Howdy So a simple question: what is religion to you? Is it a fantasy of the ignorant mind, is it something you take dead serious, is it a worldview? What is it? Feel free to express your opinion and take take poll.
I voted 'personal relationship with God.' Though I typically refer to it as 'spirituality.' Technically speaking, religion denotes a group that shares authoritative spiritual doctrines prescribed by mere mortals (usually claiming God's authority) for power and control. I try to keep other mortal's doctrines out of my relationship with God.
It is to be taken seriously because of it’s impact on human society whether there is some kind of God or not.
Fairy tales for adults. I'd really love to believe in an afterlife. I just don't have good evidence for it. Even less evidence there's a higher power, with some circumstantial evidence against it. So my default position is non-belief, and people who claim to know seem crazy to me. I do think some religions could be logically excluded from being correct, such as all of the abrahamic religions and the pagan ones as well. It's a bit harder to exclude something like buddhism, but without evidence it still cannot be believed.
Like many words, it has several meanings. The trick is not to figure out which is the final word on the meaning, the trick is to listen to something that is being said, and understand what they intended. Or if you're constructing an argument/communication, pick a meaning that illustrates your point, while being clear about what you mean. I like to compare it to the word orange. There is no discussion about whether orange is a fruit or a colour, in some cases it is one, in some cases it's another.
The term "Doubting Thomas" comes from this Thomas and these verses. The context of the verses is that this was after Jesus rose from the dead, and walked among his disciples and many other people. We are blessed because we believe 2000 years later, and have not seen him; that's the point.
Easier said than done. We are in the world, how can we not be stained? When you are a construction worker, it's hard to do your job and stay spotless.
How about a social group with an agreed upon philosophy and ethical standards that use rituals and magical thinking to increase cohesion and control over its members?
All religions are just Narcissistic Personality Disorder cults. Look up the DSM NPD traits and they MATCH those of religions. https://emedicine.medscape.com/article/1519417-overview?form=fpf#a3 Do I really need to post images of religious leaders in their fancy robes? Hard to imagine anyone with a greater sense of self-importance than all of the gods worshipped by religions. Their texts BACK that up. Prosperity Gospel being a classic example. Any and ALL of those "men of the cloth" that CLAIM to be the SOLE messenger from their gods. Nothing says NEEDY like DEMANDING to be WORSHIPED or else spend ETERNITY in "hellfire"? All gods are ABOVE the Law of the Land, just ask Inmate P01355809. Fallacies like "everyone is BORN a SINNER" and GUILT are means of EXPLOITATION by religions. Just ask the Palestinians about what it was like to live under a religion that lacked EMPATHY for their plight. Commandments like having "no other god BEFORE me" is the definition of envy. Nothing beats the ARROGANCE of the Xtofascists. The answer the OP is seeking is already defined in the DSM5 under NPD.
I don't agree with the concept of some word having a meaning to me. Words are for communication. Normally when someone says something means something to them, it means they will deliberately misunderstand things said to them.
The world aside, I guess that religion is the attempt to address the questions: Who am I? From where did I come? Why am I here? Where am I going?
Parents responsibility to answer the first 3 questions. Up to the INDIVIDUAL to CHOOSE what they want to do with THEIR lives.
I would say religion is the foundation on which thriving societies are built on. The drive to worship a higher power is well-within our dna and chaos ensues if a majority of society doesn't worship "something". All great civilizations start with a foundation of religion. Rome, Aztecs, Western Civilization, Babylonia, Persia etc......Countries that try to empty society of religious beliefs simply don't exist, or are never remembered or turn totalitarian. Of course not all religions are benign or "good". But its beyond arrogant to assume "we" in this recent age, is more enlightened then any great civilizations in the past and that history simply doesn't matter when it comes to us.
BWAHAHAHAHAHHAHAAA! Parents do NOT know WHO their own kid is? Parents do NOT know HOW babies are made? Parents do NOT know WHY they WANTED to have kids? HILARIOUS!
Nope. That's why they give them names. Nope. They procreate and give birth. And they have clue as the the person inside the baby. Not one of my questions.
A drive to worship within our DNA--- is my belief based on tangible evidence of the history of humanity. Societies aren't built UNLESS religion is in the foundation. Societies aren't built by people who believe in nothing or who worship their own enlightenment. And societies that eradicate religion turn out badly--totalitarian. We have thousands of societies across thousands of years--and atheism simply doesn't exist except as a parasitic ideology within a society already built on the foundation of religious worship. People who hate religion are more emotion based, then logical and seem to ignore the obvious in my opinion.
