What is Religion?

more on that:

Of course what stalin is defining as religion is anything to do with God as a source to be replaced by the state or big trouble:

State established religion.

 

An institution of social control. instrumentum regni

 

it can be

No, you are, if you insist its a social matter.

collective-personal-religion? no such thing explain? what is that?
Im not sure why you are taking things that are circumstantial and forcing them into black/white everything or nothing contrast in your responses? Explain this please?

it could, I dont rule out the possibility that someone does not have a religion.

Many countries which are seen as otherwise democratic are dictatorships because there has yet to be an alternation in power since their incumbent government has never lost an election.
Democracy-Dictatorship Index - Wikipedia

nope, never said that. Explain?

never said that either, explain please?

The american government does not have 'rights', it operates under the presumption of authority
Are you telling me the government has the authority to establish a religion?

you answered your own question:

How did I become the subject.
Seems like you are going on a tangent here, explain please.
stalin represents a state.

You seem to be all over the map, you appear to have made without explanation many conclusions that do not apply to what I actually said, that is the points I am trying to convey, shifting the contexts given.

 

E

think we've gone far afield from the topic, which is What is religion? Socialism, Communism, Stalinism, democracy, etc. belong in a discussion of political science. Your stream of consciousness seems to have been triggered by my mention of utilitarianism, which is an ethical philosophy. How does striving for the greatest happiness for the greatest number of individuals strip you of anything? Jeremy Bentham, who invented utilitiarianism, believed strongly in individualism, and wasn't a socialist. He palled around with Adam Smith, one of the great philosophical champions of capitalism. As for your "equitable measuring stick", that sounds a lot like another utilitarian philosopher, John Stuart Mill, who thought that the greatest happiness for the greatest number would be maximized if individuals were free to do what they wanted, so long as they didn't ham others. Mill, in particular, thought that the good society would be one in which basic liberties were protected even from the will of the majority.

You started this thread. What do you think religion is?

 

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Here I go again stepping into a cavern. My Opinion is that religion was an effort to explain natural things that early humans did not understand. It started with sun gods, moon gods, rain gods. As the number of gods increased, the race was on, it became obvious that one god overseeing all of these events became expedient. Before we knew it we got the Ten Commandments to please god.

 

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I think belief is the most important and powerful tool in the arsenal of sentient life!

When you harness belief, you have the power of genuine emotion behind your words and actions and thus you actualize at the highest level. You are enlightened, or at least you are among the enlightened.

When we learn cultural anthropology, and view social mores, worldviews, norms, and ethics from a more philosophical standpoint we learn to communicate in the words that empower us.

Can we uphold tradition and derive inspiration for something that is universal and truly already accepted, or must we yield our traditions to something academic that informs us that yes, our origins are important, and we must take care to preserve the legacy of our ancestors, but we also know that science and math, psychology and sociology are not completely wrong.

With belief, there is a system for preserving just that legacy, and a moral compass by which we may raise our young and instill with them virtues that are internalized and socialized by their peers, and their peers' families. They have that in common, and when they speak those truths, they too will know progress and actualization.
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Religion is a belief system, but to say it that way leaves too little to the imagination. Religion is the vehicle through which we embrace our spiritual side and embrace virtue and tradition.

 

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That was a prevalent view by nineteenth century anthropologists like Sir Edward Tyler, and I'm sure it has some validity, although there are other theories. Cognitive anthropologists like Pascal Boyer emphasized the human tendency to perceive agency in the environment. Monotheism may reflect the increasing expansion and bureaucratization of empires. Jewish monotheism seems to have reached full fruition during the Babylonian captivity, when Jews faced the crisis of Yahwewh's Temple being destroyed and his people transported to an alien land. Solution: Yahweh is the God of the entire universe and isn't attached to a particular territory.

 

I know these were off topic but I dont hesitate to point out defects in that 1905 case and the constitutionality Marshal tried to pedal. Maybe another day on that one in a covid thread

 

You seem to lose continuity in your responses.
You asked:

I answered with stalin created and instutionalized theocratic government policies and murdered people who did not conform, then you responded with:

My response was directed at your claim

which I answered it seems you lost stream continuity?

Its SOP when a regime in power decides its time for religion change.

 

Love thy neighbor. Do unto others as you would have others do unto you. “Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.” (J 1:27)ames Are these social matters? I'd say yes,since everybody is our neighbor. Does social mean socialism? I'd say of course not. Concern for our neighbor requires that we step in when our neighbor is being mistreated,i.e., social justice. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.(Micah 6:6-8) " Were the early Christians communists? The Bible says they were: Acts 4:35 records that in the early church in Jerusalem "[n]o one claimed that any of their possessions was their own, but shared everything in common." Does this mean that the government must be involved in our lives, that the State should control the means of productions, or that we must establish a dictatorship of the proletariat? No way! It's a matter of conscience and doing what's right--i.e., morality, as "dictated" by religious authority..

 

religion is great to control people even when there are no guardians watching them

 

Among other things. Religion is best understood as multifunctional For individuals it alleviates existential anxieties and offers a sense of meaning; for rulers, elites, and clerics , it is a source of power, status and wealth.

 

I agree with Durkheim as stated in the OP, and I also agree that the most benefit for everyone is exactly aligned with Mill.

 

it is your 'choice' of self governance.
Gov ernance by law you have no choice but to obey, you cant choose which laws you want to obey and which you dont.
Religion on the other hand you 'choose' which laws you wish to be governed by and which not by choosing a known religion or inventing your own.
Religion is chosen law is forced. Big difference.
You can choose not to eat pork as part of your religion.
Once a state gets involved you have no choice.
I agree with the sense of 'meaning' and also 'well being' since not eating pork I am sure saved many lives until they figured out the meat had bugs. Some people carry the traditions as they were practiced in the beginning. Look at the Amish.
Our religion is our way of life and consequently our culture.

 

But it does not require us to step in uninvited!

not possible in our present social organization.

No way! It's a matter of conscience and doing what's right--i.e., morality, as "dictated" by [the] religious authority.. [of my conscience]

Morality and its associated dogma regardless of the source is a personal choice, so I'd say it like that