Ok---here's a question raised in one of my classes....let's see if anyone has a good answer.

What is Religion?

institutionalized system of religious beliefs and practices...

that's what i was going to say.

no it's not.

it is what pablo said and it's purpose is to give people some hope and make people think they have more importnce then they have in the larger scheme of things.

it's a way to alleviate the fear of death. other specie simply accept death as a natural part of life. that's why you don't see many churches or synagogs in the ocean where the fish's swim.

it doesn't do much to eliminate sin, because the more religious people are, the more they sin, or think they do.

that's why a cat or dog or elephant goes into hiding as death approaches with nary a prayer.










that should get things rolling.

naw, rick, i disagree.

it doesn't make anyone feel more important as everyone is consider equal in the eyes of God....brothers and sisters....

Now, it does make for a logical argument as to addressing the fear of death, but that is not a valid enough stance to dismiss it.

Ok, food for thought, based upon one of the primary laws of physics, conservation of energy and mass. Our thoughts and feelings are made entirely of pulses of energy generated in our nervous systems. Now, when we die where does this energy go? Yes, the body is degraded into carbon basically as a result of nitrogen fixing bacteria (whether in place or when the worm dies), BUT where does the energy currently running our systems go?

It goes to the same place that all our deleted e-mails go. This may at first seem to be a flippant answer, but it's not.

An explanation of the unknown, the last, greatest and most greatly feared unknown being death; and a group identity, as in, "Hey, we all believe the same thing, so they must be wrong. Let's kill them!"

I should have mentioned---not cool to use any form of 'religion' in your definition---i.e. 'religious'...

btw---of note--the first time we see the word/concept used is when catholics were describing protestantism...i.e. "not the REAL faith, but their RELIGION"

"Opiate for the masses"....http://www3.baylor.edu/~Scott_Moore/texts/Marx_Opium.html

Religion is the height of hypocracy.

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Religion n

1. people's beliefs and opinions concerning the existence, nature, and worship of a deity or deities, and divine involvement in the universe and human life

2. a particular institutionalized or personal system of beliefs and practices relating to the divine

3. a set of strongly-held beliefs, values, and attitudes that somebody lives by

4. an object, practice, cause, or activity that a person is devoted to or obsessed by
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The dictionary definition (above) seems simple enough, but in practice, different folks seem to have their own interpretations ...

I know people, for example, who have rather deep-seated beliefs in God, yet describe themselves as being non-religious in the sense that they do not practice an established religion ...

And one doesn't have to look far to find a lot of abusive behavior that is done in the name of religion ... small wonder that others are turned off to whatever 'religion' their abusers are practicing ...

Some of the best people I've known in my life were not church-going practicers of any particular religion and in some cases, felt themselves to be atheist or agnostic ... their "involvement in human life" and their daily practices were plain and simply, benevolent ... it's a real shame IMO that there aren't more people like that.

"where does the energy currently running our systems go?"

The human body is like a machine. It produces its energy from the fuel we provide it (food, water, etc). What it does not need right now, it stores. Permanently remove the fuel source and deplete the reserves and you will no longer get those "pulses of energy in the nervous system".

Those pulses of energy are nothing more than chemical reactions. That is why we can introduce certain drugs into the system, alter the chemical reactions, and have different effects on the body.

Religion is man reaching out to God.

"Religion" is not necessary for a man to reach out ... and part of the problem in defining the term is that little, if any, reaching out to God seems to be contained in the way some folks practice their religion

Religion is something essential to human nature in order to express the goodness of something, or better yet, some one greater than themselves, their own natural goodness and the goodness of creation.

Religion being essential to human nature does not mean that all participate in this relationship all that is good. It means that it is a part of being human, whether it is chosen or not. It is a part of fulfilling human nature. It does not mean that all who participate in religion reach the state of beatitude or at least exeplify it, but one must try and there are some that do.

Religion is inexhaustible in the expressions of goodness. So lets say I am Catholic (I am) well, there are many rites, Bizantine, Melkite, Roman etc. We all express our Catholic religion in different ways, but none is proposed to be better than the other.

Though most religion claim to be the true religion, Catholics being one. Some may recognize the goodness of the others and they must be respected. I think the underlying issue in discussing religion in general is to observe the underlying foundation of goodness. Goodness of God first of all and the goodness of creation and come to know the truth about their respective good.

Religion, Man's way to God. Jesus, God's way to man.

Is God religious?

Here is my viewpoint. Religion was/is a way to control people. Way back when the governement and religion where one and the same. The government didn't have enough manpower to control everyone. So they used religion to do it. OK if you kill someone you might not get caught by us. But God (or Gods back then) will know and you will be punished through eternal damnation. So people wouldn't do it for fear of God's wrath.

Muslim extremists are a great example of this. Do you think you could get anyone strap a bomb on themselves and walk into a crowded area and set it off? Now you say Allah will reward you if you do this. And now you have control through religion.

Sonny_LSU

"BUT where does the energy currently running our systems go?"

It turns into heat, or goes earthwards at the first touch of a grounded object. I know this because I have spent evenings with my head next to my compuetr trying to get smarter.

SteveS

just so you won't get mad at me again:
"3. a set of strongly-held beliefs, values, and attitudes that somebody lives by"
by your definition, i have religion.

"4. an object, practice, cause, or activity that a person is devoted to or obsessed by"
based on your definition, my obsession, my picture posts, are a religion.

please don't say anymore bad things about my picture post religion. think of it as the cult of the airplane
that exists in some so pacific islands, if you are familiar with that practice.