Personal Importance of Religion

[Fuzzy]

This is a question aimed at religious people, because I'm curious, and I'd like to see what people have to say.

Why is it important to you to have a religion? What does your religion do for you, if anything? And lastly, why do you believe your religion is the only true one?

I'll start you off with a quote from one of my friends.

My Christian faith is what makes life worth living for me. Without it, I would have no purpose in life other than eat, drink, do drugs, and have as much sex as possible. My relationship with Christ who is God not only keeps me sane and moral, but it grants me the peace within me knowing where I am, why I'm here, and where I'm going. I know that Christ is not only real, but is God the LORD Almighty and has predestined me to live with Him in glory forever. I know this because, as any true Christian, my heart has been changed by the Holy Spirit who is God. God's creation proclaims His name. I know that eternal life with Him in glory is more realistic than where I am now. I shall be there for eternity, while I shall be here for only a short season.

[Enforcer Talen]

its the antithesis of my existence. I yearn for the day when its watered down socialized harmless potluck dinners.

[DPDarkPrimus]

I feel a great amount of pity for people who don't consider their lives worth living unless they believed in god.

[Broomstick]

First of all, you're making some assumptions about religion that aren't true in all cases.

Why is it important to you to have a religion?

It fills emotional needs that logic does not.

What does your religion do for you, if anything?

It fills emotional needs that logic does not.

Provides comfort in grief

Prayer gives me something to do when I run out of other options

And lastly, why do you believe your religion is the only true one?

I don't.

Nor do billions of other religious people.

The "my way is the only way" meme is a feature of Christianity and Islam, not of other religions. Jews, for instance, has no problem whatsoever with the idea other people have different religions. Hindus, Buddists, and lots of others have no problem with multiple gods, multiple faiths, and letting others go their own way.

My Christian faith is what makes life worth living for me. Without it, I would have no purpose in life other than eat, drink, do drugs, and have as much sex as possible. My relationship with Christ who is God not only keeps me sane and moral, but it grants me the peace within me knowing where I am, why I'm here, and where I'm going. I know that Christ is not only real, but is God the LORD Almighty and has predestined me to live with Him in glory forever. I know this because, as any true Christian, my heart has been changed by the Holy Spirit who is God. God's creation proclaims His name. I know that eternal life with Him in glory is more realistic than where I am now. I shall be there for eternity, while I shall be here for only a short season.

That's a strictly Christian viewpoint. Since I am not Christian, I do not share it. I am perfectly capable of remaining moral without the need for a Big Sky Nanny.

[Lusankya]

Prayer gives me something to do when I run out of other options

I hear you. I'm not religious myself, but sometimes I wish I was, so that when someone says something like "My Grandma's sick" to me, I can tell them I'll pray for her, and I'll actually feel like I'm doing something. I don't say that I'll pray, because, well, I'm not going to, but it feels so pathetic to just say "gee, that's bad". I feel so ineffectual.

[Rye]

This is a question aimed at religious people, because I'm curious, and I'd like to see what people have to say.

Well, pantheism's a bit of a weird case, as einstein put it, "I'm a deeply religious nonbeliever. It is somewhat of a new thing."

Why is it important to you to have a religion?

It's historically been a large part of human existence, but personally, it's an emotional connection to existence, logic isn't for everything, we simply didn't evolve that way. It's important to me because I get something from it, something that probably goes back a good way.

What does your religion do for you, if anything?

An ambiguous feeling of incredulity at existence and yet another ambigous feeling of being "home" simultaneously.

And lastly, why do you believe your religion is the only true one?

Gods, karma, anything supernatural are all made up, though they attend to the same emotional stimulus, they rely on delusion and invention rather than what actually exists. Of course, any religions that claim it's all just metaphor, and they don't believe in the supernatural really, can be "true" after a fashion.

[kc8tbe]

When I was religious, my religion provided me with:
*) a moral foundation
*) something to do on weekends and holidays
*) something to do post mortum
*) a social construct
*) something to think about when ill, angry, or scared shitless
*) someone to blame for all the shit that happens in the world
Interestingly, it never really gave me a "reason" to live or a strict moral code.

