Religion/ A crutch created by man

[Remodeling Maidiac]

To explain away the things they didn't understand.

And for whatever reason even when we started to understand things we didn't give up the crutch.

 

[Mad Scientist]

Americans talk about Religion like they're the ones who "discovered" it. But Civilizations have been praying to and/or worshiping one God or another (with a lot of similarities) for thousands of years before we ever showed up on this Continent.

Probably the most interesting (to me at least) is the connection to Saturn in many Religious Rites/Rituals.

 

[dilloduck]

To explain away the things they didn't understand.

And for whatever reason even when we started to understand things we didn't give up the crutch.

I don't think we should be too hard on ourselves for that. We're only human.

 

[AVG-JOE]

To explain away the things they didn't understand.

And for whatever reason even when we started to understand things we didn't give up the crutch.

The ultimate fear, death, requires the ultimate crutch.

Death is scary... I've met people who need the hope they have in Jesus to remain stable.

 

[Jimmy_Jam]

The OP couldn't be much more overly simplistic than it is.

Religious belief is as old as humanity. It can be seen in the discovery of Gobekli Tepe, which predates written history by a pretty fair margin. Religion goes far further and is far more complex a societal mechanism than such a statement could begin to grasp. Ask an anthropologist about religion and see if you get such a simplistic view.

Even the most advanced civilizations of Antiquity had their pantheons and included the metaphysical with the physical in their learning and knowledge, i.e. the Greeks, the Mayans, the Romans, the Egyptians, the Incans, etc., some of which separated by vast oceans and having absolutely no influence over one another, yet they all had it. Spiritual belief/religion is a part of our DNA, partner.

But yeah, sure, religion is nothing more than a crutch. What an observation.

 

[Remodeling Maidiac]

The OP couldn't be much more overly simplistic than it is.

Religious belief is as old as humanity. It can be seen in the discovery of Gobekli Tepe, which predates written history by a pretty fair margin. Religion goes far further and is far more complex a societal mechanism than such a statement could begin to grasp. Ask an anthropologist about religion and see if you get such a simplistic view.

Even the most advanced civilizations of Antiquity had their pantheons and included the metaphysical with the physical in their learning and knowledge, i.e. the Greeks, the Mayans, the Romans, the Egyptians, the Incans, etc., some of which separated by vast oceans and having absolutely no influence over one another, yet they all had it. Spiritual belief/religion is a part of our DNA, partner.

But yeah, sure, religion is nothing more than a crutch. What an observation.

All of that bloviating proves/disproves nothing. Lol

 

[Jimmy_Jam]

The OP couldn't be much more overly simplistic than it is.

Religious belief is as old as humanity. It can be seen in the discovery of Gobekli Tepe, which predates written history by a pretty fair margin. Religion goes far further and is far more complex a societal mechanism than such a statement could begin to grasp. Ask an anthropologist about religion and see if you get such a simplistic view.

Even the most advanced civilizations of Antiquity had their pantheons and included the metaphysical with the physical in their learning and knowledge, i.e. the Greeks, the Mayans, the Romans, the Egyptians, the Incans, etc., some of which separated by vast oceans and having absolutely no influence over one another, yet they all had it. Spiritual belief/religion is a part of our DNA, partner.

But yeah, sure, religion is nothing more than a crutch. What an observation.

All of that bloviating proves/disproves nothing. Lol

Nor did I claim it did. Your observation is still simple-minded.

 

[koshergrl]

Oh look, another religion bashing troll thread, in the religion forum.

That's great. You loons are really elevating the discussion with this stupid crap.

 

[Remodeling Maidiac]

The OP couldn't be much more overly simplistic than it is.

Religious belief is as old as humanity. It can be seen in the discovery of Gobekli Tepe, which predates written history by a pretty fair margin. Religion goes far further and is far more complex a societal mechanism than such a statement could begin to grasp. Ask an anthropologist about religion and see if you get such a simplistic view.

