The end of religion??

[Neil]

religion will never die, to think that you must assume all people will grow to understand their part in the universe, and to some that is scary place, so they will always fall back to a comfortable place, and also science will never answer all the questions, so up steps religion again to fill the gaps for the ignorant.

What you're talking about is faith - belief in something supernatural.

Religion?

Is all about control - always has been.

 

[Neil]

The main reason formal religion has caused so much trouble is the didactic nature of it; the constant struggle to assert one form of belief as the truth, superior to another, highlighting differences rather than similarities.

The main reason organised religions have caused so much trouble, is they have a supernatural imperative.

So they equip those so inclined (ie not necessarily all with faith...) to assert the alignment of their beliefs has some unassailable, absolute, and superior position.

Rock, meet hard place.

He has given succour to the vast swathe of spouters who are too lazy to look further into their nihilism before asserting their own personal 'truth'.

Hoist by your own petard, there.

As you hinted - that standpoint is just as lazy as the one you criticised.

Atheism, agnosticism can be quite different from nihilism - which, after all, is more about politic, than belief system after all.

 

[Easy_Rider]

religion will never die, to think that you must assume all people will grow to understand their part in the universe, and to some that is scary place, so they will always fall back to a comfortable place, and also science will never answer all the questions, so up steps religion again to fill the gaps for the ignorant.

What you're talking about is faith - belief in something supernatural.

Religion?

Is all about control - always has been.

I actually find myself agreeing with you Neil.

I also believe a supernatural being, or a god for want of a better word can co-exist with our understanding of science. If god is truly all powerful he would exist outside of time as we know it, it would be impossible for us to even comprehend how he exists or in what form. To me it's entirely possible that the whole of existence from the big band to the extinguished lights exists to a god all at once, no beginning and no end.
I must add that I am not religious and don't necessarily believe in a god but am open-minded. I do believe that it is would be very naïve of us to think that we know everything.

 

[djoptix]

I'll hop in before the topic gets locked to say that although not every internet forum has religious bigots who won't listen to anyone else, it seems that every internet forum has a few atheist bigots who won't listen to anyone else. Good to see that Retrobike is no different

 

[mikee]

i think if god had meant for religion to become extinct he would have
existed

 

[grahame]

After years of looking, I have finally found a religious statement that I can get behind. It is the first seven words of the Islamic statement of faith.... "I testify that there is no god" after that, it all goes a bit wooly, waffling on about some sky-pixie called Allah (Who, if you read your "monotheistic" texts carefully, started out as the father of the Canaanite gods, known as El (pronounced Ale), then became the Yahweh of the Israelites (whos very name shows a worship of El), the God of Christianity, and the Allah of Islam).

Anyway, you can each keep your own religious faith, just don't try to force it on me via your "evangelism"

 

[The Ken]

Actually this is a well studied area and the overwhelming evidence is that as IQ increases, religious belief or 'faith' decreases.

What a pile of rubbish, I'm thick as mince and haven't got a religious bone in my body.

 

[Neil]

Actually this is a well studied area and the overwhelming evidence is that as IQ increases, religious belief or 'faith' decreases.

What a pile of rubbish, I'm thick as mince and haven't got a religious bone in my body.

Whether in jest, or not - correlation doesn't mandate causation ;-)

 

[grahame]

Last night's programme on BBC2 The Bible's Buried Secrets was pretty interesting.

 

[pigman]

started out as the father of the Canaanite gods, known as El (pronounced Ale),

Ah, we all worship the god called Ale. mines a pint fella