you who is genuinely curious about the phenomena of widespread religious belief and have clearly not yet succumbed to a religion you call your own, I think it wouldn't hurt for you to take a look at some of the common denominators all religions hold (such as sanctity and the afterlife), and get a good *Big Picture* glance at what features they share.

I only suggest this because I imagine it would be difficult for a young person who has never been exposed to religion, but is curious about it - to have to wade through the multitudes of religious beliefs and try to make sense of how they differ, at first. It seems like it would be a fun exercise to first find the commonalities, THEN delve into the differences.

Maybe you'll find one that "speaks" to you, per se - one that stands out above all the rest. Or maybe you'll find that it's more interesting to learn about them as a history/culture lesson without having to submerse yourself in it at all. Maybe you'll decide that spirituality isn't dependent upon a religion, and will find that the God-metaphor you are most in tune with has more to do with the awe and inspiration you find in trying to understand the nature of the Universe.

Good luck in your quest to familiarize yourself with it. It's definitely not a bad idea to school yourself on all that's out there, especially considering that over 3/4 of the people on this planet devote their lives to it. Feel free to come back here and share with us what you've picked up along the way! :)

Uh, I'm not an atheist for the record. That doesn't make organized religion any more 'attractive'.

Sorry, Obbe -

I clearly missed out on your one-liner post here :o

People are religious because they need it to center their reality. Most people can't understand math, physics, biology, and all the other sciences that explain the world around us enough to create a foundation for their brains understanding of reality. I know why gravity exists, how it works, etc. Some people don't get the science of it or the theories, so it's easier to tell them God created it to keep us on the ground. It sounds stupid but having basis point of reality is important enough to believe lies.

Reality is very important to our brains function. Without that foundation we go crazy, and we act like animals unless you are like myself and can rationalize your own version of reality, which can be very negative as you must overcome the problems of not being aligned with the mainstream idea of reality. I create my own morals, know why the sun rises and the moon affects the ocean, weather, etc. However, to maintain sanity in this world, you must create a secondary knowledge bank of what others believe, so you can co-exist. In the religious world I'm a prophet, in my reality I'm just a simple Genius with a well established knowledge base to understand past, present, and even for see the future. Cool eh.

Maybe religion is the closest literary explanation to people's spiritual feelings.
If people were to explore other religions they may find explanations that match their feelings more accurately, thought some may be to complicate for others to relate to.

Reality is very important to our brains function. Without that foundation we go crazy, and we act like animals unless you are like myself and can rationalize your own version of reality, which can be very negative as you must overcome the problems of not being aligned with the mainstream idea of reality. I create my own morals, know why the sun rises and the moon affects the ocean, weather, etc. However, to maintain sanity in this world, you must create a secondary knowledge bank of what others believe, so you can co-exist.


so you're telling me a humans natural tendency is to be an animal? and this reality you speak of, is a collection of ideas created by an animal that is intelligent enough to question its purpose? And it only makes sense to follow others ideas in order to co-exist?

WHAT?

"One hundred years from now when our grandkids have all had sex, will they look back to the past and know what they've missed? Will they think we had it better than the way they have it then? Will they gaze at a strip mall where a field had once been? Will they think they're born late like the way we now do it? Or will they curse at the present and lend credence to it? Will they hear all the old songs and think they're all true and hate all their own songs and everything new? Well I'm here to tell you something that's known, from someone who's lived it from someone who's grown, the somebody who somebody once loaned a home to. The grass is always greener, the past is always cleaner, the present is crap and everyone's meaner. They say we're moving towards something but I think we're moving from something. There are some folks who are more apathetic and then there are some folks who are more money grubbin'. Well, I know there's always been greed and green acres, and war and peace makers. And then there's your takers and your leavers, your havers and your needers. And in this great froth as we skim through the batter, there's now many more of the former and less of the latter. Help us climb out of this pitfall disaster led by dynasties, charlatans, but not poetasters. Where there is a mortal disconnect spawned by gluttonous connection, where you pick your own culture without viewer discretion. Where there is no more history and nothing is learned. Where you shun all your kin and all your bridges are burned. Where you are what you buy and you're who what you own; and you think of yourself and you live all alone. You make yourself feel fine when everything's wrong. The world keeps turning but you're brittle as bone. So to all you future dreamers and lovers and leavers, to all those who know there's still something between us that binds us and reminds us of times that passed, I appreciate you listening to this one man's last gasp. "

but yeah i feel ya on the secondary knowledge base. I've been growing more and more anti-social lately, because im tired of believing a certain way just so i can co-exist, i rather be lost in my own reality, why? because its a product of me and my experience and as long as i accept it either way, theres nothing more beautiful or rewarding.

No, I'm saying that we are just evolved animals. We may be evolved enough to think about our own existence, but we are still animals. However, part of our evolved mind is the need to have a reference reality. Then, thousands of years ago we encountered a real problem, what happens when we die? What are we or where are we before we are born? How did we get here? Where did this planet come from? We needed answers to these questions to center ourselves once again in reality. The real answers to these questions are far more complex than the mind that is needed to ask such questions? Basically, people are smart enough to ask why the sky is blue, but not smart enough to figure out or understand the answer. Some of us are, and can have the straight answer, but others aren't so smart so we have to create simpler explanation. A simpler explanation that was created by the the greatest minds of the time was God/Gods. This explained all the things that we didn't have knowledge of at the time. Later, the smarter people used these God/Gods to control people by making up shit about the God hating something, usually accompanied by some kind of threatening reaction for disobeying. Over the years religion has evolved with us and now some of us are evolving beyond religion.

I figured this all out when I started to convert Christians a few years back, but I have now since stopped. The reason I stopped was because some people couldn't handle the truth about the world, it caused their brains to come to a grinding halt, do major damage to their psyche.

