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As some of you may know I despise religion, or rather I despise religious authority.

This post is not to bash religion, rather in my estimation it's a pragmatic look at why religion is necessary and at the same time ultimately flawed.


As so many of the religious gleefully point out religion has been the basis of many societies, Which is both Religions beauty and it's failing.

Most religions are ultimately (in my mind at least) control systems.

Ways in which a large number of people can be controlled under the threat of retribution.


Ultimately the premise of many religions have been useful
In their aims.
- Don't steal
- Don't Kill
- Don't Have premarital sex

All of these are very good ideas, that work through an honor system of personal guilt, this of course has limits as people will simply enforce whatever idea is popular at the time and ignore those things that they don't necessarily agree with.

Indeed in older societies religion served as the very basis of law.
Religion dictated each and every aspect of the life of it's participants and participation was not an option.

And this ultimately is the problem, how does one reconcile individual freedom with religion?, the answer is you can't, most religious systems require ultimate devotion.
How can religion have so much power over people?

In a word psychology.
Most people have the need to believe that there is order in the world, that ultimately their life and death serve some purpose.

The idea that after 80 years your life you simply cease to exist your life having served no real purpose is an idea that the vast majority cannot fathom.

It all boils down to people not being able to deal with life or come to grips with the things that.
The idea that there is ultimately justice and peace comforts many.
The fact that there is no tangible proof of anything religion offers is irrelevant to these type of people.

I was recently watching National Geographic with my girlfriend and they showed an african tribe that used sheeps guts to divine the future, to her this was ludicrous, while she at the same time believed that there would be a reckoning in the future where everyone would be judged. ( The lines would make people who whine about the DMV have an aneurysm, I suspect you would gain a whole other lifetime waiting)
I didn't say anything to her, she like most people would have a hard time with the fact that your belief system is largely a function of where you were born.
Religion falls on it's face because it has all the answers.
It puts itself in the enviable position of end all be all and to it's faithful this is the long and short of it.
Any discussion can be ended by the simple sentence "God says so"

This leaves people who choose not to follow the faith of one religion parametrically at odds with with those who do.
It also leads to some people trying to dictate to others based on their own beliefs.

If people were to take an objective look at how they got their religion their views might be more pragmatic, but one of the tenets of religion is unquestioning belief.




This makes reasoning with a religious person about the same beating your forehead against a cast iron wall.
You might as well just talk to yourself.

Is there a solution to this?

Yes there is. a new religion, one based entirely on personal freedom.

Of course in order to advance this religion it would have to follow in the footsteps of all the great religions, It would require forced conversion, genocide, murder, par for the course for every religion really (antithetical to the whole idea of this religion of course but that hasn't hampered any religion as far as i can tell), how else would you get people to stop believing in something they have no tangible reason to believe for believing in the first place?

At this point I'm pretty sure I have commited a damnable sin in every possible religion (Just by expressing my own opinion) The upshot is that I'll save you all a space in Hell, it will after all be crowded.

u do know there is a religious forum where this post belongs......right?

hallelujahation!?

Actually I didn't. I need a new set of religious people to antagonise.

*passes torch
I have grown bored with them