1. Joined
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    19 Jun '07 14:23
    Religion and fear from what i've seen seem to go hand in hand.Is it not possible that god was invented to control the masses?
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    19 Jun '07 14:38
    Originally posted by steponup
    Religion and fear from what i've seen seem to go hand in hand.Is it not possible that god was invented to control the masses?
    God wasn't invented for that...and people naturally fear what they dont understand....i think that applies somewhat to christians as well!!!
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    19 Jun '07 15:50
    Originally posted by steponup
    Religion and fear from what i've seen seem to go hand in hand.Is it not possible that god was invented to control the masses?
    No one invented religion. Its just a perfect way to explain things we don't understand.

    As humans evolved and developed self awareness, and then soceity and culture they would imediatly be faced with some difficult questions. With the development of language increasing the complexity of soceity its not going to take long before a self aware being questions its existance and the existance of things around it. Religion develops from this basic human nature. A lack of knowleage of purpose ('why are we here?'😉 and origin ('how did we get here?'😉 leads over time to ideas of Gods and creators. Sun worship is an obvious place to start, a light and life giving sphere in the sky. How do you explain its existance? Maybe its a God or many its controled by God.

    Another difficult quesiton is 'what happens when we die?' With self awarness it becomes difficult to imagine what a lose of awarness would be like. How can it just be oblivion? Fear and a lack of understanding of death leads to the afterlife. And a seperat afterlife develops for the good and bad, because isn't it so incredibly unfair that some good people suffer when some bad people lead great lives? We don't like to accept the unfairness and indifference of the universe. We like to find comfort in the thought that something is watching over us and protecting us. As human beings, we hate to be alone. Religion can fill that particular human need.

    After all trhis its just culture. Human groups become isolated and various cultures and creationstories and ultimatly religions spring up all based on varying myths. If one were really true then which? All peoples of all the hundreds of faiths that have existed throughtout all of human history ardently believed that they were right.

    But to summerise, religion is not invented (except maybe scientology) it evolves. It comes from basic human nature, a fear of death, a fear of the unknown, a need for comfort and a need for meaning in life. Religion is perfect. It dose anything we want. It explains all, it brings ultimate justice to the oppressed and it gives us something to kill and die for, another brilliant human trait.
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    19 Jun '07 16:11
    you've obviously ginen it some thought but do you believe in god in any form?
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    19 Jun '07 16:49
    Originally posted by steponup
    you've obviously ginen it some thought but do you believe in god in any form?
    Nope. I used to though. But I never had blind faith, I questioned my religion. Like you said, I gave it a lot of thought. I am now an atheist.
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    19 Jun '07 17:34
    Originally posted by Jake Ellison
    Nope. I used to though. But I never had blind faith, I questioned my religion. Like you said, I gave it a lot of thought. I am now an atheist.
    So what thought led you to becoming an atheist?
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    19 Jun '07 17:40
    Originally posted by whodey
    So what thought led you to becoming an atheist?
    Well I never had some sudden revelation, but yeah, thought, over a long period of time, and reading.
  8. Standard memberscottishinnz
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    19 Jun '07 18:10
    Originally posted by Jay Joos
    God wasn't invented for that...and people naturally fear what they dont understand....i think that applies somewhat to christians as well!!!
    Ahhhh, but he was invented, right!?!
  9. Illinois
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    19 Jun '07 19:02
    Originally posted by Jake Ellison
    No one invented religion. Its just a perfect way to explain things we don't understand.

    As humans evolved and developed self awareness, and then soceity and culture they would imediatly be faced with some difficult questions. With the development of language increasing the complexity of soceity its not going to take long before a self aware being que ...[text shortened]... oppressed and it gives us something to kill and die for, another brilliant human trait.
    Why do human beings have a need for meaning in the first place? Or a need for God? Have you ever asked yourself whether or not the reason we might have these needs is because we were meant to? After all, if we were created for fellowship with God, without him would we not eventually in some way or another sense our incompleteness?
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    19 Jun '07 19:17
    Originally posted by Jake Ellison
    Well I never had some sudden revelation, but yeah, thought, over a long period of time, and reading.
    I realize you lost your faith over thinking. My question is about what specifially if anything?
  11. Standard memberUmbrageOfSnow
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    19 Jun '07 19:46
    Originally posted by epiphinehas
    Why do human beings have a need for [...] God? [...] The reason we might have these needs is because we were meant to? After all, if we were created for fellowship with God, without him would we not eventually in some way or another sense our incompleteness?
    That logic seems rather circular.

    On top of that, I've seen no evidence that humans as a species have a need for God anyway. We have a need for explanation. We want things to happen for a reason, which is a natural extension of our curiosity and intelligence. We created various myths and stories to explain nature, nothing more.
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    19 Jun '07 19:50
    Originally posted by UmbrageOfSnow
    That logic seems rather circular.

    On top of that, I've seen no evidence that humans as a species have a need for God anyway. We have a need for explanation. We want things to happen for a reason, which is a natural extension of our curiosity and intelligence. We created various myths and stories to explain nature, nothing more.
    But when we don't have an explaination, God is good at filling the gaps and providing the explaination. At varying times in human history God has filled gaps that there is no way people of the time could have solved scientifically. So yeah we need an explantion, but that need is often what creates God.
  13. Standard memberUmbrageOfSnow
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    19 Jun '07 20:45
    Originally posted by Jake Ellison
    But when we don't have an explaination, God is good at filling the gaps and providing the explaination. At varying times in human history God has filled gaps that there is no way people of the time could have solved scientifically. So yeah we need an explantion, but that need is often what creates God.
    Basically what I said.
  14. Joined
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    19 Jun '07 20:48
    Originally posted by UmbrageOfSnow
    Basically what I said.
    Yeah but you said humans don't need a God. I don't think they do now, but when God is the explaination you could say humans need a God.
  15. Standard memberRBHILL
    Acts 13:48
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    19 Jun '07 21:07
    Originally posted by steponup
    Religion and fear from what i've seen seem to go hand in hand.Is it not possible that god was invented to control the masses?
    Wrong, I know for fact that they were not controled becasue they always rebeled.
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