Religion stems from a curiosity about the world, wondering if there is something more than what is just in front of you. Depending on the two types of religion one may turn you off more quickly than the other type of religion. There is the mind-model religion and the society-model religion.

Society model in my opinion is a means to end of controlling well society. Which means obedience to a society and its laws as well as a pray-and-obey view of God and adherence to established dogma of said religion, the dogma has implications on a society that follows the society-model of religious beliefs. For the sake of staying on topic I am not going to talk to much about God to avoid a whole argument.

A few examples of the society model type religion is the three major western religions aka Christianity, Judaism, Islam.

The Mind-Model religion in my opinion is a better version of religious beliefs. Mind Model adherence involves introspection, insight and self-knowledge. This knowledge is often equal to enlightenment or Gnosis. Which reveals to us our essence of being. I don't want to sound wrong when I say this but there is no "necessary" need for obidience to society its loose and liberal, its open to your experience not what a religious power tells you.

A few examples of the Mind Model religion is the major eastern traditions such as Buddhism, Taoism, Hinduism... etc along with the esoteric western traditions such as Kabbalah and Gnosticism.

* As a note Gnosticism is a largely misunderstood by the western world because, most of the western world follows the Society Model of Religion only to interpret Gnosticism, as a Society Model instead of what it really is which is Mind Model... This has led to much misunderstanding and injustice towards those with a Gnostic outlook, I would know because, I am Gnostic, that is my belief.

To me a religious adherence is kind of about a way of seeing the world with an open mind, of course religious fundamentalist and what I call atheist fundamentalist by the term of "Fundamentalist" would say its there way or no way. Fundamentalism by its very nature is very closed minded, there view is unhealthy and religious fundamentalist are the ones who give bad name to religious people and atheist fundamentalist are the ones who give bad names to those who have no or an undecided outlook on life.

Example of religious fundamentalist would be: Al-Quida, Gods Soldiers, Born-Again Christian, Kahane Chai...

Fundamentalism seems to be associated solely with religious people however by definition it means Strict adherence to any set of basic ideas or principles. There are going to be more secular fundamentalist in the world.

Many good points I agree with in the above post.

Hello, I never really been taught, or thought about religon. Why are people religous and why is it such a big deal to people? I'm not a troll just young, faded and this jsut came across my head while skimmin around.

Many people partake in religions because it helps clarify some natural laws and how they operate in humanity. Central themes of most religions are parts of day to day 'spiritual warfare'...struggles to create, grow, and maintain healthy, workable relationships with one's self, with others, and at the center of the religious body, with God.

Religious texts, essentially, are relationship guides. They deal with work relations, home relations, self-ego relations, friend relations, dating relations, marriage relations, community relations, legal relations, and so on.

In the book of Proverbs (from the Christian text, The Bible), for example, is a wealth of information on student-teacher, child-parent, and husband-wife relations...along with a good deal of information on the workings of desires, the dangers of not controlling one's self, and many other common problems in life.

A lot of people see religious texts and religions as massive authoritarian works meant to control. Well, to be honest, some members of religions do try to use it as such. They turn a guide book that's been passed down from ancestor to ancestor for generations as a system of law they feel they have the right to impose upon other men (ignoring that the books almost invariably say that man is not the judge, nor the holder nor the teacher of the law).

When it comes down to religion and religious texts in day to day living, it helps people find solutions to common problems. Even if you don't find yourself believing in God, don't feel awkward if you need to consult a book used by the worlds' religions. After all, experience is experience, whether it be that of a religious, agnostic, atheist, spiritual, or any other kind of person. Most people with any bit of warmth in their life will be glad to give you a suggestion on how to solve a problem, or even better, they'll give suggestions on how to find the solution yourself.

Best of luck, young brother. May an honest tongue and open mind be hallmarks of your life.

Thanks I like the large post following mine as well, the social implication discussed are more detailed to the Society Model I was talking about.

Let's not forget, there is a vast difference between religion and spirituality. IMHO, spiritality is ingrained--that is, we all have deep spiritual insights which we have forgotten. The best teachers show us how to look within for love, for compassion, for strength.

Religion, however, is spoon-fed, and usually when the victim is young and impressionable.

Also, some of the most deeply religious people today are the least spiritual--and vice versa.

Let's not forget, there is a vast difference between religion and spirituality. IMHO, spiritality is ingrained--that is, we all have deep spiritual insights which we have forgotten. The best teachers show us how to look within for love, for compassion, for strength.

Religion, however, is spoon-fed, and usually when the victim is young and impressionable.

Also, some of the most deeply religious people today are the least spiritual--and vice versa.

Spirituality isn't ingrained any more than ignorance is. The world is a vast and beautiful place, and to a child, filled with that wonder, and yet without any knowledge about it, the only option is mysticism.

However, we know why the sky is blue and what clouds are, we know what the stars are and where they shine from, we can tell the chemical makeup of the sun and we can make instruments that will go beyond it.

Spirituality is the "default" answer, but science is the right one.

To Prometheum:

Are we born with knowledge and experience?

To ArmsMerchant:

You say spirituality is ingrained. I must ask then, do you happen to believe that one is born fearless and then picks up fear from missteps in their life?

Thats only an opinion that is not necessarily fact. I said earlier I wanted to avoid the whole God Argument, lets be mature about this can we, the topic starter just wanted to know what is the meaning to religion. Not does God exist or not.

Religious doctrine is spoon-fed especially if you seen the flick Jesus Camp. Yikes you want to talk about indoctrinated look no further these kids are being brainwashed, not taught the lessons of Christ.

Hence why I say theres a difference between the [ religious / secular] fundamentalism and those who follow a spiritual path that teaches and not demands.