Only Unhappy People Need Religion?

[stvdv]

Or can you be happy without religion?

If not your happiness, then how is your religious belief benefiting you?

Only Unhappy People Need Religion?

I never think about Atheists in such a way; how come, Atheist do? Feels belittling too, like "I am better than you, I am not dependent on ...."

Only Unhappy People Need Atheism

 

[MonkeyFire]

Happiness IS my religion, and it is going swimmingly.

 

[LightofTruth]

@Rival @Conscious thoughts @LightofTruth @The Hammer ,

If all of your material needs were met. Nice house, nice car, nice spouse, freedom to choose whatever you wanted to work on or to not work, could we get rid of religion?
Or do you think people would still need religion?

If ones religion, like mine, sets its sights on things eternal, then the material really doesn't amount to much.

 

[Rival]

So Karl Marx was wrong?
I don't have a religion so I can understand his view I think.
Perhaps we share the same faulty logic?

I would say he was wrong. I think religion can be humbling for a lot of folks; it's also the strongest form of social bonding we really have, as well as a way of seeing beyond tribe and politics.

 

[Nakosis]

I think that some people would still need religion whereas others would not, as evidenced by the answers on this thread.

Now, if you ask whether humanity as a whole needs religion, I would give you a different answer.
What people 'believe' they need or don't need is not necessarily what they need or don't need.
I believe that God alone knows what humans need even if they don't know...

You don't know what makes you happy? Or is being happy not relevant?

It makes logical sense that if God exists and created humans, God would knows what humans need, because God would know the purpose for which we were created.
Similarly, if scientists create a vaccine for Covid-19 they know the purpose for which it is being created.

Ok, but maybe it is not religion that people need?
What if God exists but doesn't require people to have any religious belief?
Doesn't require worship? Doesn't require man to follow any rules?

 

[Nakosis]

If ones religion, like mine, sets its sights on things eternal, then the material really doesn't amount to much.

Well, that is useful. Especially for people who don't have many material things to begin with. What did Jesus say about the rich?

 

[Trailblazer]

What is spiritual happiness? Is it more than peace of mind?

It is much more than that.... It is knowing I am doing God's will.

Is there something wrong with your desires?

No, not unless they conflict with what God desires for me, or unless they come in between me and God.

“Should a man wish to adorn himself with the ornaments of the earth, to wear its apparels, or partake of the benefits it can bestow, no harm can befall him, if he alloweth nothing whatever to intervene between him and God, for God hath ordained every good thing, whether created in the heavens or in the earth, for such of His servants as truly believe in Him. Eat ye, O people, of the good things which God hath allowed you, and deprive not yourselves from His wondrous bounties. Render thanks and praise unto Him, and be of them that are truly thankful.” Gleanings From the Writings of Bahá’u’lláh, p. 276

If you find out that this one life is all we get, would that make you unhappy?

No, because I cannot actually find out until I die and in that case I would just be dead, not happy or unhappy.
If you find out after you die that this one life is not all we get, would that make you unhappy?

Now, if you are asking if I would rather have an afterlife as opposed to nonexistence I would have to say I would rather have an afterlife, partly because I look forward to a life much better than the life I have had here, and partly because of all that I have sacrificed in order to attain that life. But that does not mean that I have no fears or reservations about the afterlife as eternity is a very long time.

 

[The Hammer]

@Rival @Conscious thoughts @LightofTruth @The Hammer ,

If all of your material needs were met. Nice house, nice car, nice spouse, freedom to choose whatever you wanted to work on or to not work, could we get rid of religion?Or do you think people would still need religion?

I think religion in a sense will almost always exist, as long as mankind does.

Here is an anthropogists take on it if you are interested.
Religion | Perspectives: An Open Invitation to Cultural Anthropology

It has nothing to do with needs, wants, or desires, although for some it may be, they should just never be of primary focus.. So, as I have the majority of that list you describe, I should technically be free of religion. But my faith is stronger these days, then before. Anomaly?

 

[Trailblazer]

If ones religion, like mine, sets its sights on things eternal, then the material really doesn't amount to much.

Likewise....

Matthew 6:19-21 Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal; but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

Matthew 7:24-27 Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock: And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock. And every one that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand: And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall of it.

 

[Trailblazer]

You don't know what makes you happy? Or is being happy not relevant?

My personal happiness is not relevant because I believe the pursuit of personal happiness is selfish and that is the opposite of what I aspire to be. I do not necessarily represent my religion, and I am more serious than most people.

John 12:24-26 Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit. He that loveth his life shall lose it; and he that hateth his life in this world shall keep it unto life eternal. If any man serve me, let him follow me; and where I am, there shall also my servant be: if any man serve me, him will my Father honour.

Ok, but maybe it is not religion that people need?
What if God exists but doesn't require people to have any religious belief?
Doesn't require worship? Doesn't require man to follow any rules?

That sounds all nice and fluffy but I do not believe that is the case.

I cannot say that God requires people to have a religious belief or that God requires worship or that God requires man to follow any rules, but God wants those for us because they are for our own benefit.

