I'm completely satisfied in my life without any religion and I've always wondered the following; why do people insist upon searching for meaning outside of themselves? Shouldn't people look for meaning within themselves before looking outward? Any thoughts? Anybody and everybody is encouraged to respond regardless of depth of opinion.
In my opinion, religion is a safeguard to a lot of people, it gives them a "erson" to lean on through hard times etc. Religion offers a lot of hope.
People can be satisfied without religion but it's important to understand some people literally need it.
There was a thread on here arguing indoctrination when people are young and this can have an effect on their views when they're older. Searching for meaning outside of themselves can be searching within themselves. Religious beliefs can define a person, and if this is the case then searching for God is just who they are.
I'm completely satisfied in my life without any religion and I've always wondered the following; why do people insist upon searching for meaning outside of themselves?
Because not everyone is satisfied with his/her life like you are? I basicly support what Jefferysinspiration said, though if a person defines itself through religion, that can be good as well as dangerous. That person gets more manipulable, so I feel like a personal definition out of religion is better, though not more respectable per se.
Well I think people search those outside meanings because they realize they are worth nothing and their existence is completely meaningless. So, to feed that ego of humanity and to feel that we are actually important, people will search/make up for outside meanings, like god.
Introspection seems to be a difficult task for most people, despite the simplicity of it. What few "religions" are introspective are better described as belief systems, such as Buddhism. I am not a Buddhist, so I may be misinterpreting a bit of what I have learned of it, so please forgive me if what I am about to say is wrong. Buddhism teaches one not to seek enlightenment from others, but to seek the truth within oneself. I am not entirely sure, but I do believe there is an anecdote of one of the Buddhas chastising a young man for looking to tales of others in order to find his path to enlightenment. If that is not introspective, then no religion I know of is.
well... i guess most people are the way you said... but im sure some arent. i am very religios but i dont define myself with my religion. its simply what i believe happened and thats it. my morrals and belief (not the religion belief) is more important to me then that. people who look at their religion as the best way to live and take it too seriously are dangerous in my opinion too and that is also why i respect any other religion or theory and only see my religion as another of many other theories
I agree with Jefferyinspiration to an extent, it not only acts as a safety blanket, but provides justification for the decisions we make in our tiny, insignificant little lives.
I also believe that with some people they use it as a reason to do good, for they have no reason do it willingly. i.e. "I'm helping this homeless man because it'll improve my chances in the afterlife." It's not a conscious decision in most cases just an underlying manipulation of the persons mind, a pseudo form of indoctrination if you will.
A quote doesn't really qualify as a contribution to the thread - especially when it's only loosely related to the actual subject.
Anyway, I guess it's to do with locus of control and whether people seek direction from within or look to authority figures and/or other people for the way in which to go, and by looking to religion for answers they're installing a kind of safety net in their lives that protects them if something goes wrong.
In my opinion, religion is a safeguard to a lot of people, it gives them a "erson" to lean on through hard times etc. Religion offers a lot of hope.
The problem I see with this is you have to have some denial or ignorance of reality for this to work. Which is not something I would consider a good thing. Someone saying they need their religion, sounds like someone saying they need their drug of choice.
Technically no, both the existence and non-existence of a deity is a theory, believing or not believing requires no ignorance of reality because we don't know what the reality is.
Technically no, both the existence and non-existence of a deity is a theory, believing or not believing requires no ignorance of reality because we don't know what the reality is.
It's only a theory in laymans terms. If you say God created life or God created this world, yes that does require an ignorance or denial of reality. Claiming to know that God did something when we don't know how something happened is also a denial of reality as your claiming to know something that you don't know.
I wonder what differs though between those who believe and those who don't. It's one thing if a logic driven adult makes the decision but what about children? How does a child decide that God is not a factor in life?
A religion is a personal belief. If you believe in something, that's okay and doesn't mean you're weak or anything. Not believing in anything is okay too, as long as you at least believe in yourself.
Not entirely. You can have non belief based on simply not accepting a claim that isn't based on evidence. This is also the answer to your question.
"I wonder what differs though between those who believe and those who don't."
It's one thing if a logic driven adult makes the decision but what about children? How does a child decide that God is not a factor in life?
By giving them the tools to think in a critical and logical manner. It doesn't have to lead to them not believing in a god, however the majority of the time it does.
All good points, but the human brain treats beliefs the same way that it treats facts, this becomes dangerous when people argue "beliefs" as if they aren't real. In essence, you're trying to debate this person's reality and that is a very tricky thing to do. If you disrupt somebody's way of thinking they lose their grasp on reality to an extent and become unstable. This is why it's dangerous to argue religion with people in my view.
