Is religion necessary?

[bhouncy]

Don't thank me.

Autopoiesis - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

That was the first place I looked when you posted it

[bhouncy]

I have no idea of the consequences of doing this but in the spirit of curiosity and experimentation I think we should try it for a year and see what happens. Not that this experiment is going to happen any time soon I think there will be a time in the future when it will actually happen.

[Ghengis Chron]

Science attempts to explain the reasoning with examples and proof.

Religion attempts to explain the reasoning on faith

As humans, I think we naturally adhere to tangible ideas, at least these days. I think "faith" as far as religion is concerned is a B.S. and lazy way of explaining their reasoning.

However, many religions are seen as "glue" that holds society together. Many religions tend to have some sort of morals and values provided that help humanity. People look to religion as the answer to their problems, I think it keeps people tame. The fear of God, the golden rule, 10 commandments, ect, ect, yada yada yada

[BlueCat00]

But it is far too easy to say God did it. That to me is giving up.

I don't think they have given up I just think the human brain wants to reason and it wants answers and when it doesn't have an answer it makes one up. I am not saying thats a good thing.

It is easier for me to believe we are tied to the earth like everything else.

Great thread idea BTW.

[Coelho]

I used to post on the spirituality board but got bogged down with people who post their beliefs as reality. They have faith. Being agnostic on these matters it was difficult for me to comprehend how a person can give up reason and pick a path based on feelings. I have similar questions to those who are looking for answers but I'm not content with any religions answers. It's like religion has hijacked spirituality. But I'm not here to debate such things. I'm interested to know if religion is necessary.

Do we need religion in today's society?

I've not really thought too much of my own answers although the cogs of my mind are whirring away as I type. I would like to get other peoples thoughts on the subject.

Well... in our todays society, much of the role that was played by religion, the role of giving explanations about the things and such, is being played by the science.
Today, what is "scientifically proved" has the same unquestionable credit of what was "written in the Bible" some centuries ago... so i think in this respect todays society is as religious as the old societies... the only difference is the religion they follow.
In my personal opinion, i think our society should be more spiritual, instead more religious. By spiritual i mean to recognize the spiritual essence of the man, to recognize that there is far more things beyond the physical, the material. And i say it as a scientist (that i am). What we touch, see, hear, and percieve with our 5 senses is only a bit of everything that exists, and is a great mistake to think that what we see is all that there is to see. But todays society believes this more and more... and its not good. It will be one of the reasons for its end.

[BlueCat00]

i think our society should be more spiritual, instead more religious. By spiritual i mean to recognize the spiritual essence of the man, to recognize that there is far more things beyond the physical, the material. And i say it as a scientist (that i am). What we touch, see, hear, and percieve with our 5 senses is only a bit of everything that exists, and is a great mistake to think that what we see is all that there is to see. But todays society believes this more and more... and its not good. It will be one of the reasons for its end.


WOW! Nice.

[40oz]

However, many religions are seen as "glue" that holds society together. Many religions tend to have some sort of morals and values provided that help humanity. People look to religion as the answer to their problems, I think it keeps people tame. The fear of God, the golden rule, 10 commandments, ect, ect, yada yada yada

I agree with your point here, and I think it should be understood how important religion has been to the development of politics throughout history. ( without getting into all the brainwashing and population control)

Before modern political systems like democracy, communism, and socialism were founded, nations were ruled by kings, despots, and tyrants.The USA was basically founded as an experiment in democracy by Thomas Jefferson and the other founding fathers. This idea of a democratic political system of "equality and liberty for all" stemmed from the influences of the Age of enlightenment, more specifically John Locke, who was Tom's main influence.

Locke's philosophical ideas were an extension of the philosophical works of philosophers like Francis Bacon and Thomas Hobbes, and all of these people essentially relied on religion and the idea of a god to make sense of the world in their works. These philosophers "proved" in many ways how reality and existence is dependent on an all powerful god type character.

The point is many of these early ideas about politics may not have been possible if the idea of a god was unavailable to fill in important holes in early philosophical arguments. These philosophical works were necessary to enlighten mankind to the point where people were able to change their ideas of reality and ultimately lead to a complete change in society and politics.


...And the process continues as human intelligence grows and all new types of religious, scientific, and revolutionary ideas are birthed into the world every day.

[bhouncy]

However, many religions are seen as "glue" that holds society together. Many religions tend to have some sort of morals and values provided that help humanity. People look to religion as the answer to their problems, I think it keeps people tame. The fear of God, the golden rule, 10 commandments, ect, ect, yada yada yada

I would agree that religion has been effective in some ways to get over these morals and values but it also has a negative side where people will kill for their beliefs and the leaders of these religions are happy to have this kind of zeal in their ranks to recruit new members to their 'church'.

[bhouncy]

Well... in our todays society, much of the role that was played by religion, the role of giving explanations about the things and such, is being played by the science.
Today, what is "scientifically proved" has the same unquestionable credit of what was "written in the Bible" some centuries ago... so i think in this respect todays society is as religious as the old societies... the only difference is the religion they follow.
In my personal opinion, i think our society should be more spiritual, instead more religious. By spiritual i mean to recognize the spiritual essence of the man, to recognize that there is far more things beyond the physical, the material. And i say it as a scientist (that i am). What we touch, see, hear, and percieve with our 5 senses is only a bit of everything that exists, and is a great mistake to think that what we see is all that there is to see. But todays society believes this more and more... and its not good. It will be one of the reasons for its end.

Derren Brown is a classic example of someone going from the happy clappy christian that he was to religiously following reasoning. So I'm with you on what we call religion.

As far back as I recall I have always thought there is far more going on than what we know. As you say about have more than what we can sense I've had that same idea myself.

[Euphoric7]

Religion can have good points to live your life by (ten commandments, etc.), but it divides people into categories. There's proof of this every time a child asks "So how are they DIFFERENT from our religion?". Just my $0.02.