I was just about to go to sleep so I was taking my nightly dump where I do a lot of reflecting.
I started a thread a couple days ago called about atheism and it started a debate. I myself am a die hard atheist but I was just wondering is religion even all that bad?
I mean maybe some people just need that cushion, maybe they cant accept their fates? I would like to hear from you why religion is so bad. Is it halting progression? Is it dumbing us down, what do you have to say?
If there is no deity then this is nothing more then a false hope
Religion provides protection from existential threats
The way the article states it couldn't we call this yet another form of avoidant coping? Something regarded as a negative trait. This also couples with the statement above. The way it's made out it's a bit like a school holding a race and telling the student that everyone is a winner in order to protect some kids feelings from being hurt. I'm not sure if this should be considered a good trait.
When the religious try to stuff religion down your throat, its bad. When they follow/practice/not sure of what to call it their religion with others who have similar beliefs, its fine.
I mean maybe some people just need that cushion, maybe they cant accept their fates? I would like to hear from you why religion is so bad. Is it halting progression? Is it dumbing us down, what do you have to say?
What your saying is that people who believe in religion have poor coping mechanisms. But then that would make religion not better than drugs/alcohol or self harm.
The truth is better than lies. For instance, take the Japanese reactors. If I lived downwind of the nuclear cloud that could be created by six nuclear rectors melting down, I would want to know that. Not have the power companies and government lie to me that it's fine to try to prevent panic.
For some, religion is some kind of backup to aid to cope with certain situations, this is as sure as ice is cold. Some just need to be told a reason for the things that are happening, need to be told it's simply that way and the only thing left to do is pray. I'm not saying that this applies for everyone, and it is often unconscious, but I'm pretty sure this occurs in all kinds of religions and cults. Now that doesn't mean that it is bad per se; it's their way to cope with it, that's perfectly fine if it works. What I hate is when people that are in bad or unstable situations are immediately addressed by religious people who want to convert you; be it out of an honest need to help, or to recruit new money cows for their cults.
Though this is only one aspect, there are a lot more, positive as negative.
That would be like saying drinking is good if your miserable.
Sadly, this is what my friend does........
Anyway, it really does depend. Believeing that there is an all powerful being from outerspace who collects the souls of people who die and then saves them and lets them live in eternal peace and happyness is good for people when they are suffering from the loss of a loved one.
However, it can hinder reality sometimes and that is where we should draw the line. When people start to kill, assault or otherwise destroy things in the name of an invisible man, then we have crossed the line from coping to insanity. Sadly that is how the world works. If you pray to a different invisible god then I do, I am going to kill you, or try to convert you to believe that my book of what said invisible man told people is better than your book.
There are two ways to avoide this problem of line blurring, one, don't believe in any god and become an atheist, or, like me, find a religion that says there is a god, but that he doesn't interfer in real life. It makes the coping thing a little bit more possible (athiests can lie to them selves and deists can fudge the lines a little bit) and then you have the believing in heaven minus the negative hell possibility.
So basically, to sum this up, religion in moderation, or under duress (death, accident, etc.) is okay, but when it carries over into negative things, it becomes a bad thing.
Anyway, it really does depend. Believeing that there is an all powerful being from outerspace who collects the souls of people who die and then saves them and lets them live in eternal peace and happyness is good for people when they are suffering from the loss of a loved one.
Not necessarily, believing this can actually get in the way of the healing process, making it slower to move on.
So basically, to sum this up, religion in moderation, or under duress (death, accident, etc.) is okay, but when it carries over into negative things, it becomes a bad thing.
Religion under duress is what's meant by "That would be like saying drinking is good if your miserable."
Religion isn't bad. That's why it's included in one of the steps to withdrawing from an addiction. BUT if everything you do revolves around religion, that is being very idiotic
I beg to differ, Religion has caused more harm to mankind then anything in existence. In AA, it is stating that only god can help you get clean.
That's because people handle religion like it's an item of some sort. People who say "My religion is better than yours" probably know that they are going to cause an argument, so it's really people's desire to be the best that causes all of these messes. Even if religion is wiped out entirely, people will still find another thing to fight about. It's human nature.
I never said you HAD to include it into the steps to recovery. You guys are acting as if I had. No, I stated that it is good enough to be included in the steps to recovery. It's helped many people.