Even the most advanced civilizations of Antiquity had their pantheons and included the metaphysical with the physical in their learning and knowledge, i.e. the Greeks, the Mayans, the Romans, the Egyptians, the Incans, etc., some of which separated by vast oceans and having absolutely no influence over one another, yet they all had it. Spiritual belief/religion is a part of our DNA, partner.

But yeah, sure, religion is nothing more than a crutch. What an observation.

All of that bloviating proves/disproves nothing. Lol

Nor did I claim it did. Your observation is still simple-minded.

Of course it's simplistic. The reason is simple.

 

[C_Clayton_Jones]

The OP couldn't be much more overly simplistic than it is.

Religious belief is as old as humanity. It can be seen in the discovery of Gobekli Tepe, which predates written history by a pretty fair margin. Religion goes far further and is far more complex a societal mechanism than such a statement could begin to grasp. Ask an anthropologist about religion and see if you get such a simplistic view.

Even the most advanced civilizations of Antiquity had their pantheons and included the metaphysical with the physical in their learning and knowledge, i.e. the Greeks, the Mayans, the Romans, the Egyptians, the Incans, etc., some of which separated by vast oceans and having absolutely no influence over one another, yet they all had it. Spiritual belief/religion is a part of our DNA, partner.

But yeah, sure, religion is nothing more than a crutch. What an observation.

While all true, it doesn’t undermine the fundamental accuracy of the OP’s premise: that man created religion, for whatever reason, and there is no ‘god.’

 

[Remodeling Maidiac]

Oh look, another religion bashing troll thread, in the religion forum.

That's great. You loons are really elevating the discussion with this stupid crap.

It's neither bashing nor trolling. It's an opinion. Don't be so close minded

 

[dilloduck]

Oh look, another religion bashing troll thread, in the religion forum.

That's great. You loons are really elevating the discussion with this stupid crap.

It's neither bashing nor trolling. It's an opinion. Don't be so close minded

Did you have missionaries pounding at your door or something ?

 

[koshergrl]

Oh look, another religion bashing troll thread, in the religion forum.

That's great. You loons are really elevating the discussion with this stupid crap.

It's neither bashing nor trolling. It's an opinion. Don't be so close minded

I'm not close minded. But there are about 1500 threads in this forum of the same crap...personal opinions about why religion is just a rumor of a supreme being made up by a couple of guys who for some reason wanted to be killed in gruesome ways....and how everybody who believes is just not quite as smart as the ones who don't....

It's juvenile, repetitive, and old. You guys have taken over the religion forum with your shallow opinion that religion sucks. Okay, we get it. You don't believe in God. Whoopie. So if you don't believe, why are you compelled to say so..over, and over, and over, and over? And do you really think you're smarter than every single Christian that has ever walked the planet?

Really?????

 

[Remodeling Maidiac]

Oh look, another religion bashing troll thread, in the religion forum.

That's great. You loons are really elevating the discussion with this stupid crap.

It's neither bashing nor trolling. It's an opinion. Don't be so close minded

I'm not close minded. But there are about 1500 threads in this forum of the same crap...personal opinions about why religion is just a rumor of a supreme being made up by a couple of guys who for some reason wanted to be killed in gruesome ways....and how everybody who believes is just not quite as smart as the ones who don't....

It's juvenile, repetitive, and old. You guys have taken over the religion forum with your shallow opinion that religion sucks. Okay, we get it. You don't believe in God. Whoopie. So if you don't believe, why are you compelled to say so..over, and over, and over, and over? And do you really think you're smarter than every single Christian that has ever walked the planet?

Really?????

Holly shit girl. Calm the fuck down. I didn't belittle anyone. I didn't say religion sucks. I certainly haven't posted this over and over and over as yousuggest. And I never claimed to be smarter than anyone. Lastly my oopinion is no more shallow than the next persons.

Perhaps if you're going to be so thin skinned about it you shouldn't be in the religion threads to begin with.

 

[koshergrl]

I don't need to calm down, but may I suggest you might want to.

Answer the question, if you please...do you REALLY think you are that much more knowledgeable than all the Christians since Christ? You really think your simplistic view blows the possibility of God out of the water?

