Do We Need Religion?

@Airi Ok so when I said people work themselves to death, I didnt mean that they do so for pleasure, but rather to achieve a life and pursue dreams for themselves. This is by no means bad! we should all work and strive for that which we desire. It is, however, temporal. The fact is that all things on this earth die. people die, institutions die, governments die, and even dreams die. at the end of all things, nothing really matters. Legacy matters you say? Give humanity 10,000 years and they will forget hitler, stalin, and ghandi. True love matters you say? Again, it will die with the lovers themselves. All goals, all desires, and all hopes are meaningless because one day the object of that hope will fail and die off.

can people live happy lives without paying homage to a diety? Of course! But the significance of that life will die of within a matter of years (maybe a few thousand years if he or she is truly great). So, my point is that a person who believes in a higher power/ after life is more fulfilled than, say an athiestic ceo, because he trusts in an eternal concept instead of temporal power and wealth.

I myself have gone through serious bouts with addiction, depression, and other mental illness. I a not saying that all non-christians are drug addicts, but everyone seeks to be fulfilled by SOMETHING. In my case it was a chemical reaction in my brain that I sought and later became addicted to. Since becoming a christian, however, God has given me hope, healing, and courage tl be the man I was meant to be. All of thi happened without outside help or medication. Now, I'm not perfect but I'm a work in progress. I am under no illusion that I will always be happy or feel completely satisfied. However, I believe that God will, one day, free me from the bonds of my body and release my spirit to live with him. That spirit will be perfect and holy, without the blemishes that plauge my mind and my body. Without God, that same spirit would be dead and incapable of living freely. This I believe.

Thus, I try to live in the spirit of God (the Holy spirit) instead of my body and mind. If i live in this manner then I am living not for temporary things but for eternal things.My joy cannot be killed because my gift is not in this life but the next. Dont get me wrong, God has done amazing things in this life as well, but I focus on the everlasting gift because it will be untainted unlike my earthly body. Test and see that this is true! Dont worru about christianity! It too is tainted. dont worry about religion, for it is imperfect. Just call out to God,read his words, and I promise that he will speak to you. Listen and he will heal. "according to his great mercy he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the ressurection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfailing kept in heaven for you." (1 peter 1:3-4). So it comes down to one simple truth: seek temporal pleasures and die or seek eternal pleasures in Jesus and die: Romans 6:23: "for the wages of sin is death but the free gift of God is eternal life"

*seek eternal pleasures in Jesus and LIVE. not die haha misstype

Also @Kurtni Everything I said above. Also, nice glasses! they look a lot like mine. You have nice style:) I hope neither of you take offense to the things I post here. It is all truth that I believe in with all my heart (Or I would not say these things). I hope you know that i fully respect your views and your right to choose your own beliefs.:)

@ FloatingInThePast
I think it's rather judgmental to think that you or someone else automatically has a more fulfilled life simply because of your beliefs. I find it rather offensive. You know nothing about me except that I am an atheist but, according to your post, I must not be living a truly fulfilled life because I don't believe what you do. That's very judgmental, don't you think? You know nothing about me or about my life except for the fact I identify as an atheist. Even if that comment was not directly aimed at me, you are still judging me indirectly for not sharing your beliefs.

In all honesty, the significance of all of our lives will die in a number of years. Most of us won't accomplish things on the scale of Ghandi or Martin Luther King Jr.. Most of us will not be remembered except by close family and friends. In 10,000 years, humanity will have different heroes. Ghandi and MLK will be replaced with people like them because in 10,000 years, the Earth and humanity will be drastically different from human society today. Human society today is drastically different than when say, the first settlers came to America. In 10,000 years, that society will be different than our society. So yeah, people like Ghandi will be forgotten at some point, but there will probably be new heroes fighting for new things or even fighting for the same things, depending which direction humanity goes in. There's a possibly that in 10,000 years, humans won't even be around anymore. If we continue the way we are, we'll force ourselves to die out long before the Earth dies. Hitler and Stalin will be forgotten in 10,000 years probably as well because more evil humans will come, maybe worse than Hitler or Stalin combined. Humans have a tendency not to learn from history, as seen by the things going on in our world today. It's just the way life and the world looks. It doesn't really have anything to do with 'god' or anything supernatural.

And that's great. Your beliefs are yours. But to judge someone and tell them that they'll never live a fulfilled life unless they believe exactly as you do is wrong. It's judgmental. It is offensive. It is hurtful. Who are you to rightfully say that someone's life is unfulfilled because they don't believe what you do? If you believe in a god and that is helping you, then that's great. Some people do find help in religion and the idea of deities. That's your belief and there's nothing wrong with it, but there is something wrong with judging and basically insulting someone's life because they don't see it how you do. I'm not saying your beliefs are wrong, I'm just saying you shouldn't judge how fulfilled a person's life is based upon their beliefs in the supernatural.

