by KW13 19 Replies latest jw friends
I was thinking today, imagine if people had their faiths and opinions but no actual religion backing them up.
I believe that it would help stop cults e.t.c making money off people and controlling peoples lives and would help make the world a lot more peaceful.
I've yet to come across a religion that doesn't have problems or in some way is hypocritical.
What do you think?
I've yet to come across a religion that doesn't have problems or in some way is hypocritical.
It would be very hard to find one that doesn't have problems these days. I imagine the world would be an easier, safer place to live in without so many religions.
Damn, I miss John Lennon.
lol i thought that after i read my post arthur
Difficult question to answer, Karl. I'd like to think people are intrinsically moral and so don't need a religion - but then one only needs to think of Nazism to see what could happen when one puts oneself above religion (even though Hitler was supposedly a Roman Catholic). Certainly, religion IS the opium of the masses as far as I'm concerned but, again, look what transpired when communism took hold of eastern Europe!
In an ideal world, there would be NO religion at all but we would all be humanitarian. Some of the kindest and gentlest people I've known have been atheists - but I've many friends who are similar but devoted to their religion. Many think religion keeps them moral and, for them, it may well do.
For myself, I'm happy with my life now. I don't believe in organised religion and I have lost all faith in an Almighty God. What I do believe in is the Laws of the Universe. I believe strongly in karma and that some essence of me will go forward at my death. I'm also fascinated in spiritualism at the moment and this very night Claire and I are going to listen to a famous medium. That's the beauty of where I am now. I have the freedom to have an open mind.
Ian
People are people, and the psychology of why we do what we do is far more complicated than merely religious beliefs. Remove religion and something else takes it's place, as Ian highlights. IMHO it would be a far better use of energy to ensure that the religions that do exist have to conform to some kind of ethics. How far do you take that, though?
Arthur and KW I was thinking the same thing.
IMAGINE by John Lennon.
I'm all for it. But it will probably never happen.
Juni
... somebody would soon invent one.
Beliefs and symbols don't float in the air, they are backed up by history, stories, rituals and social structures. Only the forms of religion change -- as they always did.
"but then one only needs to think of Nazism to see what could happen when one puts oneself above religion"
For all intents and purposes, Nazism was a religion, complete with a messiah like figure, a wide array of mystical images and icons (many derived from Eastern religious traditions, including the swastika). Himmler, the architect of the gestapo along with Goebbels the propaganda chief, were obsessed with religious mysticism and ancient pagan rites and rituals, many of which became part of the Nazi ideology and cultural ethos.
What is religion but a search for an understanding of the awesome power that pervades the universe and a search for answers that make sense. People can make any belief system into their own religion.
Organized religion goes beyond this and involves politics, control and money. Still with all its faults including the wars fought in its name, religion has given people a structure and moral code to live within. It offers hope and comfort in difficult times.
Only a society composed of truly mature people can be improved by the absence of organized religion. Until then the illusion and hope that it offers may still be needed.
Until everyone in the world can swim, maybe we need to keep the arm floats available.
YAWN… I will post some more meanderings…next week