Think again. And then peruse the religion forum, where you will see thread, after thread, after thread, after thread, of inflammatory, insulting, and offensive posts about how stupid and clueless Christians are...threads detailing (in broadbrush fashion and with a liberal dose of historical and scientific ignorance) how misled Christians are, while the naysayers, jeerers and anti-Christian scum are the zenith of sophistication, education and by golly just straight up superiority.

 

[BreezeWood]

what has religious Christianity ever accomplished - that was not accomplished by the Reformist ?

 

[Remodeling Maidiac]

I don't need to calm down, but may I suggest you might want to.

Answer the question, if you please...do you REALLY think you are that much more knowledgeable than all the Christians since Christ? You really think your simplistic view blows the possibility of God out of the water?

Think again. And then peruse the religion forum, where you will see thread, after thread, after thread, after thread, of inflammatory, insulting, and offensive posts about how stupid and clueless Christians are...threads detailing (in broadbrush fashion and with a liberal dose of historical and scientific ignorance) how misled Christians are, while the naysayers, jeerers and anti-Christian scum are the zenith of sophistication, education and by golly just straight up superiority.

Do tell why I should give a shit about all the "other" threads. You are in this thread, my thread, and I've done none of the jibberish you're whining about.

 

[Agent.Tom]

Oh look, another religion bashing troll thread, in the religion forum.

That's great. You loons are really elevating the discussion with this stupid crap.

It's neither bashing nor trolling. It's an opinion. Don't be so close minded

It's an opinion -- but it's old hat. By not presenting something new or different, you at least seem to be simply parroting the skeptics and cynics who insist that anyone who adheres to religion is inferior and in need of some kind of "crutch" to survive.

Implicit in the suggestion that the religious need extra help to cope with life, is an insult to their beliefs as well as their character.

Now I'm not saying that you intended to be insulting but I do at least hope you understand that what you posted can be seen as a thinly veiled insult to any religious person or group.

 

[Agent.Tom]

Meanwhile, as far as the belief that religion is in fact a crutch. As a Christian, I both agree and disagree with you, depending on the scope of your claim.

I follow Christ's teachings. Therefore you could say that I'm religious. And as Christians we do freely admit that without Christ in our lives, we are lost. But I(we) certainly didn't set out to use our belief as an aid in our daily lives so that we could cope better or survive some internal or emotional struggle.

I for one, up until the very moment I became Christian, despised Christians and laughed at any suggestion that the bible is a trustworthy source. So becoming a Christian was certainly not something I set out to do. It just happened (though it's more complicated than that). And I will tell you this. My life hasn't become any easier since becoming a Christian. In fact, it's become a lot harder. Overall, I struggle less with some of the big questions I had, but I find that as a Christian, I face a whole host of opposition, hatred, demagoguery, etc. than I ever did before. No, I would never have chosen this way of life.

I will admit that a lot of what's called "religion," even within the realm of so-called Christian belief, is created by man to make us feel better. But any manmade belief system that goes beyond the scope of the bible ceases to be Christianity and instead becomes this "crutch" you are speaking of.

 

[Remodeling Maidiac]

Oh look, another religion bashing troll thread, in the religion forum.

That's great. You loons are really elevating the discussion with this stupid crap.

It's neither bashing nor trolling. It's an opinion. Don't be so close minded

It's an opinion -- but it's old hat. By not presenting something new or different, you at least seem to be simply parroting the skeptics and cynics who insist that anyone who adheres to religion is inferior and in need of some kind of "crutch" to survive.

Implicit in the suggestion that the religious need extra help to cope with life, is an insult to their beliefs as well as their character.

Now I'm not saying that you intended to be insulting but I do at least hope you understand that what you posted can be seen as a thinly veiled insult to any religious person or group.

No insult intended. I used to be a believer. Now I'm not and this is my opinion.
It could equally be said that believers have a high horse attitude. I don't ascribe any motive to either one.
In fact I quite regularly DEFEND CHRISTIAN POSITIONS AND BELIEFS on USMB.
But of course all that is forgotten the moment I express myself.

Silly one way streets