My religion was important to me because it was part of who I was. It was like one of those little scripts or images from an online quiz that says what score you got. The theory was that I could say "I am variation X of religion Y" and everyone would know what I was all about.

Why did I believe my religion was the only true one? The other religions didn't stand up to logical scrutiny. Of course, in the end, neither did my religion, which is why I'm not religious anymore

[Gunhead]

I'm not religious, not by a long shot. But if you want my position on personal belief here you go.

Few years back at a funeral, it was my uncle. I met a friend of his who had helped him in his last years. I've met him before but we've never really talked. So I meet him outside the crematorium and start talking and he asks me how I feel about religion and god. Now I know he's a devout believer, but I say " no I don't really by into this christianity thing that much. If there's a god I'll know after I die. So why worry?"

Then he says: "Don't you fret, you may not have faith in god, but god has faith in you. You just live your life, follow your principles and do your best. God is infallible, you are not. So all we really can do is try. He has ways of telling you if you're getting it wrong."

And that's all I have to say about that.

-Gunhead

[Coyote]

Why is it important to you to have a religion?

As Broomstick very adequately stated, it fills an emotional need that logic does not.

What does your religion do for you, if anything?

It fills that aforementioned emotional need. It also provides me with a framework of like-minded individuals. It provides me with rituals to go through when confronted by big events that I have no control over, ie, death-- when I feela need to 'do something' but there is nothing I truly can do, but standing around is frustrating.

And lastly, why do you believe your religion is the only true one?

Actually, Judaism insists that it cannot be the only religion, and that there must be others. Judaism disdains conversion and agressive recruitment.

The quote from your friend sounds, to me, like a quote of an emotionally needy person who is in depersate need of a crutch. It is a mistake to assume that everyone who is religious is some sort of socially maladjusted and spineless cretin that cannot form a coherent thought without checking in with 'the Big Guy' before reaching for a conclusion.

People who have a religious revelation and seek to share it with others and bring their friends into their fold are people who are trying to validate their experience by finding consensus. There are many who feel happy with their spiritual choice, whatever it is, and have no problem with people being of other faiths.

[Stark]

I kinda wish people would stop asking questions like this. The answer is always 'because my mind is broken', so there's no point trying to explore those feelings because they're inherently irrational. Might as well ask whizz monkeys why they feel the need... the need for SPEED.

[Icehawk]

Ok, If im committing a fallacy here, by all means correct me, but I just cannot seem to get my head around something here: Ok, if you honestly believe that your religion isn't the one true religion, than whats stopping you from just dropping your own and going with one of the others? Surely you MUST think your religion is superior (and therefore the most true one) in order to choose it alone over all the other ones. You cannot honestly tell me you think all religions are equal when yours has things which conflict directly with the others. If you do then as far as I can tell, you must be able to just drop yours on a whim and be able to believe all the others just as equally as yours.

[Stark]

But my understanding is that it isn't the particulars of the religion people 'need'. They 'need' religon like their security blanket: they can't get a new one, because THATS the magic one, and another wouldn't be the same.

LOL That sounds more negative than it is? I honestly don't have a decent simile for religion other than drug addiction or emotional dependency.

[Fuzzy]

Thanks for all the replies everyone, and I actually learned something. ^.^

Although I am confused about Judaism now. I was under the impression that Judaism was just the Old Testament, before Jesus, right? Doesn't the Old Testament say that worshipping anything but God is wrong?

[Slartibartfast]

Thanks for all the replies everyone, and I actually learned something. ^.^

Although I am confused about Judaism now. I was under the impression that Judaism was just the Old Testament, before Jesus, right? Doesn't the Old Testament say that worshipping anything but God is wrong?

OT God said things like "you will have no god before me", note the "you" probably includes only jews, and nowhere he says that the other "gods" don't exist at all. It's like being the president, and you say "you will not follow other country's leaders", it doesn't necessarily mean that these leaders are full of shit.

Or maybe I'm completely wrong and know nothing about that.

[Fuzzy]

Good point. I didn't really think of it that way.

I interpreted that to mean, "No other religions, ya hear?"

[Robert Walper]

I honestly don't grasp the "emotional need" for religion. Any and all emotions I'm aware of can be satisfied by reality and things that actually exist rather than make believe stories.

