How organized religion survived long obvious faultsT.J. postedIn my opinion, believing in God is one thing while believing and following organized religion is another. Whether or not God exists is a matter of personal opinion, something people are entitled to. I am appalled that people, in such a modern, technological society, still believe and follow organized religion. How many people have died in holy wars? How many people have been put to death for criticizing the Catholic Church? How many people have died for doing something "sinful"? It seems that "evil" prevails in the ones who condemn it. Is burning someone not "evil"? Even simply THINKING about what is preached in organized religions one can see its faults. God created the entire universe and everything in it, but cares how every organism behaves? Why on Earth would anything so powerful care about something as simple as what I eat? Many people believe in God because the universe needs a creator, however those same people neglect to explain the creator of God. Of course, God does not need a creator, but then why does the universe need a creator? If God can be infinite, can't the universe? That's very hypocritical. Inter alia, if one looks at any holy book or material one can notice all the hypocrisy in it. I've study the Koran particularly well and it is shocking at the amount hypocrisy in it. Literally one page could seem to say, "Kill all the non-believers," while the next could say, "You can have your religion, I will have mine." The Bible is likely just as bad. Having faith is completely illogical. To believe something simply "because" isn't really believing, as the believer doesn't understand what they are believing. In my philosophy course, St. Aquinas's argument for God is because he believes in God. That is a very week argument. I agree with H. K. Mencken's quote, "Faith may be defined briefly as the illogical belief in the occurrence of the improbable," as well as, "A man full of faith is simply one who has lost (or never had) the capacity for clear and realistic thought. He is not a mere a**; he is actually ill. Worse, he is incurable." I find it odd how everyone refers to God as "He". "He" is masculine, does that not imply that God is male? To be male is to be able to reproduce sexually. As far as I know anything that reproduces sexually is a living organism, one that does not live forever and eventually dies. To refer to God as "He" advocates sexism. I'm surprised women are OK with this. The ability to question and doubt, exactly what I am doing, is something organized religions try to suppress. Deism is something I find somewhat interesting. Deism is the idea that God created the universe as it is and that God must function according to ITS (God is not male) own laws. This is against theism because theists believe in a personal God, one who watches over and protects them. I disagree with the idea of a personal God. Seems more or less an attempt to provide security to people in dire situations. I apologize if this offends anyone. Organized religion and people who follow it have a tendency to irritate me. Lol. How is it that organized religion has survived for so long, even in a modern world? Its faults are obvious to anyone who possesses the capacity to think. Sponsored Link-------------------------- Mr Stalkington repliedPeople need hope... craig b repliedWhat you don't know or understand will fill volumes! Without going into all your drivel - you just need to understand that what the Bible says is not just God's truth for Himself - it is for ALL of humankind. Nothing contained within it has ever been DISPROVED! Much of it cannot be proved this side of heaven, but you're doing a pretty job of doing just that. You cannot understand God. Stop trying. Only know that God understands you and this is the foundation of "relationship" not only with Him, but with all people. p.s. - We refer to God and "male" because it's the only way Jesus himself referred to God. Only by the name of "Father" do we see Jesus call God. That's good enough for me. p.s.s. - do men have wombs? Why does God say to Job "from whose womb comes the ice?" (38-29) God tells us that He contains all things male and all things female to bring ALL to and understanding relationship. Primordius Drool repliedBecause death is scary and life is hard and cruel. Rock of Faith repliedHow come people have, despite theirs? That Canadian Guy™ repliedDude.. once someones afraid.. You can mend em and make them follow your every order.. cristineae repliedIt's survived for so long because it believes in the fact that it is not perfect. It is organized by humans, so what do you expect? However, the fact that it's imperfect doesn't mean it cannot be perfect. And that's the core of its survival. There is the knowledge that it is imperfect, there is the faith that it can be perfect, and there is the hope that it will be perfect. And the source of all this is love. Basically, any religion would always talk of love and service to others. Who wouldn't want that? The greatest good: LOVE. (Pls. don't take this romantically, love that is in the form of service to other people.) kandocolostomybag repliedgo back and read the koran please. then go and read the bible all the way through, then finaly, put both side to side. specifically pay attention to how the tanakh matches the alqoran (its original name) in structure and form almost to the letter. then ask yourself, what is faith? it could be an irrational response to a very messed up world, it could also be the beliefe in something that is bigger than you. faith and belief is important for many, and thats why organized religiion has thrived for so long. i believe in god, and i have given myself to jesus and i believe in him to help me do good works for the world, but i do not go to church. church is a gathreing of like minded people to come and share their faith with each other, thereby making it stronger. sometimes, churches dont work that way, and they grow into a mass of charletans. its unfortunate, but it happens. all im saying is, if your beef is with organized religion, thats fine, bc they havent instilled alot of faith in many lately. if you are a true atheist, i encourage you to perform the activity above, it might change something for you that two religions could have so much to say, but be written at such different times. it could instll something called faith. Eli repliedDude it is all about what you don't have. It's called FAITH! hujandingins repliedAre you in a story telling competition? Mi Atheist Girl repliedPeople crave community and religion satisfies that craving. If we all came together for a secular purpose, religion would cease to attract so many, I'm sure. Look at the secular countries in Europe. They have a very low church attendance rate, yet they have a real sense of community, thus satisfying that need. danandirma123 replied::How is it that organized religion has survived for so long, even in