Religious for the right reasons?

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AngryManatee
Ok I'm not a religious person, but I do get into conversations with religious people sometimes. One thing that does bother me though is that some of the people I've talked to appear to have become christian for fear of being condemned to hellfire for eternity, which brings me to ask: Should one be compelled to be become religious, or join a religion, out of fear?

What's your opinion on this?

WrathfulDwarf
There are many reasons why people chose to become religious....the best ones I know are "community" and "social"

Others (like yours truly) choses to learn and understand the knowledge and insight different religions offer.

Some would say fear of eternal punishment....others would say to avoid rebirth and finding eternal wisdom.

I do it for intellectual reasons.

Devil King
Originally posted by WrathfulDwarf
I do it for intellectual reasons.

An unconventional reason. But perhaps given your reasoning in the post, one of the best answers I've ever heard.

Alliance
Originally posted by AngryManatee
Ok I'm not a religious person, but I do get into conversations with religious people sometimes. One thing that does bother me though is that some of the people I've talked to appear to have become christian for fear of being condemned to hellfire for eternity, which brings me to ask: Should one be compelled to be become religious, or join a religion, out of fear?

What's your opinion on this?

Fear is a great way to recruit.

Nellinator
Not really, it doesn't work that well on people with functional brains.

Quiero Mota
Originally posted by Nellinator
Not really, it doesn't work that well on people with functional brains.

Sure it does.

Fear doesn't equal stupid.

debbiejo
Originally posted by Alliance
Fear is a great way to recruit. It always has been, especially fear for your eternal soul. The biggest lie of all.

inimalist
There is possible corelational evidence of a link between religious belief and schizophrenia...

then again...

http://www.livescience.com/humanbiology/070424_religion_kids.html

Symmetric Chaos
Originally posted by inimalist
There is possible corelational evidence of a link between religious belief and schizophrenia...

I think you're twisting statistics there. Schitzophrenic people are probably likely to be religious due to thinking they have a connection to the divine but that doesn't mean that there is an especially high likelyhood of religious people being schitzophrenic.

inimalist
possibly

I wrote a paper last year somewhat implying that there is no difference diagnostically between someone with a personal relationship with god and someone who suffered from bizarre delusions.

The corelation is probably more likely caused from these people having underlying problems that their religion prevents them from dealing with. In a lot of cases schizophrenia is caused by stress (dopamine problems), if religion is a case of continuous strife in someone's life, especially during major changes in their life.

I think I was being glib. the article I linked to has a link to the fact that religious people are happier and live longer. Religion seems rather healthy wink and yes I do understand how simplified that corelation is

chithappens
Originally posted by inimalist
and yes I do understand how simplified that corelation is

and yet it has its' merits all the same. i have said the same before and think it still has logical basis in a moderate rone

inimalist
Originally posted by chithappens
and yet it has its' merits all the same. i have said the same before and think it still has logical basis in a moderate rone

well, the benefit are more related to the fact that religious communities are normally tight nit and take care of each other.

There is no reason that one cannot gain the same benefits in a strong peer group, but even the idea of something like confession must be so relieving cognitively.

debbiejo
It has been shown that many fanatical religious people have deep emotional problems. They attend church hoping to get well, that god would heal them, though they might not tell you this.

chithappens
I don't need a study to know that. Experience will show ya

Nellinator
Originally posted by debbiejo
It has been shown that many fanatical religious people have deep emotional problems. They attend church hoping to get well, that god would heal them, though they might not tell you this. Many, is a stretch. A select few might be more accurate.

Alliance
I dunno. Isn't a dependacy on anything considered to be unhealthy?

Nellinator
Not religion. Religion has a high positive correlation with happiness. However, those probably aren't the idiot fanatics. Dependancy in usually considered bad, but the circumstance determines whether it is healthy or not. As much as I hate to say it, dependancy isn't always bad.

chithappens
In what cases is dependency ok?

inimalist
I would disagree

many of the beliefs and rituals, when removed from the religious context, would be considered abnormal and symptomatic of delusional thinking.

It is possible that an intertwined group that shares a massive delusion with the ability to remove individual stress is just beneficial to people being happy. However, I would still argue that many parts of that faith are indistinguishable from mental illness.

Nellinator
Originally posted by chithappens
In what cases is dependency ok? It's okay when the dependancy doesn't affect your life.

Originally posted by inimalist
I would disagree

many of the beliefs and rituals, when removed from the religious context, would be considered abnormal and symptomatic of delusional thinking.

It is possible that an intertwined group that shares a massive delusion with the ability to remove individual stress is just beneficial to people being happy. However, I would still argue that many parts of that faith are indistinguishable from mental illness. And I disagree. Faith, can entail the symptoms of a mental illness, but in the vast majority of cases, it does not.

ADarksideJedi
You should fear that you are going to hell.But to become a christian becauose of that sounds abit silly to me.I go by you are damn if you do and you are damn if you don't.jm

inimalist
Originally posted by Nellinator

And I disagree. Faith, can entail the symptoms of a mental illness, but in the vast majority of cases, it does not.

lol, I was actually saying that "faith" in general is just another word for "delusion"

however, ill skip to the end, and say I don't necessarily feel that way now... haha, I was told

Alfheim
Originally posted by AngryManatee
Ok I'm not a religious person, but I do get into conversations with religious people sometimes. One thing that does bother me though is that some of the people I've talked to appear to have become christian for fear of being condemned to hellfire for eternity, which brings me to ask: Should one be compelled to be become religious, or join a religion, out of fear?

What's your opinion on this?

No. Religon should be fun.

Originally posted by inimalist


many of the beliefs and rituals, when removed from the religious context, would be considered abnormal and symptomatic of delusional thinking.

It seems to me that people do rituals even if they are not religous without knowing it eg what boxers do before they enter the ring.

Sahri24
I would recommended not joining a religion out of fear but I'd first look into that religion see what they do and why. One should not become religious just because they think the end of the world is coming on 7/7/07. I have a best friend who's a convert and she did it because she looked into what the Catholic church had to offer and decided it was a better life for her then the one she was living not because she was afraid of going to hell. People have lots of superstitions and one of them is fear of the unknown. We fear what we can't describe or touch. Therefore we fear hell a human consept of eternal pain and suffering. What if there is no hell? Then people would be doing this for nothing right? So I guess people become religious because of the unknown.

Alfheim
Originally posted by Sahri24
So I guess people become religious because of the unknown.

Er I dont. Im religous because I belive I have a bond with spiritual beings. Im a heathen and heathenism isnt about fear. The Norse people belived that their gods were family.

Atlantis001
Sometimes they become scientists and philosophers because of the unknown.

Of course science can be limited and close minded sometimes, but religion can be like this too.

Storm
Originally posted by AngryManatee
Ok I'm not a religious person, but I do get into conversations with religious people sometimes. One thing that does bother me though is that some of the people I've talked to appear to have become christian for fear of being condemned to hellfire for eternity, which brings me to ask: Should one be compelled to be become religious, or join a religion, out of fear?

What's your opinion on this?
I wouldn' t consider worshipping a god where a person' s eternal fate is not being decided upon based on their actions, but merely on their decision to believe.

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