 

[SigurdReginson]

True in what I've seen. Unhappy people turn to religion. For happy people, other than a cultural obligation, does religion have something to offer them?

Well it can provide a place to cultivate community with local folks, or to meet new people. It can also be a place for like minded folks to meet. You might even learn a thing or two, depending on what religion you join and for what things you hope to learn. Also, while cultural obligation might be one reason why people may join or continue practicing a religion, embracing a culture or exploring a culture may be another reason.

I'd even argue that someone could benefit more from being in a good place when they join a religion rather than doing it when they struggle with desperate circumstances. When you aren't in a good place, lessons learned must first pass through the walls you have constructed around yourself before they can get to you, and healthy lessons aren't always the ones that get through... Not only that, but people can be more easily manipulated when they are in a bad place, and it can be harder to identify when it's happening; it's harder to tell what's a religion and what's a cult.

 

[Evangelicalhumanist]

Or can you be happy without religion?

If not your happiness, then how is your religious belief benefiting you?

It always seemed to me that only people scared of dying needed religion.

Happiness seems to be something that some people do, and some people don't. Many people who have all the luck in the world remain miserable no matter what, and many who have little going for them still find ways to be happy.

I'm in the latter group.

 

[Skywalker]

Or can you be happy without religion?

If not your happiness, then how is your religious belief benefiting you?

Following the teachings of Jesus is a relationship not a religion.

 

[YoursTrue]

What is spiritual happiness? Is it more than peace of mind?

...
If you find out that this one life is all we get, would that make you unhappy?

Yes. If this life is all we get, I won't find it out if I die. And if I go back to the belief that this life is all there is, yes, I would be very unhappy. I can look at all the pretty scenes I want to, etc., it would not take away the (for me) pervasive and depressing thought that this life were all there is.

 

[YoursTrue]

It always seemed to me that only people scared of dying needed religion.

Happiness seems to be something that some people do, and some people don't. Many people who have all the luck in the world remain miserable no matter what, and many who have little going for them still find ways to be happy.

I'm in the latter group.

As someone earlier said, Jesus did not come for those that were so-called well. He came for the sick.

 

[Trailblazer]

yes, I would be very unhappy. I can look at all the pretty scenes I want to, etc., it would not take away the (for me) pervasive and depressing thought that this life were all there is.

Once we know the truth we cannot go back and there is no need to.

 

[Quintessence]

Religion, understood more broadly or cross-culturally, is inherent to every cognizant human person. That is to say, there's no such thing as a conscious human who lacks religion - every human tells tales that relates themselves to their own egos and environs; every human spins meaning that articulates their (and their cultural) values, every human behaves in ways that are impacted by these world views, and with very rare exceptions every human also engages in this communally as we're social animals. So while it's technically possible for a human "to be happy without religion" that would kind of sort of mean we're talking about a dead, comatose, or otherwise non-cognizant human. Those sorts of persons are no longer asking or meaningfully contemplating the grand, existential questions that the tale weaving that is religion deals with.

 

[darkskies]

I find happiness without religion.

 

[Deeje]

Or can you be happy without religion?

If not your happiness, then how is your religious belief benefiting you?

I don't believe that religion was ever meant to exist in the beginning. From the Bible's perspective, God created man in his image in order to take care of his creation.....meaning the earth and all its inhabitants. We were meant to be one people, with one God, and a very satisfying job to do. Had the humans not abused their free will, that is the life we would have lived.....forever.

Think back to the start that God gave humanity as it is stated in the Bible.....paradise was their home, kitted out with everything that they would need to start a wonderful life here. It was never supposed to end.....they were to fill the world with their children and extend the boundaries of their paradise home until the whole world looked like Eden. There would have been no dramas, no aging, no sickness....and no death.

There was no "religion" or a long list of rules to follow. There was no sin in the world and everyone would have learned to follow God's instructions as a matter of course....seeing the good results of always doing so.....it all came undone when the humans decided that following the promptings of a lying rebel would make their already perfect lives, better. But it would all ultimately lead them to ruin by assuming that doing things their own way was the best way.....has that proven to be true?

I don't think most people realize exactly what we lost back then, and why Jesus came to get it back for us.

I believe it will happen as Revelation 21:3-4 says....
"With that I heard a loud voice from the throne say: “Look! The tent of God is with mankind, and he will reside with them, and they will be his people. And God himself will be with them. 4 And he will wipe out every tear from their eyes, and death will be no more, neither will mourning nor outcry nor pain be anymore. The former things have passed away.”

Sounds like a happy ending to me....

 

[Clara Tea]

I think that some people would still need religion whereas others would not, as evidenced by the answers on this thread.

Now, if you ask whether humanity as a whole needs religion, I would give you a different answer.
What people 'believe' they need or don't need is not necessarily what they need or don't need.
I believe that God alone knows what humans need even if they don't know...

It makes logical sense that if God exists and created humans, God would knows what humans need, because God would know the purpose for which we were created.
Similarly, if scientists create a vaccine for Covid-19 they know the purpose for which it is being created.

God made us of meat and also made mosquitos.