Is religion a form of brain washing?

Dark · Post by **Dark** » 2005-08-02 06:43am

Is religion a big con or dose it hold some truth.

And if it dose which one is true, the Jesus story, Buda or a pagen mith.

If gods do or did exist wouldnt the first gods be the true gods, Like in pagen Britain when thay worshiped gods and godess like Britaina and Adrasta.

Or even the Egyptian gods like Isis and Ra or the Greek gods and there Titans.

Or is it all stories that people took to seriously?

Dakarne · Post by **Dakarne** » 2005-08-02 06:50am

Dark wrote:Is religion a big con or dose it hold some truth.

At this point: Not a Bloody Clue!

Dark wrote:And if it dose which one is true, the Jesus story, Buda or a pagen mith.

See this:

Dakarne wrote:At this point: Not a Bloody Clue!

If gods do or did exist wouldnt the first gods be the true gods, Like in pagen Britain when thay worshiped gods and godess like Britaina and Adrasta.

Yep... that'd be true... I'd run yourself through a Spell-Checker though.

(Britain rules BTW)

Or even the Egyptian gods like Isis and Ra or the Greek gods and there Titans.

Yep.

Or is it all stories that people took to seriously?

Most likely this one.

Post by **Mr Bean** » 2005-08-02 06:59am

Well if thats not a vaugly worded op, Is Religion true? And if so, which one is right?

We'll get right on that and inculded our answear to the mean of Life, the Universe and Everything for you!(In non-numerical terms at that)

Dark · Post by **Dark** » 2005-08-02 07:17am

I just wonted peoples views.

Some people belive in Jesus others in other religeons and others dont belive in any. I just wonted peoples thoughts.

I dont think any one can say with absolution what is true or false i just wonted some opinions.

wautd · Post by **wautd** » 2005-08-02 07:18am

For me, religion is some sort of escapism for people we can't accept the fact there may not be life after death

wautd · Post by **wautd** » 2005-08-02 07:19am

wautd wrote:For me, religion is some sort of escapism for people we can't accept the fact there may not be life after death

I mean, every religion has some form of afterlife right?

Dark · Post by **Dark** » 2005-08-02 07:40am

I cant think oh one where there isnt some sort of after life

Dakarne · Post by **Dakarne** » 2005-08-02 07:47am

I cant think oh one where there isnt some sort of after life

Which one is that?

Dark · Post by **Dark** » 2005-08-02 07:51am

no i said i CAN'T think of any religion where there isnt some sort of after life.

Lusankya · Post by **Lusankya** » 2005-08-02 08:16am

According to my anthropology notes last year, there were headhunters in some Pacific isles whose culture didn't accept an afterlife. The whole reason behind them headhunting was that the symbolic throwing away of the human head represented them throwing away their anger at their loved one dying.

Then the bloody Europeans came along and said "No. Headhunting bad." and they weren't allowed to do it anymore, so quite a few of them became Christian, so they had the concept of an afterlife and could deal with their grief in that way, rather than the traditional "killing people and throwing their heads away" way.

Dakarne · Post by **Dakarne** » 2005-08-02 08:21am

Then the bloody Europeans came along and said "No. Headhunting bad." and they weren't allowed to do it anymore, so quite a few of them became Christian, so they had the concept of an afterlife and could deal with their grief in that way, rather than the traditional "killing people and throwing their heads away" way.

Common story... it happened to a lot of people, and I mean A LOT of people.

I was raised a Christian, and then I got a clue that with all the suffering drought and famine in third worlds countries, that either God is Evil, or God is nonexistant.

Lusankya · Post by **Lusankya** » 2005-08-02 08:30am

Um... my main point there was that the headhunters obviously had some kind of religious system without an afterlife, because they needed to convert to Christianity to gain the concept of one.

Before, they had a lot of grief and anger whena loved one died because they didn't believe in an afterlife for them to go to, so they had to symbolically "cast out" their anger by cutting someone's head off and throwing it away.

Dakarne · Post by **Dakarne** » 2005-08-02 08:35am

Um... my main point there was that the headhunters obviously had some kind of religious system without an afterlife, because they needed to convert to Christianity to gain the concept of one.

I know that, I was just saying that christianity wiped out several ancient religions, Paganism is nothing near what it used to be, Satanism is repeatedly attacked and banned by Christian Fundamentalists.

It was just relating the "Conversion" to other "Conversions"

AntarDragon · Post by **AntarDragon** » 2005-08-02 08:58am

Dark wrote:Is religion a big con or dose it hold some truth.

And if it dose which one is true, the Jesus story, Buda or a pagen mith.

If gods do or did exist wouldnt the first gods be the true gods, Like in pagen Britain when thay worshiped gods and godess like Britaina and Adrasta.

Or even the Egyptian gods like Isis and Ra or the Greek gods and there Titans.

Or is it all stories that people took to seriously?

I'm a pagan...well, the correct name is Neo-Pagan as I don't follow any of the old pagan religions. I believe in polytheism - the belief that there are many gods. I personally follow three gods. I don't think they are the only gods there are. Infact, I think that all the gods that people truely believe in, no matter which religion, exist. As to those montheism religions that say their god is the only true god, well, I believe gods can lie.

So there you have it, I believe every god can exist, but that doesn't mean we have to believe and follow them all.

Civil War Man · Post by **Civil War Man** » 2005-08-02 09:00am

Whether it's true or not (to me, the latter) is irrelevant. Religion is a form of brainwashing, particularly when parents impose their religion on their children. Since children in the earliest parts of their life learn by emulating their parents, the parents end up programming the kid with their religion.

