Gods - as opposed to mere spirits of things - exist in religion because human beings are flock animals, however unwilling we might be to admit both of those qualities. We like to be told what to do, to relinquish ourselves of responsibility, and god/gods is a perfect excuse for that - right alongside fate, destiny and other determenistic/oppressive concepts. Gods may start as spirits of things - spirit of the lake (or, later, of all lakes and, even later, of all visible outside water), for example - but grow in power with time if left unchecked (and most are). Some people also enjoy abusing the power a religion often grants. Thus, come priests (who, let's face it, aren't always the benevolent wisemen we see in fiction); thus, come bishops; thus, comes Pope and other such figures - the "representatives of God on Earth", those who can "hear God's will" and so forth. If a lightning strikes a tree and everyone's terrified, it's the easiest of opportunities to seize their attention and wield their minds: come forth and declare "Lo! The All-Capable One spoke to me! He declared us wrong-doers! We must now repent! Chastize, brothers and sisters!". Case solved; flock organized. Lastly, keep in mind how religion often circumvents attempts at logical explanation. I'm now going to overly simplify human nature for the sake of an example. Those affected deeply by the religious outlook (God made things, God takes things, I am a servant of His, I shall earn for good and be punished for bad etc.) will hardly if ever admit that there's often a more logical, reasonable explanation to whatever happened. A child murdered? Two options are most prominent in such situations: either the child fucking deserved it (sinner of high order and, coincidentally, people never liked the kid) or the murderer is a fucking monster. At no point will there be a place for a proper explanation: that the child was a manipulative little bastard at their young age and that they've been blackmailing the future-murderer into submitting to their petty wishes... and so on. It's not a solely religious thing for people to coward behind a brickwall of a simple non-explanation, but religions often give more solid, more opaque walls to hide behind in their fundamentalist conviction. Hey man, this is a bit of an open letter here, because I feel like this is an important issue to me. I just wanted to say that your comment here first had me a bit flabbergasted, then a bit angry, and now I'm feeling a bit sad here. Hell, it's been about half an hour since I've read it and I still don't know how best to respond. I find worrying fault in pretty much everything you said and I don't know how to address it without you feeling attacked or lectured. I think the best way to say it is that I find your views on religion are a bit unhealthy at best. You're taking a very deep and complex issue that has spanned almost the whole of known human history and oversimplifying it to a great degree. Religion isn't a "this or that" kind of concept. There are probably as many belief systems in the world as there are languages, if not more, and they are just as diverse and colorful as any other cultural aspect be it food, language, music, or art. For many people, religion plays a strong, positive, central role in their lives. It's the people that I really want to focus on here. From what you wrote, I feel like in your mind you paint religious people as fearful, ignorant, and unable to make informed decisions for themselves. To put it bluntly, you're wrong. The fact that there are billions of religious people that have zero problems navigating day to day life is self evident enough. That's not what worries me though. What worries me, what honestly and truly worries me, is that you speak about religion and religious people with such dehumanizing contempt. That kind of mentality is genuinely dangerous for so many reasons. On a personal level, it can lead you to treat others unfairly, hurting both them and you as a result. On a more global scale, such mentality is what leads to issues such as persecution, poverty, genocide, and war. It is really important to remember, religious or not, intelligent or not, even moral or not, every last person on this earth needs to be treated with love and compassion you can't truly be loving if you're not respectful. You're a decent guy. You're smart. You love to share things about yourself. You're proud of your country and your neighbors, your culture and your values. You have a fire in you and it drives you. That's awesome. You gotta watch it though, because sometimes it's easy to let that fire get out of control and more often than not you don't even see it happening. With that said, I encourage you to go back and re-read what you wrote. Think about it for a while. Think about how it might what you said is not only unfair, but unhealthy. Sometime later on, when you're feeling a little less fiery, get with me. We can talk about religion a bit.Don't forget that most of religions are escapist fantasies at its base. Like science nowadays, it was used to understand the world around people. What we can now explain with lightning formation in the clouds, they understood as god's (or gods') wrath.
