Some people need religion, and some people don't. Some people need private spiritual beliefs and some people need fellowship and ritual, the latter being something I don't care for. I have found more meaning in psychology than religion, and it's a relatively new science. Music is my religion, and I NEED it.
Originally posted by Janus Marius
Really? In one sense, they have. How many educated people do you know who prefer prayer and mysticism over tried and true medicine? However, when it comes to dealing with other truths, the human mind prefers to wander. Is that neccessarily right and healthy? Has religion solved the world's problems? Has it led to better understanding of human beings and the nature of the world? Or has it perpetuated a self-absorbed collective ignorance that goes on to further narrow-mindedness?
There are numerous well educated people who are religious. Einstain for exaple endorsed Buddhism greatly.
People around India, professors, doctors, lawyers, all Hindu. Well eduated and well presented.
You do appear to have a limited knowledge of religions around the world.
Buddhism requires knowledge and understanding not blind following. Buddhism also suggests that creation of the world does not necesseraly have anything to do with the devine.
Hinduism endorses every kind of knowledge seeking and science.
Originally posted by Janus Marius
It's also human nature to want things we can't have, and to fall into bad habits from which we live in denial and refuse to escape. Drug addicts have this failing, as do alcoholics and gambling addicts.... I mean, there's millions of alcoholics in the world... Is alcoholism needed? No, it isn't. It's unhealthy.
It is not human nature to want things we can't have, it is the ego. We are told, on the daily bases that we should have more, we should grab more and more. Greed makes us want what we can't have, not human nature.
Since you seem to keen on Japanese cultrue, you should know the social order in Japan. Everybody has their own place and their own rank - and everyone accepts that. Noone is chasing what they are told they cannot have.
A master is a master and a slave is a slave - that is just the way it is.
As far as alcoholism goes - depending on your social point of view, it is needed. For a functionalist, everything we experience is NEEDED, but thats a different arguemtn.
Alcoholism is a bad example of need, but a good example of the lack of control we all have. If we follow your logic, we shouldn't have food either - beause over take of food would lead to obeasity.
Not everyone who has ocasional glass of wine is an alcoholic - alcoholic is a by product of lack of bodily control.
Originally posted by Janus Marius
Is that a need? A real need? I can "need" a razor with five blades instead of three, or "need" a computer with more expensive RAm instead of less. Are you sure it's a need and not an influenced want?
All those are irrelevant. We are talking about religion, which for some people represent spiritual get away which they could not live without.
As I already mentioned, not all religious people resemble Alabama Bible Bashers, Arabian hand cutting and women opression, because there are far more religions in the world than 3 main ones.
Not all people are the same and some are in need of spiritual refuge, they need to believe in something bigger - you cannot speak for those people who claim religion is needed for them.
You are free to speak for yourself - YOU don;t need religion, but not everyone is like you.
Originally posted by lil bitchiness
There are numerous well educated people who are religious. Einstain for exaple endorsed Buddhism greatly.
People around India, professors, doctors, lawyers, all Hindu. Well eduated and well presented.You do appear to have a limited knowledge of religions around the world.
Buddhism requires knowledge and understanding not blind following. Buddhism also suggests that creation of the world does not necesseraly have anything to do with the devine.
Hinduism endorses every kind of knowledge seeking and science.
I have some knowledge of most religions. I don't have complete knowledge because that would require a lot more time and studying, and to be quite honest- I don't feel the need to read every single text and study every single aspect of it to make a judgment. Religion basically gives you a mythos explanation for why things are and how things are. And that's anathema to anyone who advocates reason and logos. True, some religions are far more open minded than others, but this does not remove the aspect of the noble lie from the core of religion. Human beings are dependant on religion, but that dessn't mean they NEED it to survive and flourish. If anything, the idea of reaching self-actualization is better reached through realizing the truth of the world as it is and accepting it, as opposed to being blanketed in lies and half-truths.
It is not human nature to want things we can't have, it is the ego. We are told, on the daily bases that we should have more, we should grab more and more. Greed makes us want what we can't have, not human nature.
Really? So "greed" is the shoe-in term for why infants desire what other infants have? Even a child is greedy because it wants the Tickle Me Elmo that it's mother can't provide? While I do uphold that modern day society reinforces this, it's also there from the beginning. It IS human nature to desire that which we don't have.
Since you seem to keen on Japanese cultrue, you should know the social order in Japan. Everybody has their own place and their own rank - and everyone accepts that. Noone is chasing what they are told they cannot have.
A master is a master and a slave is a slave - that is just the way it is.
And again, you're advocating cultural relativism, which is ridiculous. If a samurai came to your country and bisected a random person to check their sword's worth, is it still justifiable in your opinion? Are morals and ethics truly relative to just... culture?
As far as alcoholism goes - depending on your social point of view, it is needed. For a functionalist, everything we experience is NEEDED, but thats a different arguemtn.
It's a ridiculous argument. Alcohol is not needed for human beings to survive naturally. If it was, we'd be offering beers instead of soft drinks at McDonald's.
Alcoholism is a bad example of need, but a good example of the lack of control we all have. If we follow your logic, we shouldn't have food either - beause over take of food would lead to obeasity.
Not everyone who has ocasional glass of wine is an alcoholic - alcoholic is a by product of lack of bodily control.
I think you're totally missing the point- food is a natural need. We cannot survive without it. There's no choice behind the matter, nor is there any instance where food is NOT a natural need and we suddenly become dependant on it. That is not the case with alcohol. Alcohol is something we don't biologically need and some of us become falsely dependant on it, or overly needy. Same with religion. You don't pop out of the womb and start praying.
All those are irrelevant. We are talking about religion, which for some people represent spiritual get away which they could not live without.
They can't? Or have they been conditioned to think that they can't? Is escapism truly healthy? I disagree.
As I already mentioned, not all religious people resemble Alabama Bible Bashers, Arabian hand cutting and women opression, because there are far more religions in the world than 3 main ones.Not all people are the same and some are in need of spiritual refuge, they need to believe in something bigger - you cannot speak for those people who claim religion is needed for them.
You are free to speak for yourself - YOU don;t need religion, but not everyone is like you.
I'm questioning the nature of that "need". And you've failed to address it.
I don't know about faith in a God, but certainly people need faith in the mundane. People need to believe that they can, for example, get up, get dressed, drive to work, work, drive back, eat dinner, go to bed, and do this day after day after day.
People need this to function, because the truth is, anything can happen to anyone at anytime. If we could/did not have that (preconscious?) faith in the mundane ("Today will be okay"😉, then we'd all be too paralyzed with anxiety / fear / terror to think.
Originally posted by Spazoidpeople were better off without it. Take a look at the Romans, Greeks, Egyptians, Native Americans, Native Australiansand NewZealand. They didn't have religion, or base life and society on religion. and look how they turned out.
Some people need religion, and some people don't. Some people need private spiritual beliefs and some people need fellowship and ritual, the latter being something I don't care for. I have found more meaning in psychology than religion, and it's a relatively new science. Music is my religion, and I NEED it.
Originally posted by Captain Falcon
people were better off without it. Take a look at the Romans, Greeks, Egyptians, Native Americans, Native Australiansand NewZealand. They didn't have religion, or base life and society on religion. and look how they turned out.
...
Dude, do you even know what you're talking about? ALL of those groups had society structures centered around religion.