I think religion is necessary because the only other way to manage humans is though iron fisted totalinarinism. Consider what men and women would do if they truly knew that ur born, get as much as u can while ur living, cause this is it. No heaven, no hell, just now. Strong and/or smart will prey on the weak and or dumb will reckless abandon. Well, with abandon, cause there is no reckless unless u get caught. And why bother with being caught, go out in a hail of gunfire, it would be stupid to live life in prison when this is it. Get rich or die tryin. Get yours any which way u can. That's called anarchy, and a modern state cannot maintain an infrastructure in this manner.
EXACTLY!! You hit it spot on.... i was not 100% that we shared almost identical views but you have expressed what is on my mind almost perfectly.
history's most brutal rulers first attempted to kill, or outlaw, god, only to replace him/her/it the most vocal atheists on this board, and in general, are to be feared. a man with cancer takes solace in prayer, while the atheist mocks him. It's quite disgusting.
Which part of what i said do you not understand??? Here i will summarise what i have said in four parts. A)I do not believe in "GOD" as you, and the bible interpret him, infact i have even said on this thread that i DO NOT believe the majority of the bible. I simply believe that if you are open minded enough and read between the lines there are deep messages which are essentially responsible for the manner in which we (as human beings) conduct ourselves to this very day, our entire set of moral principles can be summed up in what the bible or organized religion teaches us. B)Read between the lines and look at the GOOD concepts the bible has created. (PLEASE SHOW ME WHERE IN THE NEW TESTAMENT IT CONDONES/COMMANDS MURDER SLAVERY INCEST AND BLOOD SACRIFICE) This is what i have been saying all along, i have no desire to get in a pissing contest with you, i have stated an EXTREME bias towards the middle of both religion and science, and do not understand which part of that you can not read/comprehend. C)That same "preposterous notion," you refer to has been the fundamental guideline for all of civilization, and the stepping stones to where we as human beings are today. D) Please show me the section of the "TEN COMMANDMENTS" you find to be amoral which cause inexplicable harm to you. If you can not accept the FACT that there is a guideline which all major religions have produced of which we live from and benefit every day in which we are on planet earth, then there is no point in debating you. I have not in any way attacked you, i have simply stated the FACT that alot of the moral guidelines we live by are the very same principles created by the bible, and organized religion, something which you for some reason seem to be highly offended by.
And perhaps this is the case but dont you understand this simple concept, this is the beauty of the whole thing. This is a LARGE part of the reason which people choose to accept the bible. I do not think Jesus was "the son of god," But i do accept that he was a wise man well beyond his years who helped form a loving society, the very society in which you live today.
so what happens when a population is enlightened to the fact that the religion is based on primitive superstition? we are there now. you cant convince an educated population in the internet age that there is some deity that will get them if they miss behave.
we have no idea what this wise man jesus said. he never wrote a word down and those that claim to speak for him wrote a generation later. we dont even know what they wrote or who the authors were. we only have copies of copies many times changed. modern christianity was put down by paul, not jesus. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7cK3Ry_icJo
No we are not enlightened, we are very much nihilistic. We just don't give a F*ck. And, most people have replaced one religion for another. Nihilism, Hedonism, Statism, Webism, Atheism, Scientism. No we are not, as a society able to live as individuals who respect other individuals based upon the fact that they exist. Look at this forum. Half of these simians are stocking ammunition....cause the commies are comin fer sure this time, there a n*gger in office....or some other very thinly veiled, poorly worded logic to that effect. And these simians are using this very internet to spew that tripe. Enlighted???? Benighted is closer to the truth.
Yeah, that. Touchy subject there. Well, Christian sounds a lot more catchy than Paulian, dontcha think?
Religion is an encumbrance upon the state. People rally around the flag, freedom , justice and humanistic values. Religion is the handing over of those things to an imaginary superior figurehead, in whose name the same standards are often distorted and misused, so to carry people into rightfully doing wrong at all levels in the name of some higher power. The concrete core values are sound and stand on their own merits. They do not belong to religion and there is no religion which enhances their worthiness in calling them their own. And by the way, "an atheist, which is a religion" is silly.. religion is belief in a divine power. No belief in a divine power in not religion. Simple really..