AntarDragon · Post by **AntarDragon** » 2005-08-02 09:03am

wautd wrote:For me, religion is some sort of escapism for people we can't accept the fact there may not be life after death

I've got religion, but I have no evidence of what happens after death. I quite like the idea of recarnination, so one day I may reborn as a wolf or a dolphin....not a human, I've had enough experience of being one. Anyway, if there is nothing after death...well, its not going to both me much when I'm dead

Dakarne · Post by **Dakarne** » 2005-08-02 09:13am

Whether it's true or not (to me, the latter) is irrelevant. Religion is a form of brainwashing, particularly when parents impose their religion on their children. Since children in the earliest parts of their life learn by emulating their parents, the parents end up programming the kid with their religion.

sort of what happened to me...

I was programmed by my parents with a lack of religion

I DO believe in a "Higher Power" Whether it's a green man in a flying saucer or an actual god is up for discussion.

AntarDragon · Post by **AntarDragon** » 2005-08-02 09:24am

Dakarne wrote:
I know that, I was just saying that christianity wiped out several ancient religions, Paganism is nothing near what it used to be, Satanism is repeatedly attacked and banned by Christian Fundamentalists.

It was just relating the "Conversion" to other "Conversions"

Yeah, there aren't many pagans about, but paganism popularity has increased in the last decade. In this day and age, christian fundies can't set fire to people over religion, or stone, drown, and torture without getting into serious trouble. After all, priests and priestesses don't like their beliefs examined in the spotlight of a hungry media. Isn't the modern day great?

Anyway, in the eyes of UK law (I don't know about other countries), satanism is quite legal to practice, along as they don't go around killing people. There was an article in the paper several months ago when the UK navy allowed a crew member to have a room by himself on a military ship to practice satanism. Isn't religious freedom great?

The practice of magick, which christian fundies don't like because they think its satanism (everything they don't like they say is satanism), is quite legal to practice in these modern times. The laws that banned the practice where removed in the 1950s. Isn't history great?

Steven Snyder · Post by **Steven Snyder** » 2005-08-02 09:30am

Dark wrote:Is religion a big con or dose it hold some truth.

It's a big con, and a great one at that.
Sell some people a sweet lie which they will gladly pay for, because the bitter truth is too much for them. Since you are god's proxy, you get to accept all the adoration, gifts, and sacrifices in order to ensure the flock stays in the good graces of their newfound deity.

And if it dose which one is true, the Jesus story, Buda or a pagen mith.

How about none of them.

Or is it all stories that people took to seriously?

Pretty much.
There may have been real people that did amazing things in life, and were elevated to godhood later by their followers.

Mr. T · Post by **Mr. T** » 2005-08-02 10:01am

Dark wrote:I just wonted peoples views.

The word is spelt "wanted"

Gil Hamilton · Post by **Gil Hamilton** » 2005-08-02 10:12am

Whether there is any truth or not doesn't have much to do with whether it is brainwashing and indoctrination, because I've seen loads of religious families with kids where it identical to brainwashing/indoctrination techniques.

Zero · Post by **Zero** » 2005-08-02 10:39am

I don't subscribe to any religion, although I don't believe there are gods. I do believe in reincarnation, mainly due to personal experiences on the matter, but that's as far as I'll go into religion.

And yes, religion is a form of brainwashing. Just look at the way many religious people take evidence/proof that their entire system of belief is flawed, or in contradiction with reality. If you try and explain such things to them, they typically don't even try to respond to you. Bringing someone out of their religion is a difficult thing, and that isn't because religions have loads of evidence or logic behind them.

And as for your religion thing.. I don't think any religion is right at all. Gods, no gods, it doesn't matter. What matters is what we are willing to do here in the real world, being as gods don't apparently do anything. In essence, religion doesn't matter, and for simplicity's sake, ignoring the possibility of gods altogether may be the best way to go.

Tokaji Kyoden · Post by **Tokaji Kyoden** » 2005-08-02 12:10pm

The way I see it, religion is really just there as a guideline and something to put faith and hope in. People these days tend to take it too seriously, and that's where we start getting into trouble. It doesn't really matter which God, if any exists, or which one religion may be the right one, it only matters what the doctrines teach. By that, I mean what they teach in terms of morallity and plain human decency.

I am a Christian, but I don't take the Bible as the end all pure infallable word of God. That would just be foolish. Again, that's where people start to run into problems and that's where people start dying.

Mrs Kendall · Post by **Mrs Kendall** » 2005-08-02 12:53pm

Tokaji Kyoden wrote:The way I see it, religion is really just there as a guideline and something to put faith and hope in. People these days tend to take it too seriously, and that's where we start getting into trouble. It doesn't really matter which God, if any exists, or which one religion may be the right one, it only matters what the doctrines teach. By that, I mean what they teach in terms of morallity and plain human decency.

I am a Christian, but I don't take the Bible as the end all pure infallable word of God. That would just be foolish. Again, that's where people start to run into problems and that's where people start dying.

I agree completely, I couldn't have said it better. Count my response as part of his

Magnetic · Post by **Magnetic** » 2005-08-02 01:46pm

Someone personally said this to me not long ago. They said this in responds to what I was telling them (about my present beliefs which have changed from my fundie past). They said, "I'm not going to stop believing something I've believed in all my life!" I believe it had to do with the Noah Flood.

It IS a form of 'brain washing'. I was raised to believe instances as being literally true, such as the 6 day creation or the worldwide flood. I believed that up until several months ago.

StarDestroyer.Net BBS

Is religion a form of brain washing?

Is religion a form of brain washing?

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