A rant about religion

[scream1158]

This is my first time really reading the topics that are discussed on this forum, and I am interested to see the responses to some of these questions and statements.

I was raised a catholic and was forced to go to church every Sunday. I had to go through years of CCD teachings and received my confirmation. For almost as long as I can remember I was highly skeptical of what I was being taught. I asked plenty of questions that obviously had no answer. I will not go into detail, but I'm sure you guys have heard them all before.

I do not see the difference between religion and mythology. Greeks prayed to multiple gods because there was no reasonable explination for something so they created a god for it. For example, they had a sun god that controlled whether the sun rose or not that day, and if they did not praise the god, the sun would not rise. As technology and science knowledge has risen exponentially, these myths have easily been accepted as untrue. Obviously we know now that the sun rises and sets because the Earth orbits the sun, and because of the rotation of Earth. One thing science has yet to prove is how life was created. This is the only reason that religion can still be taken seriously. What if someday in the future science can PROVE that humans indeed evolved and Darwin was in fact correct?

When it comes to religion, pick any of them, people still believe what they are told with 100% certainty. Religions are based on events that happened thousands of years ago by primative humans. If the purpose of believing in religion is to follow a certain way of life, I can certainly understand that. But to believe that Jesus was resurrected or that Moses parted the Red Sea or any "miracle" for that matter actually occured, I think people are just in denial. They believe so strongly in something that it is impossible to convince them otherwise.

I have met a religious extremist who denied that dinosaurs existed because they believe God created Earth and the Universe and that Adam and Eve were the first creatures on Earth. (I could be off about the reasoning, but she 100% did not believe that dinosaurs existed.) With how much science has advanced in even the past few hundred years, I can not comprehend how people can still believe in God. One day science will also explain how the universe was created and the religious fanatics will still be in denial.

I am sorry to inform you, when you die, your dead. Done. Finished. Now only if with science we could prove there is no afterlife. But even if we could, I'm sure religions would just deny it.

Sorry for the long rant.

[drudman]

Not as sorry as we are.

[scream1158]

hey, at least i warned u first

I was religious. I had questions. I'm not religious now. Religon is the same as Mythology. Some religious people have crazy views (i.e. no dinosaurs). When you die, you're dead.

tl;dr

I've said it before. Organized religion is a sham and a crutch for weak-minded people who need strength in numbers. It tells people to go out and stick their noses in other people's business.

[TheRedDragon]

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I asked plenty of questions that obviously had no answer.

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Like what?

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I do not see the difference between religion and mythology. Greeks prayed to multiple gods because there was no reasonable explination for something so they created a god for it. For example, they had a sun god that controlled whether the sun rose or not that day, and if they did not praise the god, the sun would not rise. As technology and science knowledge has risen exponentially, these myths have easily been accepted as untrue. Obviously we know now that the sun rises and sets because the Earth orbits the sun, and because of the rotation of Earth. One thing science has yet to prove is how life was created. This is the only reason that religion can still be taken seriously. What if someday in the future science can PROVE that humans indeed evolved and Darwin was in fact correct?

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Religion's greatest contribution isn't providing explanations for physical events. Indeed, most modern religions don't attempt to do this. Rather "the point" of most modern faiths is largely concerned with providing a moral and spiritual basis for living a good life.

My faith wouldn't be at all shaken should some explanation for the development of life by random means be "proven", although most assuredly the theory would not be Mr. Darwin's outmoded gradualistic one.

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When it comes to religion, pick any of them, people still believe what they are told with 100% certainty.

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This is just flat out false. Implicit in the idea of faith is a lack of certainty. You don't "believe" in something of which you're 100% certain; you know it. As a Catholic, doubt is an integral part of my faith.

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With how much science has advanced in even the past few hundred years, I can not comprehend how people can still believe in God. One day science will also explain how the universe was created and the religious fanatics will still be in denial.

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Statements like this make me seriously doubt how much you've studied either science or religion. It is not by accident that many of the great scientists are and were religious men. Their examination of the universe lent itself to a powerful faith that such a system did not emerge by chance.

There's a trend away from absolute knowledge in modern science. Uncertainty principle and all that jazz. We used to think that if we were able to understand the smallest pieces of matter, the rest of the puzzle of the universe's mysteries would naturally fall into place. As we've gotten closer, we've become increasingly disillusioned.

Science cannot disprove God. That doesn't mean that He necessarily exists, but it does mean that holding up scientific advancement as something that disproves him is ridiculous.

[daryn]

i don't understand what proving evolution would do to religion. unless you take every word in the bible literally, then religion still allows for evolution to be correct.