[Broomstick]

Prayer gives me something to do when I run out of other options

I hear you. I'm not religious myself, but sometimes I wish I was, so that when someone says something like "My Grandma's sick" to me, I can tell them I'll pray for her, and I'll actually feel like I'm doing something. I don't say that I'll pray, because, well, I'm not going to, but it feels so pathetic to just say "gee, that's bad". I feel so ineffectual.

I find "you're in my thoughts" or "I'm thinking of your sick grandmother" to be a fine option. After all, you don't have to invoke a deity to sincerely hope for the best, and it does satisfy to social need to express sympathy in an appropriate manner.

[SirNitram]

Good point. I didn't really think of it that way.

I interpreted that to mean, "No other religions, ya hear?"

That's because it's been used to declare all other gods non-existant...

Which is a fucking stupid claim, as it's another one that talks about false idols.

[Broomstick]

Ok, If im committing a fallacy here, by all means correct me, but I just cannot seem to get my head around something here: Ok, if you honestly believe that your religion isn't the one true religion, than whats stopping you from just dropping your own and going with one of the others?

Nothing.

Absolutely nothing.

If I'm eating chicken, what's stopping me from eating steak? Well, maybe I prefer the taste of chicken, or I feel cows are too intelligent to eat, or what have you. Maybe chicken is easier to obtain, or more socially acceptable. Whatever.

My religion does not bar me from taking part in the rituals of other religions, or from worshipping other Gods. Now, if I choose to sample, say, Islam or Christanity that might be a problem - but that's because of THEIR rules, not the ones I currently live under.

Surely you MUST think your religion is superior (and therefore the most true one) in order to choose it alone over all the other ones.

My Gods never delivered the First Commandment of "Thou shalt have no other Gods before me". I do not, under my faith, have to choose one and only one God for eternity, nor do I have to choose one and only one mode of worship for all eternity.

You cannot honestly tell me you think all religions are equal when yours has things which conflict directly with the others. If you do then as far as I can tell, you must be able to just drop yours on a whim and be able to believe all the others just as equally as yours.

Yes, you have that right.

I should also point out that the conflict is NOT coming from my side of the fence. Oh, alright, there ARE some some differences that can't be reconciled - it would be impossible to combine animal sacrifice such as in Santeria or Voudoun with the anti-blood prohibitions of NeoPagan Wicca in the same rite. However, there is nothing barring a person from attending a Santerian rite one night and a Wiccan rite the next, nor is there anything in either religion that would prevent someone from being a fully initiated priest or priestess in BOTH religions at the same time.

Like many in the North American/European/Australian culture I'll call the "west" for convenience, you've grown up equating religion with the montheistic, Christian form of the thing - which, considered globally, is a minority viewpoint.

I do NOT view my religion as superior to all others. At this point in my life it fits me well and I have no impulse to change... on the other hand, I have no reason to change, either. I sincerely want you to follow whatever faith fits YOUR needs because that's the best religion FOR YOU - and even though atheism is a lack of faith I lump it in with religion for the purposes of this discussion. If atheism fits you then more power to you, I have no quarrel with it.

I should also point out that my faith has even stricter prohibitions on prostelytizing than the Jews do. I can certainly discuss it with outsiders (except for those parts that are privy only to the initiates) and would not stand in the way of anyone sincerely choosing to follow the same path, but it is forbidden for me to attempt to talk anyone into changing their religion or fundamental beliefs. This puts me in a very different position than, say, fundamentalist evangelicals.

Likewise, my Gods are not in the rescue business. If you call, there is no guarantee they will answer, and if they do they'll probably make you work for whatever They grant you. In this respect, my faith is actually closer to atheism - I've never expected a heavenly calvary to save me from the universe, or even my fellow creatures, and if it weren't for the Christian influence I get from living in the US it probably would never even occur to me to ask for such a thing. My religion teaches that what happens to me is a largely a consequence of MY actions, not the spiteful whims of an angry God, and if I'm in trouble it's up to me to get me out of it.

[Fuzzy]

That's an interesting take Broomstick, I was under the impression that most religions are mutually exclusive. I guess I haven't learned enough about religion yet, most of my experience is with Christianity, because it's very popular around here.

