Religion, eh?... Discuss

[Wintermute]

We probably all think we're immensly psychologically strong and would never succumb to doubt or the effects of advertising. But anyone who's experienced a previously strong friend or family member end up in nervous breakdown mode should appreciate how delicate our brains can be.

indeed - and we all think that religion is just harmless and a positive thing in people's lives... except those of us who have been part of a cult.

When you can look back at what appeared at the time to be perfectly reasonable and sensible behaviour, and see it for the cult induced paranoia and delusion that it was, it makes you look differently at religion.

I was involved in a christianity based cult, the church of christ the king - a complete isolationist bunch, with the whole "don't have friends outside the church, don't drink alcohol, don't listen to the radio ("worldly" music) etc etc etc.

it took many years to get free, but what I realise now - all religions are like this, only the degree of seriousness differs. Religion is about two things - authority, "this is how things are" and control, "this is how we (and by we, we mean YOU) should behave".

Except, as anyone can see, religion is wrong about almost everything - the earth is not flat, was not made in seven days, the sky is not a carpet with holes in it, thunder is not angry gods, you don't go to heaven or hell when you die, etc etc etc. The only things that religions are right about... are the things that people decide for themselves: do to others what you would like them to do to you, have com passion on the poor or sick, that sort of thing.

just my 2p.

 

[Wintermute]

u can apply logic to everything in life cept religion acording to beleavers, u gotta be clinicaly stupid to fall for that imo.Seriously i read somewhere that deeply religious ppl have a diffrent chemical balance in their brain drawing them to such nonsense.

It's true - people who experience a religious presence have a highly active temporal lobe in their brain, and a slightly lower than normal activity with the perietal lobe.

The nature of this "presence" is always in line with the beliefs of the individual... ironically, the minds of saints and the minds of UFO abductees show exactly the same imbalances.

There has been a stack of work done on the effects of EM fields and brain chemistry on religious devotion and experience - inclduing an excellent BBC documentary called "god on the brain".

 

[Dark]

There was a very funny article by Zoe Williams in this weeks Guardian about how boring immortality would be (quoting from memory so may be not 100% accurate)

After a while you would have done everything that you'd ever wanted to do and would have to resort to ever harder jigsaws to pass the time. Those who have had near death experiences report seeing a blinding light, at least the afterlight ensures adequate lighting is provided for the completeion of jigsaws

The basic point of this article was to point out that followers of religions seek imortality but don't really understand the consequences of it. I like to think up wierd perspectives on life. Is life just one massive dream, when you die you wake up into another world? Is this world merely an illusion created for me, how can I prove any of you exist and are not simply just creations of my imagination. Does your head in after a while though, best time to do it is lying on your back outside staring up at the stars, marvelling at just how ridiculously slim your chances of ever existing are. I personally think Lance Armstrong said one of the best quotes ever on religion:

I just hope that if there is someone or something up there they'll judge me for who I am and what I've done in life not for what I have or haven't belived in.

That basically sums up how I feel about religion, I suppose I'm an agnostic.

 

[IceDragon]

I'd like to be immortal though

But only me, or only a few people. You can always do different things. I could live a thousand years without ever getting bored

 

[Hector]

I'd like to be immortal though

But only me, or only a few people. You can always do different things. I could live a thousand years without ever getting bored

A thousand years lol

You know what "immortal" means right?

 

[sKull]

A thousand years lol

You know what "immortal" means right?

respawn without the 7 sec delay right ?

 

[«)Fîrë$±ørm(»]

There was a very funny article by Zoe Williams in this weeks Guardian about how boring immortality would be (quoting from memory so may be not 100% accurate)



The basic point of this article was to point out that followers of religions seek imortality but don't really understand the consequences of it. I like to think up wierd perspectives on life. Is life just one massive dream, when you die you wake up into another world? Is this world merely an illusion created for me, how can I prove any of you exist and are not simply just creations of my imagination. Does your head in after a while though, best time to do it is lying on your back outside staring up at the stars, marvelling at just how ridiculously slim your chances of ever existing are. I personally think Lance Armstrong said one of the best quotes ever on religion:



That basically sums up how I feel about religion, I suppose I'm an agnostic.

good post