Religion - some use?

Religions have been for all of history the means by which a people established its values, its "good and bad," "good and evil." We are, at this point, inclined to see them as systems of dogmatisms, which they are -- but we are far too quick to deny the value of these systems, having nothing better to replace them with. It is only within the last few generations that mass culture has become secular, and it is basically unprecedented in all of history. If you think that humanity has no more need of dogmatism, take a closer look at our culture: the dedication to science and "truth," which has itself become dogmatic, is not enough to establish values. Science cannot create human values. I think that it is possible, for an individual, to evaluate the world in a non-dogmatic way on the basis of life/nature. But it may never be possible for the majority to attain this -- there can be no question that it has not been attained now; at the moment, the majority still require dogmas. But the dogma of truth and science is wearing very thin, because it does not provide human values -- yet no other dogma is permitted for a modern, right-thinking person. Where, then, does one look for value? But that is the question of our time.

 

If it didn't have any social value it either wouldn't exist, however it's on the way out in the west demonstrating that our culture is becoming totally independent of it and in even restricted by its presence.

 

Do you think we've actually moved past the need for religious dogmas? See my last post, where I argue that we haven't. Why do you think so?

 

i think we're being poisoned by them more then benefited.

i also don't believe organized beliefs, including everything that calls itself christian, along with a great many other things that call themselves other things, have anywhere near as much to do, with whatever god or gods there may happen to actually be, then anything they claim to know about them.

i do believe humanity benefits from incentives for people not to screw everything up for each other. and that attempting to create such incentives motivated and inspired the creation of virtually every belief, including those which are dominant now.

but dogma tells people not to do their own thinking, their own homework, about how societies work and cultures evolve, and that might just be, just exactly the wrong way to go about it.

 

?I would disagree. A secular system is much better.

 

You already live in a country where there is both organized religion and a secular system that is separated from it. So it can co-exist without interfering with the governmental system. I don't see what you mean? Better for what?

 

I challenge you to back up that number--a quarter of a billion people. What are your sources of information, or did you, as I suspect, simply make it up? And how recent were those alleged killings? The most recent mass murders of millions were by atheists like Stalin, Mao, Pol Pot, and the North Koreans.

 

I should have been more clear: I consider modern scientism to be a watered-down form of religious thinking (perhaps its death gasp), but still religious in nature. I agree that systems of dogmatic religious belief (as usually conceived, i.e. Christianity, Islam, etc.) do not work in our society anymore. People have lost their faith in these things, but the faith in "Truth" at least is retained, and science claims to put us in contact with "the Truth." Insofar as this dogma is unjustified and extremely unscientific, and insofar as it grows directly out of the religious mindset, I cannot agree that our society has outgrown the need for systems of dogma.

I've explained my views on this in much more detail in this thread, if you're interested:

http://www.hipforums.com/newforums/showthread.php?t=453261&f=47