[kc8tbe]

Actually, Judaism insists that it cannot be the only religion, and that there must be others. Judaism disdains conversion and agressive recruitment.

No! Judaism does believe that it is the only true religion in the sense that all the other religions' gods don't exist. Judaism doesn't believe that it is the only true "secular religion". However since we are trying to compare other religions to atheism, it only makes sense to consider theistic forms of religion.

Christianity requires conversion/recruitment because of the belief that if you aren't a Christian, you're going to hell. Wouldn't you want to save as many people from hell as possible by converting them? Judaism maintains that all people get into heaven (though there are some commentaries on the Books of Prophets that claim that seven really evil individuals did not) eventually; furthermore, non-Jews only need to follow seven basic commandments for an expedited entrance to heaven while Jews need to follow 613! When you think of it this way, you really only want people to convert to Judaism if they're serious about it.

This difference between Judaism and Christianity is best embodied by the two religions' different takes on the Golden Rule (due credit to Confuscious):
Judaism: Do not do unto others what you would not want them to do unto you.
Christianity: Do unto others what you would want them to do unto you.

[Captain Cyran]

Normally I try to avoid these threads like the plague... but what the hell, I'll bite.

This is a question aimed at religious people, because I'm curious, and I'd like to see what people have to say.

Curiousity can only lead to good things.

Why is it important to you to have a religion?

I'll be honest here. A little is for the blame factor, your life is treating you really shitty? It's a lot easier to blame some greater being then to just deal with it because that's the cards you get and you're stuck with it. That's only a VERY small part of it. The rest is a sort of peace with myself and I think Broomstick hit it right on the mark, it fills emotional needs my own logic can't appropriately deal with.

What does your religion do for you, if anything?

Again, a calming tranquility of sorts. And an ability to cope with the big things of life, like death.

And lastly, why do you believe your religion is the only true one?

No, and I've gone on record at Sunday school for saying as much many times.

I'll start you off with a quote from one of my friends.

My Christian faith is what makes life worth living for me. Without it, I would have no purpose in life other than eat, drink, do drugs, and have as much sex as possible. My relationship with Christ who is God not only keeps me sane and moral, but it grants me the peace within me knowing where I am, why I'm here, and where I'm going. I know that Christ is not only real, but is God the LORD Almighty and has predestined me to live with Him in glory forever. I know this because, as any true Christian, my heart has been changed by the Holy Spirit who is God. God's creation proclaims His name. I know that eternal life with Him in glory is more realistic than where I am now. I shall be there for eternity, while I shall be here for only a short season.

[/quote]

That is definately not me. In fact, I get very upset at Christians who only do good things because it's what Christ wants them to do. You think you're living like Christ if you're constantly looking over your shoulder hoping he's watching for the next time you do something good? You should do something good because it is the right thing to do.

Honestly, in many circles I would no longer be considered a Christian. The only real things I follow is the basic "Jesus was the son of God." thing. I throw out most of the bible to be written by man, divinely inspired or not it has still been twisted. I do not believe in an omnipotent God. To an extent you could say I believe in Christ's God, not Paul's God.

Oh yeah, and Paul was one of the worst things to happen to the Christian faith in my eyes.

As for Icehawk's question of thinking religion as superior. No, I don't anyway. For me it's more of an "I have my way, you have your way." thing. Both of us have equally valid beliefs, they're just different. Why don't I change? Simple, because I don't think they're religion is superior, if I did I would convert.

And Stark, piss off will you? Fuzzy is looking for answers, not smart assed useless remarks by you just so you can make fun of the "st00p1d r3l1g0s p3pl3".

[General Zod]

That's an interesting take Broomstick, I was under the impression that most religions are mutually exclusive. I guess I haven't learned enough about religion yet, most of my experience is with Christianity, because it's very popular around here.

mainly that's religions that follow judeo-christian beliefs. several of the eastern religions, for example, either involve polytheism where worship of multiple gods isn't an issue or are completely atheistic and involve no deities whatsoever.

