why religion exists

[icantthinkofaname]

i believe religion exists as a cure for our insecurity. when we first began to develop out own civilization; there must have been one point at which some cave man asked why does the sun set and rise and why are we here? so as a result of this they created sum kinda desperate attempt to keep ther curiosty at bay by answerin the questions with the word god. also this would heal their insecurity. religion also acts as a system of control, giving people some were to turn to and something they can use to explain the unexplainable in exchange for their individuality. ne way why do u think that religion exists

[liam]

Religion, in my opinion, was created because people feared death. They also wanted thier lives to have a greater purpose.

[Lewneedsrs]

I agree with icantthinkofaname. I believe religion was all thought up by insecure people who feared what they couldnt explain.

[Jihad Joe]

I disagree with all of you. I think that 'god' was originally a term that just referred to the creator - like the way we use the term 'mother nature' today. Like if there's an earthquake that kills thousands, people will say 'that's gods will', it doesn't mean that there's some old man sitting in heaven planning terrible disasters to kill us all, it means that that's how nature works.

However i think christians and jews in particular have constantly attempted to personify god, and if you read the bible you will notice this too. The notion of god being a human-like figure is what has made so many people atheist because of its complete improbability and ridiculousness.

The earliest of religions made much more sense in that they did not fear god, but merely used the term 'god' as a way to describe how nature works and why things like death happen.

i think i messed up that decription but i think you'll understand anyway.

[This message has been edited by Jihad Joe (edited 07-14-2003).]

[malaria]

Personifying a god would be arrogant.

Yes, man concocted the idea of religion, to explain things that couldn't be explained at a time, but who knows some of it might be true. It is also a tool. A tool of War.

[Dark_Magneto]

I'm inclined to agree with Jihad Joe. The gross personificationand anthropomorphization of unknown phenomena (at the time) into what is commonly referred to now as "God" is fundamentally flawed on every level.

There may or may not be some form of God (for the lack of a better term, using one a 3 letter word to describe "it" is flawed, but human language is limited that way), but even if there is, it has no mind, will, thought, anything human, animal, or vegetable about it.

[Tyrant]

When people suggest that religion is nothing more than a defense mechanism or a hypnosis technique, they use less logic than one would use to suggest Biblical events are to be interpreted verbatim. News flash to all the pseudo-Communists here: RELIGION IS NOT A CONSCIOUS INVENTION. That's like saying heritage was created for the same reason. Religion, like culture, was not invented at one time, simultaneously, with a birth date. It was developed throughout time, extending backwards to infinity, having no origin and no conclusion (because Nature's funny that way).

THE JUDEO-CHRISTIAN AXIS IS ALSO NOT THE ONLY RELIGION IN EXISTENCE. Ancient ethnic and tribal religions existed long before Judaism and the Golgotha cult infected Europe. Separate Christianity and religion. Christianity is a religion. All religions are not Christianity.

I agree more with Jihad Joe, except the name "Jihad Joe" makes me wonder what concept he does worship...

[AlwaysTired]

There are 10 main religions, and 10,000 sects. Of these, some 6,000 exist in Africa, 1,200 in the U.s, and hundreds in other lands. Many factors have contributed to the development of new religious groups. Some have said that the various religions all represent different ways of presenting the religious truths. But a comparison of teachings and practices with the Bible indicates, that the diversity of religions is because people have become followers of men instead of listening to God! The instigator of such religious confusion....?? Satan!! He is the god of "this system of things". "The things which nations sacrafice...they sacrafice to demons, and not to God." 1st Corinthians 10:20

[DarkFire47]

Religion is also flawed in that the same thing is interpreted in 1000 different ways. Why else is the 33,000+ religions on this Earth..