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is religion just some form of hope for the weak?

There are religions everywhere. All of them have in common that it is wrong to fight, unless maybe the religion is in danger. Its similar to karma; "if Im too weak to fight back, I'll be happy mentally because something bad will happen to them, and im the greater person because i turn the other cheek". What rubbish.
Religion is just belief that something will help them because they are the greater person.

Reply 1

cactussed

15

Origami Bullets

That really gets overused far too much...

Yes, I do agree somewhat. That's why when a relative dies or you;re going through extreme emotional stress, you tend to start following religion. It places responsability and a sense of friendship in a higher being.

Reply 2

Smtn

16

What? It's not too difficult to started a religious debate, just throw the words christianity, hypocrites, muslims, extremists, atheism, richard dawkins sporadically and it usually sets off. But I do believe you've failed. I apologise if you really did try, however being able to express yourself to clarify what you're trying to say is quite important

Reply 3

=nuke=

11

I'm sure it's the case for some. Others just don't know any different. They grew up taking the existence of a God or gods for granted.

Reply 4

forsaken_earth

13

I keep on seeing things like x and y are for the week.. Be it psychiatry, anti-depressants, religion.

I'm sure a nice strong caveman... Actually, cavemen had a form of tribal religion. Presumably to hold their society together (yay for Durkheim)

Reply 5

Mr Snips

17

=nuke=

I'm sure it's the case for some. Others just don't know any different. They grew up taking the existence of a God or gods for granted.

n00b

Reply 6

=nuke=

11

Mr Snips

n00b

... ?

Reply 7

anonymous_user

antididdy

There are religions everywhere. All of them have in common that it is wrong to fight, unless maybe the religion is in danger. Its similar to karma; "if Im too weak to fight back, I'll be happy mentally because something bad will happen to them, and im the greater person because i turn the other cheek". What rubbish.
Religion is just belief that something will help them because they are the greater person.

So not true. Religion doesn't mean people are weak, and it's not necessarily about selfishness. Yes, its about hope, hoping that the universe is ultimately fair and good, that no matter what goes on there is still one last thing to keep you going. Its the refusal to believe that the universe is absurd and pointless, and that sometimes bad things happen and there's nothing we can do - we die, we lose people we love, and there is no brightside
Religion does some people an amazing amount of good, motivates them to be selfless and improves their quality of life. Im an atheist, but I still think its pointless and illogical to criticise religious people just for being religious, which a lot of people on this forum seem to do.

Reply 8

antididdy

OP

forsaken_earth

I keep on seeing things like x and y are for the week.. Be it psychiatry, anti-depressants, religion.

I'm sure a nice strong caveman... Actually, cavemen had a form of tribal religion. Presumably to hold their society together (yay for Durkheim)

That's also what I believe religion is for, some clever guy made up a way for the idiot masses to follow laws.

Reply 9

onthejubileeline

It depends on the person and the religion. Personally, I see that there is the same kind of charm and comfort in Nihilism; you can do whatever you want, and there is never going to be any kind of divine retribution.

yes.

antididdy

That's also what I believe religion is for, some clever guy made up a way for the idiot masses to follow laws.

That's what Marx said. In a nutshell, the upper classes abuse religion with its message of being happy with one's lot and its promise of rewards in the afterlife in order to deny the labourers the fruits of their work.

Reply 12

LukeatForest

13

Yes, religion is for the weak. The billions of people who are religious are all weeds who couldn't possibly fight and so need religion to keep them alive. Thank you, OP, for enlightening me to this truth - it's so obvious I wonder how I ever missed it before.

Reply 13

Tyrannosaurus Cal

15

Wow, lot of generalisations here! OK, I'll add some more.

Football is for idiots!
Gay people love musicals.
All clever people are atheists.

There are exceptions to every stereotype... I don't think it's too healthy to look on someone with scorn because they hold different beliefs to you.

Reply 14

Phugoid

Yes it is primarily a thing for the weak.

Especially the weak-of-mind. Where lack of imagination or proof leaves you without a rational answer, you always have the default 'God did it'. But anyone of any mental substance is deeply unsatisfied with such a retort.

Reply 15

Phugoid

Tyrannosaurus Cal

Wow, lot of generalisations here! OK, I'll add some more.

Football is for idiots!
Gay people love musicals.
All clever people are atheists.

There are exceptions to every stereotype... I don't think it's too healthy to look on someone with scorn because they hold different beliefs to you.

I don't scorn people who have different beliefs from me. I scorn people who have ridiculous beliefs.

Reply 16

Phugoid

LukeatForest

Yes, religion is for the weak. The billions of people who are religious are all weeds who couldn't possibly fight and so need religion to keep them alive. Thank you, OP, for enlightening me to this truth - it's so obvious I wonder how I ever missed it before.

No, we don't mean physically weak. We mean mentally weak, unimaginative, too cowardly to lookoutside the tales that have been rammed down their throat for years, too afraid to admit they may have been wrong, too addicted.

Reply 17

Phugoid

antididdy

That's also what I believe religion is for, some clever guy made up a way for the idiot masses to follow laws.

Well no. That doesn't explain why people are susceptible to religion in the first place, or what attributes the 'masses' must have in order to be vulnerable to it.

Reply 18

Tyrannosaurus Cal

15

Phugoid

I don't scorn people who have different beliefs from me. I scorn people who have ridiculous beliefs.

Because you have better beliefs than they do? Those ridiculous beliefs are behind a lot of the biggest charities in the world, so I'd probably say they do a fair bit of good in the world.

Reply 19

Phugoid

=nuke=

I'm sure it's the case for some. Others just don't know any different. They grew up taking the existence of a God or gods for granted.

Yes but even those who don't know any different are displaying a weakness of the mind in their inability to be imaginative and objectively thoughtful.

The unexamined life is not worth living, to quote Socrates. And if you cannot get past the stage of examining your own beliefs, asking yourself why you believe something, what basis you have which you can be sure is a sound premise, how you came to believe it and whether or not that was a justifiable path to belief, then you are leading an intellectually void and hence worthless existence.

is religion just some form of hope for the weak?

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