a modern world? only through the grace of God. all other christian religions are off shoots from the Catholic church. insert "free will" into the end of your questions. Jesus refers to God as his Father. not his mother. he refers to himself as the son of man. not woman. the bible is a very deep book. spend more time reading it looking for the answers to these questions. sorry if I offended you. God bless Dan listless repliedtook you semi-seriously until "How many people have been put to death for criticizing the Catholic Church?" about 3,000 over a century (Spanish Inquisition). Atheists claimed 100,000,000 in 20th century, what ya thunk ? What are the *obvious* faults ? Nice rant, senseless and full of fallacies, but nice. Necrolius repliedLife is full of unfairness so they look up to a guy up there and hope there's someone who would see that and have justice done one day. If there are no evangelists................I am sure religion will see its last days. pablo repliedReligion doesn't merely survive, it thrives. It brings people together and breeds compassion. Religious communities come together to feed the hungry and shelter the homeless. You can emphasize flawed logic, historical mistakes and atrocities, and other faults, but these don't define the ultimate purpose. More important than telling someone that they are wrong is showing them what is right. I don't blame the idea (religion) because someone acts inhumanely while invoking its name. answer man repliedHow have humans survived for so long despite their obvious faults? Also, religion may be responsible for some bad but atheism takes the cake when it comes to murder. Pol Pol in Cambodia, Mao in China and Stalin in the USSR each ruled over atheist nations where religion was outlawed. They went on to murder tens of millions of their own people. Honestly, what you wrote sounds childish. I'd put your age at about 15. This is not a criticism, just an observation. You have much to learn, much maturing to do, hopefully some wisdom, humility and tolerance for the beliefs of others to gain. Tom repliedyou criticize that people have died in holy wars. why bother having freedom since so many have died for it? the good things in life are worth fighting for. if everyone knew and understood what God is, there would be no faith. many religions believe that God is a force or being or something that cannot be explained. this ticks off a lot of people because they want to know those answers. since they see that they cannot comprehend this, they see religion as irrational. you said that religions try to suppress questions and doubt. false. some people spend too much time reading about the dark ages and such. if you spend a little bit of time today, you will see that many religous leaders would be happy to explain what you have trouble understanding. some still will, unfortunately. but if you really take some time to find the answers you're looking for, you'll find them somewhere. a major theme through many organized religions is respect for the life of your fellow man. im not an expert on the religions of the world, but i know that the Bible definitely preaches love towards life of you fellow man, and i am cetain that most, of the other major religions do the same. the choice of what to believe is you own, but do so for the right reasons. dont follow a certain religion because your parents tell you to, or because you like their rules on something as simple as meat on friday's. take some time out of you incredibly busy life to find some answers. if you take an unbiased mind and look for what makes the most sense to you, then you're doin something right. religion's existence is results of the passing down of Tradition and Scripture from each respective religion. the faults are not obvious, but they seem apparent to those who do not take time to understand what they really mean. ▒Ðan†ès repliedIt's called fear-based marketing and it works Martin S repliedHow is it that organized religion has survived for so long, even in a modern world? Matthew 16:17 Jesus answered and said to him, "Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in heaven. 18 And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it. Its faults are obvious to anyone who possesses the capacity to think 1 Corinthians 1:18 For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. 19 For it is written: "I will destroy the wisdom of the wise; the intelligence of the intelligent I will frustrate." 20 Where is the wise man? Where is the scholar? Where is the philosopher of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? 21 For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not know him, God was pleased through the foolishness of what was preached to save those who believe. 22 Jews demand miraculous signs and Greeks look for wisdom, 23 but we preach Christ crucified: a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, 24 but to those whom God has called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. 25 For the foolishness of God is wiser than man's wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than man's strength. 26 Brothers, think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth. 27 But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. 28 He chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things--and the things that are not--to nullify the things that are, 29 so that no one may boast before him. jes44 repliedI completely agree with you and you worded it so well, I for one can't say i am a believer because i can't comprehend everything the Bible in tells. i think organized religion is the root of ALL evil and has been since day one. And the Bible is man written for one and it comes from these men whom God spoke to when no one else was around and wrote it down, is it just me or does that seem far fetched? I mean if some one today were to say they talked to God and start a new Bible a modern day one everyone would think the guy was insane, am i correct? Oh wait a second, after the Bible was finished being written (by MAN) NO ONE ELSE WAS EVER GOING TO GET MESSAGES FROM GOD. Profits, Psychics and any other person who could see the future were from SATAN, what in the F is up with people believing this ****? I mean most seriously devoted people are the most judgmental and cruel of all, EVERYONE sins and NO ONE can judge either way, i don't look down on church goers, so they shouldn't look down on me. zak the singing dog repliedmanipulation of society to maintain power Antihero replied"Its faults are obvious to anyone who possesses the capacity to think" Having the capacity for thought doesn't mean they have the inclination. Religion caters to people who prefer quick fix comfort answers over critical thinking. This is perpetuated by effective indoctrination from generation to generation. Mark K repliedcuz the Bible has the Truth and even if people slip up then the Bible stands.
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