Man Without Religion

[AVG-JOE]

Have you ever wondered what the world would be like if Mankind abandoned religion?

When I became convinced that the universe was natural, that all the ghosts and gods were myths, there entered into my brain, into my soul, into every drop of my blood, the sense, the feeling, the joy of freedom. The walls of my prison crumbled and fell. The dungeon was flooded with light and all the bolts and bars and manacles turned to dust. I was no longer a servant, a serf, or a slave. There was for me no master in all the wide world, not even in infinite space.

I was free to think. Free to express my thoughts, free to live in my own ideal. Free to live for myself and those I loved. Free to use all my faculties, all my senses. Free to spread imagination’s wings, free to investigate, to guess, and dream and hope. Free to judge and determine for myself. Free to reject all ignorant and cruel creeds, all the inspired books that savages have produced, and the barbarous legends of the past. Free from sanctified mistakes and “holy” lies. Free from the fear of eternal pain, free from the winged monsters of the night. Free from devils, ghosts and gods. For the first time I was free.

There were no prohibited places in all of the realm of thought. No error, no space where fancy could not spread her painted wings. No chains for my limbs. No lashes for my back. No flames for my flesh. No Master’s frown or threat, no following in another’s steps. No need to bow or cringe or crawl, or utter lying words. I was free; I stood erect and fearlessly, joyously faced all worlds.

My heart was filled with gratitude, with thankfulness, and went out in love to all the heros, the thinkers who gave their lives for liberty of hand and brain, for the freedom of labor and thought to those who fell on the fierce fields of war. To those who died in dungeons, bound in chains, to those by fire consumed, to all the wise, the good, the brave of every land whose thoughts and deeds have given freedom to the sons of men. And then, I vowed to grasp the torch that they held, and hold it high, That light might conquer darkness still.

-Robert Green Ingersoll (1833-1899)

I can relate.

Screw drugs... If you REALLY want to blow your mind, open it up.
[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0t-e_HUeuyw]R.E.M. - Losing My Religion - YouTube[/ame]

"Oh, Life is bigger..."​

 

[AVG-JOE]

I was listening to this woman last night and I loved everything she said except for when she talked about god. She could have took the god out of it and instead of being a religious person talking about god she could be a motivational speaker talking about karma. I would have agreed 100% with everything she said if she didn't say god wants or god says. Why add the fairy tale lie to the message? She said be nice to people, tip more, be nicer to your spouse, etc. and you will be rewarded. I agree, but it isn't a god picking and choosing who he rewards here on earth and who he doesn't. But I do believe in karma and I'm a good person so no need for religion or god.

I would even let this women go talk to kids in school if she would leave her imaginary friend out of the story https://www.joycemeyer.org/

How do you know?

Maybe the way to tell which Monkeys are right with God is to observe how lucky a Monkey is.


Do you feel lucky?

I do. ​

`​

 

[AVG-JOE]

I think we still are.

“I do not fear death. I had been dead for billions and billions of years before I was born, and had not suffered the slightest inconvenience from it.” - Mark Twain

I don't fear death either. But I have the advantage of having accomplished much.

 

[GrosMinet]

You have taken anthropomorphism to a new level.

Some measure of anthropomorphism can be a great device for explaining the working of natural selection, though of course it needs a few qualifications.

The explanation I've given may be a bit awkward, but the theory behind it is quite mainstream among ethologists and evolutionary psychologists. It has been so since the advent of sociobiology and its founders. Though some people from the social sciences are skeptical of it, I see no compelling reason to doubt it.

Not that there is a perfect match between theory and observation in human beings, but it's still quite good as far as it goes and lots of data support the theory.

 

[AtheistBuddah]

An excellent question. I have neither religion nor faith but I feel there must be positives about religion that outweigh the negatives. Here’s my $0.02.
Religion started as a way to control nature. Man wanted to cure an illness but he had no idea of the cause. Through trial and error some plants or techniques were found to be effective. Their use was passed down through generations as rituals. As the rituals increased in number and complexity it became an important but challenging job, going to the best and brightest, or at least the best connected. I think that tradition continued right thru the Middle Ages where it was the priests who were literate. In ancient cultures where opportunities for learning were limited, these educated men performed a valuable service and religions developed. The early polytheistic religions were inclusive, you could worship many gods, so they served to unite people and foster cultural interactions. It was not until Christianity and later Islam that religions became exclusive. They now show signs of being discarded so maybe the days of religion have passed.

My take is that religion provides cohesion to the society. It is the other half of government. Government provides the rules for the society while religion provides continuity and justification. It really doesn't matter if any given individual takes part in the religion, any more than it matters if one individual makes it to age 90 or dies at 5. What matters is the continuation of the species.

I think it is a mistake to focus on the workings of the religion itself, but rather focus on how humans interact within that structure. I think you will find it doesn't make any difference whether you are talking about the old Norse religions or the Southern Baptists. It all works pretty much the same. It's like a car. It boils down to a motor, wheels and a method to transfer power to the wheels. The rest is just window dressing.

There's nothing wrong with religion acting as a government and/or rule maker, as long as the enforceability of such rules remains only among active participants and believers.

This is why, whenever the two conflict, Civil Law with a goal of protecting the minorities MUST trump any and all Religious Law.

If you want to live under Sharia Law or other similar nonsense, knock yourself out - just keep it to yourself and those who agree with you. Push it on me and you can expect a push back.

I could not have said it better myself. In all honestly that is my hope for the future of religion in this country. I just want to live in a world where religion is the option and not the expectation. Where you are free to do, say, think, and feel whatever you want as long as it doesn't bring harm to someone or to their property. I mean take the Amish for example. They are a great example for how religion should be approached. They believe that modern technology is displeasing to God and that it should not be used. But do you see them trying to get laws passed to ban it? No. They are more than happy to let us live our way of life while they live theirs. They even let their children go out into the rest of the world when they come of age to decide for themselves if they want to continue to be Amish or not. What a world we could have if all religious groups behaved this way.