is religion bad for us?

[savagewind]

I believe we must not give up in our search for God. What the apostle Paul said to idol- worshipping Athenians applies with equal force to us today. "so that they would seek God, if they might grope for him and really find him, although, in fact, he is not far off from each one of us. For by him we have life and move and exist, ...God has overlooked the times of such ignorance; but now he is declaring to all people everywhere that they should repent. Because he has set a day on which he purposes to judge the inhabited earth in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed, and he has provided a guarantee to all men by resurrecting him from the dead.” (Acts 17:27-31)

I think the point of the question in the original post is that religion tends to restrain a person from their personal search. They trade their freedom to find God their own way for the group way. Isn't it true that when people's search for God takes them away from the group the group disowns them untill they relent and come back to do things the group's way?

 

[Brickjectivity]

The day that the human pursuit of truth, meaning, and purpose in life peters out to an afterthought is the day the human species becomes a footnote in the fossil record.

Great point. Rather than the pursuit of truth meaning and purpose I would say it is the pursuit of justice and kindness that is most important, but I think the pursuit of these also causes the pursuit of truth and meaning and perhaps also relates to pursuit of purpose. Pursuing purpose sounds like assuming purpose exists despite not perceiving it. In general these pursuits don't seem harmful to me.

 

[9-10ths_Penguin]

The day that the human pursuit of truth, meaning, and purpose in life peters out to an afterthought is the day the human species becomes a footnote in the fossil record.

I've seen very little "pursuit of truth, meaning, and purpose in life" in religion.

Nevertheless, community is good for people, and religion can provide community. That's a benefit, though it's one that can be achieved by other means, and religions often have negative things associated with them that can offset (or sometimes completely outweigh) the benefits they provide.

 

[Quintessence]

I've seen very little "pursuit of truth, meaning, and purpose in life" in religion.

Really? Addressing questions regarding truth, meaning, and purpose in life is practically all religion does. Well, there's the community and social aspects too as you noted, but the major thrust of all religions is essentially those sorts things: the "master" questions or "big questions" that form the crux of someone's worldview and way of living their life. Questions like "why am I here?" or "what is the proper relationship I should have to other beings, including myself" and "what forces, if any, guide the way of things?" In almost all (perhaps all) cases as well, there are celebratory and honorific components, I suppose.

 

[Sunstone]

It seems to me that religious both typically claim to be better for people than they usually are, and often enough claim to have a monopoly on things they don't have a monopoly on -- such as truth, purpose and meaning in life.

 

[9-10ths_Penguin]

Really? Addressing questions regarding truth, meaning, and purpose in life is practically all religion does. Well, there's the community and social aspects too as you noted, but the major thrust of all religions is essentially those sorts things: the "master" questions or "big questions" that form the crux of someone's worldview and way of living their life. Questions like "why am I here?" or "what is the proper relationship I should have to other beings, including myself" and "what forces, if any, guide the way of things?" In almost all (perhaps all) cases as well, there are celebratory and honorific components, I suppose.

Really.

In my experience, I've seen more often that churches try to hand people a ready-made package of answers to the "big questions" and curtail them exploring things beyond this.

And for many people, they don't even pay attention to that much. Quite often, religion is just the rituals one does to appease either God or their family: getting a "magic cracker" on Sunday to get your fill of "spiritual food"... or having a church wedding because Mom would freak out if you got married in a banquet tent.

 

[Quintessence]

It seems to me that religious both typically claim to be better for people than they usually are, and often enough claim to have a monopoly on things they don't have a monopoly on -- such as truth, purpose and meaning in life.

Pardon, but when did I say religion had a monopoly on these things?
Clearly philosophy deals with these issues as well.

Really.

In my experience, I've seen more often that churches try to hand people a ready-made package of answers to the "big questions" and curtail them exploring things beyond this.

And for many people, they don't even pay attention to that much. Quite often, religion is just the rituals one does to appease either God or their family: getting a "magic cracker" on Sunday to get your fill of "spiritual food"... or having a church wedding because Mom would freak out if you got married in a banquet tent.

I think you put a lot more weight on that word "pursuit" than I intended for there to be. My bad. What I intended to convey is that religion's central thrust is to address - whether it's through individual pursuits or dogmas - the "big questions." I'm not talking about specific religions, I'm talking about the function and purpose of religion in general.

And you'll have to forgive my coming from a UU background; we simply don't do things all dogmatic-like. And my religion - aside from my lapsed UU affiliation - simply isn't dogmatic either. It is about active pursuit of meaningfulness in life.

 

[9-10ths_Penguin]

I think you put a lot more weight on that word "pursuit" than I intended for there to be. My bad. What I intended to convey is that religion's central thrust is to address - whether it's through individual pursuits or dogmas - the "big questions." I'm not talking about specific religions, I'm talking about the function and purpose of religion in general.

And I see religion more as being about community. If we're lucky, this idea of community gets expressed as mutual support; if not, it gets expressed as tribalism.

And you'll have to forgive my coming from a UU background; we simply don't do things all dogmatic-like. And my religion - aside from my lapsed UU affiliation - simply isn't dogmatic either. It is about active pursuit of meaningfulness in life.

If your main exposure to organized religion (to the extent that Unitarian Universalism is "organized") is with the UUs, it might be worth remembering that Unitarian Universalism is in many ways a response to more mainstream religions. To a large extent, the way it encourages people to explore their own personal religious path is meant to stand in opposition to the "one size fits all" approach in other denominations.

The UU approach is not the typical approach... in fact, I'd say that the UU church is as popular as it is because it's so atypical of religions in general - if you want to be encouraged in your free exploration of belief, it's often the only game in town.

 

[Sunstone]

Pardon, but when did I say religion had a monopoly on these things?

I wasn't addressing your claims specifically.

 

[Wherenextcolumbus]

thats a very broad question. Of course some religions are bad for us....think of the occult for example.

What about the occult?

 

[9-10ths_Penguin]

thats a very broad question. Of course some religions are bad for us....think of the occult for example.

... or the denominations that teach that people should refuse all or certain types of medical care.

 

[obsidian]

I'm biased towards the whole "willful ignorance" stand point. What arguments do you have in response to this question?

Religion can be good for certain people. Personality, upbringing, critical thinking, disposition...pretty much the integrity of the person alone...is what makes them a "good" or "bad" person regarldless of their religious preference.

I personally think it has more to do with a human need for structure. Humans need structure of <EM>some</EM> sort to function with a sense of purpose. Some people find their structure in social circles, lifestyle conformity, philosophy, nationalism, partisanship, or any number of things we are born or opted into.

All that to say...no. Religion isn't bad for everyone. Not knowing what you need and acting out as a result is bad for you.

 

[Kilgore Trout]

Any worldview which includes required acceptance of claimed absolute truth is potentially devestating.