[Medic]

Prayer gives me something to do when I run out of other options

I hear you. I'm not religious myself, but sometimes I wish I was, so that when someone says something like "My Grandma's sick" to me, I can tell them I'll pray for her, and I'll actually feel like I'm doing something. I don't say that I'll pray, because, well, I'm not going to, but it feels so pathetic to just say "gee, that's bad". I feel so ineffectual.

I'm more than willing to bet that prayer could just as easily be a function of higher awareness, and psychic potential in human beings than God. Of course this viewpoint is a rare one -- Christians claimed prayer at the get go so people like me look like hypocrites, or agnostics or just confused (I'm an atheist but a spiritual one). I believe that perhaps there is a little bit more out there. Still, I believe this life very much worth living even without the big nanny in the sky.

I mean, just for discussion sake, assume praying works and is real and that this has been proven somehow, scientifically. "Oh wow, prayer, therefore God." It STILL doesn't work this way, that reasoning is STILL illogical. Prayer could just as easily be chalked up to the Devil, invisible pink unicorns, or human being's higher awareness. In short, I'm saying prayer wouldn't prove God, it would just prove itself as a phenomenon. It's all still a matter of faith. My faith is in humans not God. *shrugs* No difference. Still, don't get me wrong, it would ONLY be faith.

[Broomstick]

You could ask what is prayer?, or what function does it serve?

Some people say it's a way of talking to God, or of asking God for help. Well, yes, it is... but there are other kinds of prayer, such as commnity prayer which fills emotional and social needs to belong in a group unified by something in common. Prayer can act much as meditation does, to calm, to relax, to soothe - in fact, my faith draws no distinction between meditation and prayer. Prayer can be an anti-panic device - sometimes it's better to have something to do rather than to sit in a corner and twitch when disaster is unfolding. Prayer can give a structured outlet for such emotions as grief, which have the potential to become destructive to either the self or the community.

In my faith, there is a school of thought that prayer is also a means of making changing one's inner self in order to make changes in the outer world. In such a case, it might start to resemble self-hypnosis. By changing ourselves, in psychological terms bringing both the concious and sub-concious mind into agreement, we make it possible for us to pursue our goals without self-sabotage. In which case prayer can be a very powerful force for change. However, prayer can also become a means of hiding from the world, from avoiding change, in which case it is a bad thing. My faith also differs from that of some Christians I know in that I am expected to do the grunt work - sure, I can pray for a new and better job, but I still have to submit resumes and go on interviews. (To be fair, most Christians I know understand this as well - it's the old "God helps those who help themselves" - but we've all met folks who expect Jesus to give them freebies)

And one point, which I neglected to make earlier, is that religion is means of acknowledging we don't know everything about the universe, and never will. It's a recognition that there things out of out control, forces greater than us, things that are not concerned with us.

Atheists put their faith in science, in logic, they trust that the universe makes sense, even if that sense is not apparent to us. And there is nothing contradictory with an atheist accompanying their family to, say, a Christian mass to please the family. It's not that different from two weeks ago when I stood in a Protestant church at a Christian funeral - I was there not because it was my faith, I was there for the family, and part of a community in one of the social aspects of religion. Holidays give us an opportunity to renew the emotional ties of family and friends, which is why many atheists I know still follow many of the rituals. So you don't believe in Jesus and you don't go to church on Easter - so what? It's still a time to get together and celebrate the return of warmer weather. Even secular humanists need to do these things from time to time. Like I said, religion serves emotional needs logic does not - at its best it unites people and gives them tools to cope in a world that frequently shows us no mercy. It is most unfortunate that it can also be twisted to oppress and harm people as well, to stunt and cripple them and control them.

In this sense, religion is a tool just as much as a hammer or knife - it's neither inherently bad nor inherently good, it's the use to which it's put that have a moral weight. To dismiss it as "make-believe" or entirely "made-up" is disingeneous - great works of art are "made-up", literature and drama are "make-believe", religion is just as real as any of them, as real as the civilizations we have created, the cities we have built, the customs and traditions we have developed. That is another area where my faith and Christianity diverge - my religion knows it is the creation of Man, not of God. In the eyes of some, this makes it less valid. In my eyes, I know their religion is just as much a man-made construct as mine, or the chair I'm sitting in.