I'm a bit confused by your last paragraph. If Christianity is tainted, why use the Bible to support what you are saying? The Bible is Christianity's holy book, it is a part of the religion. Therefore, if Christianity is tainted, is the Bible not tainted as well? It seems a bit contradictory to call Christianity and religion "tainted" and then use a religion's holy book to support your ideas. I was raised in a Christian family, I know the Bible all to well. The thing is, I don't believe your god will "heal me" because I don't believe in your god. I will heal myself. My friends, family, and doctors will help heal me. By relying on those I love will get me through these rough times and will help me cope with what I am formerly unable to. If relying on religion helps you, then that's good for you. What helps people varies from person to person.

Well, I entered this forum simply to state my opinion. It is an opinion I will support and fight for because it is right. I do not, however, wish to try to coerce you into changing yours. We are both set in our ways, it seems, and perhaps any further discussion will only lead to hostility.

@ FloatingInThePast
True love matters to others. My parents love matters to me and I'm not one of their lovers.

You also can't say an opinion is right. It's an opinion; you said so yourself. You just believe it is right.

@ Airi.
I don't really see how what she said was offensive? Whether or not they say it, every religious person believes atheists or people from an opposing religion are missing out on something important and find their religion enriching/necessary/vital. It's "judgmental" because that's exactly what religion is for, for providing standards by which to live, and consequently that makes it very obvious when others aren't living by those same standards.

To find that hurtful in any way seems very oversensitive to me. Personally for me, even when religious people say things with the intent to hurt it's meaningless if not humorous, because I don't believe in any of it. It's the equivalent of threatening an adult with being on Santa's naughty list.

@ Kurtni
I meant it in more of a general way, you know? Not that I was offended or hurt by what he had to say, but just in general sense that it could be offensive to certain people to say their life is unfulfilled based upon their beliefs.

@ Kurtni
By every religious person, do you mean every person that identifies as a religion other than Atheist? Because I don't think Atheists are missing out on anything. (I used to.)

dru will be okay.:

@ Kurtni
By every religious person, do you mean every person that identifies as a religion other than Atheist? Because I don't think Atheists are missing out on anything. (I used to.)

I don't think atheism is a religion, though I think the statement probably applies to some atheists too. (I, for example, think Christians are missing out on living with purpose on a daily basis by focusing so much on a possible afterlife).

Do you really consider yourself religious? From what I've read in this forum, you don't participate in any organized religion. Though, "every" was probably an overreaching word- not everyone even takes their religion seriously enough to care about people who don't practice it.

I feel bad for not having read all of the posts, but it is late here, and I thought I would put myself out there before sleeping.

Personally, I think religion holds us back with much more of an impact than it does influencing our morals. People are turning to the Bible to raise tension over gay marriage, in the same way that they did over slavery. Religion creates enemies for absolutely no reason - the Holocaust? It has so much anger and awfulness - 9/11?

There's nothing out there, try to live a good life without depending on the book. Who's to say in 2000 years, people won't be debating the authenticity of Superman?

@ Kurtni
I don't consider myself religious but most humans believe I have a religion, even if I reject the term

I think those people are incorrectly defining religion. Religion isn't the same as being spiritual or believing in a God or any other supernatural ideas an individual may have. They are probably the same people who think atheism is a religion.

@ Kurtni
To be fair, some Atheists feel very strongly that "Atheism" is their "religion" and get mad if they can't put it there.

dru will be okay.:

@ Kurtni
To be fair, some Atheists feel very strongly that "Atheism" is their "religion" and get mad if they can't put it there.

I've never heard of that occurring, but if it does they have the same misinformation, atheists aren't exempt from ignorance.

@ Kurtni
My mom would be one of them. Because identifying herself as "Atheist" when asked for her religion actually tells people about her beliefs. Rather than saying nothing.

dru will be okay.:

@ Kurtni
My mom would be one of them. Because identifying herself as "Atheist" when asked for her religion actually tells people about her beliefs. Rather than saying nothing.

If someone asked me my religion, I would say "Im an atheist", not because that's my religion, but precisely because I don't have a religion and they asked a presumptuous question. When atheist get "angry", I think it's because of the constant assumption that everyone has a religion.

Identifying as atheist tells people about one belief someone has- a religion is far more than a singular belief.

@ Kurtni

Not having a religion does not necessarily mean you're an atheist.

You can also be agnostic.

@ treat02
I never said atheism was the only path to not having a religion. You can believe in a God and not be part of a religion.

I personally don't think religion is necessary at all in this world. I really don't. That being said, I don't think it was a waste of human resources throughout the years. After all, humans, as a species, love to have answers. People didn't really like hearing just the 'we don't know yet'. I mean, let's be real here, most religions were formed before science was. Those people wanted answers and religion was the only thing talking back at the time.

That being said, I honestly do hope that religion goes away eventually, but I'm not sure if it ever will in my lifetime. I think it'll eventually happen though, and that people will eventually look at most of the current big religions the same way we currently look at Greek/Norse/Egyptian/etc. mythology.