Humans are intelligent, creative, and tribal. They are animals and their only goal is to survive and reproduce. Religion brings together tribes against rivals and we see this playing out across the world: Middle East, China, Russia, Iran, North Korea, etc. Countries with borders fighting over resources. It is interesting to look at from a global point of view with nationalism and allies with like mindedness. OTOH with a country like the USA with so much diversity, there is a lot of violence and competition and it is a microcosm of the world. From an anthropological perspective, there is a lot of "other" labeling and pointing out how different and unique people are, but people are really similar around the world. I really notice this during the Olympics.
Exactly, my point is that the invention of God and religions may be more a tribal survival mechanism than rational, logical, and true. Also it was developed long ago and is it still necessary or are people clinging to it?
100% it is, especially in the case of the Kings and Pharaohs Caesars of Old. These folks spent a good deal of their time trying to figure out how to keep the raging masses from revolting. Religion served not only as a good pacifier, it also was used to justify the authority of the leader (Divine Right) and good for the troops. "Behavioral Adaptations as a Solution to Survival Problems" What is also interesting is the evolution of mind control in religious ideology over time. One of the main ways this was done was through ramping up the "fear factor". In Ancient Egypt they had a concept known as "maat". This was like karma where at the end of days your deeds were weighed on the Scales of Justice. I you were found too light you were fed to the monster ... and that was it. Scary but nothing like what was to come. Zoroastrianism introduced eternal punishment in the afterlife which is a whole lot more scary. This was also based on deeds. Christianity was initially based on deeds but then there was a new development. Not only were your deeds judged but, if you "question" or "do not believe" the tenets of some holy book you will be tortured for eternity. This ideology goes after one's thought processes directly. Telling a child that if they "question" or "don't believe" - the worst thing the mind can imagine will happen to them (eternal torture) is a sophisticated mind control technique. The fear of this horrible fate (and the mind does not deal well with infinity) gets lodged deep in their subconscious. When they encounter ideas that conflict with doctrine the fear response kicks in - often without the adherent even realizing where this response is coming from. The adherent will then develop numerous tactics (denial - demonization of the the messenger - and other "thought stopping methods") to avoid thinking about the bad thought ... the thought that might lead them to eternal torture. This reaction can be seen daily in this section on this forum. The next evolution is a subtle trick. "if you question or don't believe this book" is transformed to "if you question or don't believe some human's interpretation of this book". Enter Pontifex Maximus - speaking for God. The Pope, Imam, King, or often an ordinary cult leader or Evangelical Pastor now speaks for God. Muhammad used the same model as Christianity but ramped the fear factor up even further. Read the Koran - it is ever second page --- fear fear fear. Do this and you will be tortured for eternity... do that and you will be roasted alive for ever .. on and on and on. Every second page. No wonder Muslims often look so scared all the time. Repetition had been around for a long while but Islam takes it one step further. Religious worship is not just once a week .. in fact the call to prayer is daily and it happens 5 times a day .. .every day
Well, religion is certainly not rational or logical ... and almost certainly not true. Of course, one of the main reasons people desperately cling to the scam is because they're scared sh*tless of dying, and hope their preferred god will set them up in some happy place in the sky after they croak. LOL ... good luck with that One of the other main reasons they cling to the scam? Well, like the old saying goes ... there's a sucker born every minute...
Yes, good point, religion is what artificially differentiates us from one another when we're really not that different. Oh you believe in that God, well I can't be your friend, I believe in this God. The Muslim women's clothing is to protect wives and daughters from infidelity in contrast with the bikini's goal of attracting mates.
Actually we have many goals outside of survival and reproduction, its what separates us from the animals.
What would those be? You don't think humans are animals? Our core primal instinct is to survive first and reproduce second. That's BIO 101. Humans are unique and modern technology affords us some more creative pursuits but we are still animals in the ape family.
If humans primal instinct were to survive they wouldn't throw themselves on a grenade to save their fellow soldiers, they would run.
Religion in it’s impulse I believe is yes tribal, but also an expression of our unique self aware place in the universe. I don’t personally believe that the origin of religion is to create sectors of people, however I believe that the constructs of power have a great interest in using religion to fight against their enemies.
I think religion encourages groupthink and liked mindedness. It was good back when humans were uncivilized to bring them together and make them civil. Now I think people are encouraged to be more unique and think for themselves. Religion may not be necessary anymore. We have people that take pride in their religion, ethnic background, nation, etc. but we are all human and are not so different as we think.
Nationalism and political parties create a similar sort of group think. Do you find them to be any different?
No someone asked me if religion does any good and I said it causes all the wars in the world and they looked at me like I was joking. Communism, Nazism, Radical Islam, they're all ideologies that group people together against each other.
To be fair, some religions have done that, specifically christianity, islam, but others have not. For instance the religions that believe in reincarnation. Instead of going to heaven, you come back again, and suffer what life is, and remember life has not always been good for people, especially long ago. So, there are other reasons for religion other than just the fear of death. In fact, in some religions the suffering of reincarnation only ends when you are not reincarnated again into the world but are able to finally work yourself into nothingness, no more reincarnation into a brutal world of pain and suffering.
From a philosophical point of view probably, but even if niqab is forbidden in France, you can see both in the country.
It's a crime only if you pronounce it in english : In french, "crime" is used for really heavy acts : murder, rape, otherwise you would speak of a "delit".
I wouldn’t agree that religion is the cause of all war, I find things to be more complicated. For the most part, war is a product of economic and political control. Without religion, people would rally under another form of identity.
Nationalism/patriotism is a type of "religion" or philosophy/tribalism. I don't think it's a bad thing necessarily but it separates and creates an "other" mentality pitting countries against each other rather than cooperating.
As makers of things, we recognize things made by design. As creative beings, we recognize created things. This is that from which religion extends. All over the world, people who never had any contact with each other, all made the same observation. They all understood, intuitively, heuristically, that this world is a creation and that we are creatures. Such an observation is perhaps the most common of common senses.