I can't reply to most of it off the top of my head with any kind of mindful precision. Therefore, I'm writing this particular reply to let you know that I hear you and that I understand where you're coming from. I don't feel offended in the slightest by your comment because you wrote it with sincere respect and solely to warn me, which I appreciate. I'm going to have to think about it all; if you don't mind, I'll PM you later when I have the thing sorted out in my head. Now that you've pointed it out to me, I think that you're most certainly right. It was disrespectful of me to generalize such a huge layer of humanity. Your talking about love and compassion resonates with me because I believe in such attitudes towards others as well. Sometimes, however, a cynical streak hits me - undoubtably the result of me being surrounded by pessimists all my life. Religion is one of the topic which revves my anger up the hottest, for reasons I'm not truly sure of. One argument that pops up in my head the instant is that people are giving the control over their lives to some non-existent being behind whom they hide the moment something hits their well-established bubble protecting them from reality, but even I now see how undeservedly angry and aggressive that is. Maybe I'm angry because I envy them: relinquishing the overwhelming responsibility of living seems like an appealing option the more the bigger the pressure. There's no point in my asserting my previously-stated opinion on religion because, clearly, there's a lot of things I don't understand about what I'm feeling on the subject. What I put down in the original comment was my sincere feeling on the subject, not a matter-of-moment judgement due to some unrelated anger aggravation - which makes my behavior less healthy, I understand. It's something I'd have to work hard on, just like I worked hard on other mental issues of mine. Oddly enough, the further I go, the more problems I notice; the finish line is always on the horizon - just as it should be, now that I think of it; even with that, I'm a better person than I was a year ago. I'm grateful for you pointing out my bias to me in a respectful and precise manner. I must say that you caught me in the best of times with such a comment, too, which is not so much your luck as it is mine. Had the time been different, I'd react far less mindfully and maturely, which is not something I'd be proud of in either case. Given the situation, I wonder: what do you think of George Carlin's views on the world? I'm not sure whether you even know who he is, but in case you do, I'm very curious. He seemed to be a very cynical man, judging from one of his audiobooks that I didn't even have guts to listen to fully - so depressing the first audiofile was.
PM me whenever you feel like it. Hell, if you want you can start a public discussion and shout out to me. Personally, I'd prefer public threads if only because there are many people here on Hubski that are much, much smarter than I and I would appreciate them chiming in, fact checking me, and correcting me if they can. I'll admit right off the bat that it's been years since I've taken any classes on theology or religious history, but I still remember bits here and there and I do know how to do my research. I'm also more than open to any questions that you have, as long as they're not too personal, and I'm not afraid to say "You know what? That's a good question. I don't know the answer." That said, if for any reason you're uncomfortable with that idea, PM is more than fine. You just be you and do what you feel is right and comfortable. :) I know who George Carlin is by reputation, though I admit to never actually watching any of his acts. I think it would be fair to call him a cynic though I'm sure his cynicism is exaggerated for the sake of his art. I can't critique the guy though, because like I said, I've never seen any of his acts. That said, if being overly cynical is a worry of yours, I'd say work on being a little more optimistic. You can be both a cynic and an optimist, a realist and a dreamer. It's all about balance and temperance.if you don't mind, I'll PM you later when I have the thing sorted out in my head.
Given the situation, I wonder: what do you think of George Carlin's views on the world? I'm not sure whether you even know who he is, but in case you do, I'm very curious. He seemed to be a very cynical man, judging from one of his audiobooks that I didn't even have guts to listen to fully - so depressing the first audiofile was.
It's not the acts that's the matter: on stage, he plays a character that's much less thoughtful than himself. It's a matter of his own perception. Just find one of his audiobooks (there are plenty of online collections if one knows where to look) if you're interested. If you ever do, let me know what you think. Any particular advice? Also, I must have asked this beforehand but was too stunned by the response as it made me think awhole on the matter of respect and led me away from other subjects. From what I initially wrote about religion, do you agree with everything else?I can't critique the guy though, because like I said, I've never seen any of his acts.
I'd say work on being a little more optimistic.
Relax. I understand why you might see things the way you do, but I do not agree with how you feel, nor do I think that you're giving religions a fair shake.Any particular advice?
From what I initially wrote about religion, do you agree with everything else?