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Is religion an individual or a social phenomenon ?
2009 Sep 13, 4:29pm 2,694 views 3 comments
by Indian follow (0)
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Religion is obviously a social phenomenon. Do you think people born in Europe and the Americas spontaneously choose to be Christian, and that people in Africa and the middle east just one day decide to be Muslim? People are religious first and foremost to fit in. If your friends and family are all catholics, you will also probably be a catholic. This is why seemingly rational people believe very irrational things.
Also, not to nitpick, but your arguments about people in the amazon or martians are actually addressed in appropriate religious texts. In general, ignorance is considered an excuse for not worshipping, and it's only people who are told the "truth" and reject it that are punished.
I don't really understand why people get so worked up trying to figure out or rationalize what is inherently an illogical and irrational ideology. Religion is nothing more than organized superstition, and the more you ignore it the more it will go away.
elliemae
2009 Sep 13, 11:17pm
Religion is social. Beliefs are personal. Often the two disagree - so when people are with others who purport to agree on beliefs and follow the rules of their religions, it's partly because of beliefs but mostly because of the social status associated with the religion. People do things in private that are opposite of the rules of their religion, but as long as no one knows it's okay.
There's a great Utah joke - why do you take two Mormons with you when you go fishing? 'Cause if you take one, he'll drink all your beer.
Religion is social. Beliefs are personal. Often the two disagree - so when people are with others who purport to agree on beliefs and follow the rules of their religions, it’s partly because of beliefs but mostly because of the social status associated with the religion. People do things in private that are opposite of the rules of their religion, but as long as no one knows it’s okay.
There’s a great Utah joke - why do you take two Mormons with you when you go fishing? ‘Cause if you take one, he’ll drink all your beer.
Nice joke...
Why do people worship in groups ? Why do you see millions of devotes of different religions standing and sitting back at the command of their religious teacher. Does God listen to you faster if you pray in groups. Common sense would tell that this notion is total nonsense. Of course God can be felt at an individual level only ? You can experience God through yourself. As you are one point in the universe, and the universe is made of not just you but millions of other pieces. Imagine that you are a drop in the ocean and knowing God is like the drop realizing that it is part of the ocean. It is not ocean, but ocean has it in itself. This is equivalent to Atma and Parmatma duality in Hinduism.
So then why do people worship in the groups. In fact I make sure that when I go to my local Hindu temple, it is the least crowded at the time, Because I find my concentration during meditation and worship is more when there is a peace and quiet in the temple. So the idea that many people in groups would go and do mass worship is very bizarre to me. It seems to me a pretension and ostentation as opposed to true worship from heart.
In short the debate I would like you to engage in is this: Are organized religions really a way to reach God or just a community gatherings to give the members of the community a feeling of belonging. If you take Islam, it seems to me nothing but Arab imperialism disguised as religion. Even if you are born and raised as a native American in remote jungles of Amazon, you must call your god as Allah or else you are a non believer. How can any sane person believe this is religion ? Is Christianity a religion in this sense ? If today Martians were to land on earth and they told us they have their own God who is all compassionate and powerful and Christians told them to be Pagans only because they have never heard of Christ. Does this even make sense ? If you have not heard of Christ you must be a pagan. And these people promoting themselves as members of their religion think they are most enlightened human beings ever found. Their claims are ludicrous but they think they and only their version of God is the true one and everyone else's worships false gods ? Excuse me it is not as if your beliefs are mathematically derived and ours are just beliefs. No sir ? We are all just believing in our systems and we all have only faiths. So how come your belief systems are any better than ours ? Of course if these people understood this, there will be less hatred and acrimony in the world.