The things they do in the name of religion

[Baron Hurlothrumbo IIX]

Religion is the result of uninformed and credulous minds of the past trying to explain the world around them. They would explain the sun sinking on the horizon and rising the next day as a god being infinitely reborn. Lightning as the wrath of their god. As time went on, the small communities got dedicated priests or shamen who would claim to know what the gods wanted, having realised that doing so would gain them food, shelter and comforts without having to work for them. They began to expand on their mythology with more stories, and to write down 'laws' from their gods which they thought were good laws for the people.(although they usually made them suit themselves more than others, eg the extremely harsh laws relating to women from the OT).
The stories got larger and wilder in re-telling, but people kept believing them because they did not know any better. Sometimes people claimed to be the reincarnation of gods/ gods manifestation on earth (still happens nowadays - Jim Jones, Marshall Applewhite etc) - which was sometimes unsuccessful (all the failed christs of around 0-100 CE) and sometimes it was successful ('Jesus' Christ.)
As the stories developed, complex organisations sprung up around them, all dedicated more to improvingtheir own lot than helping people (EG catholic church was the richest organisation in the world until Mr Gates started his empire).
As the ordinary people began getting educated, they started learning that the sun was not, in fact, pushed by a giant dung beetle, or a celestial chariot, or a god being re-born every day. They learned how things worked where previously it was just said 'ah, god did it' and the places for gods to 'be' became smaller and smaller.


What is religion? Religion is a bullshit story designed to impress peasants thousands of years ago that does not mean anything today.

[Scorpio]

Quote[/b] ]Give me an example of something that cannot be found out through scientific means that is true or exists

AIDS? Billions of dollars of research into the matter and all they have found is a few small treatments to make them last a bit more longer.
Need more time? Nah, don't think so.


I must say I do agree in some way with your last post.

Of course, the whole gods story over the thousands of years was laughable.

Every religion has been changed over the years because of new discoveries - e.g. the witchunts were found to be a scandal, flat earth theory was proved wrong, ect.
However, there is one exception that I thought about - Islam. It has never been changed because of new discoveries proving the beliefs and ideas to be wrong - (although it has been misused and twisted into loads of other versions - but as can any other religion).

[CosmicCastaway]

Quote[/b] ]Give me an example of something that cannot be found out through scientific means that is true or exists

AIDS? Billions of dollars of research into the matter and all they have found is a few small treatments to make them last a bit more longer.
Need more time? Nah, don't think so.

Think you missed the point there, science has already proved that AIDS exists, it just hasn't found a cure yet. The Baron didn't say 'find me something to whic science has no answer', he said 'find me something that cannot be found through scientific means that is true or exists'.

AIDS is definately true and exists, that HAS been proved.

[Suma]

Quote[/b] ]Religion is the result of uninformed and credulous minds of the past trying to explain the world around them.

Did you know many great scientist of the past and present did (and do) believe in God (this includes Darwin, Einstein to certian extent, and many other)? Thinks like this make your "plain fact/scientific" approach much less credible, and because of facts like this you look a lot like "a bigot atheist". The subject certainly is not as simple as you show it to be.

Moreover, by insultive sentences you show you know very little about the real history:

Quote[/b] ]Religion is a bullshit story designed to impress peasants thousands of years ago that does not ...

[Baron Hurlothrumbo IIX]

Quote[/b] ]Religion is the result of uninformed and credulous minds of the past trying to explain the world around them.

Did you know many great scientist of the past and present did (and do) believe in God (this includes Darwin, Einstein to certian extent, and many other)? Thinks like this make your "plain fact/scientific" approach much less credible, and because of facts like this you look a lot like "a bigot atheist". The subject certainly is not as simple as you show it to be.

Moreover, by insultive sentences you show you know very little about the real history:

Quote[/b] ]Religion is a bullshit story designed to impress peasants thousands of years ago that does not ...

Suma, the argument from authority is not very impressive.
Einstein believed in a distant sort of god who did not take any notice of the day to day running from the universe. Anyone from earlier than basically the C20th was likely to believe in a god simply because they had no way of knowing better.

*edit* - Darwin was not religious and did not believe in a god. And he did not recant on his deathbed either, a popular Xian myth.
Nowadays, the more educated a person is, the less likely they are to be religious. That doesn't mean that there are not exceptions, but in general, especially in Europe, the higher the level of education, the less religious.
*/edit*

Although it was possible to logically determine the nonexistance of gods, there was no way of determining physically that the earth came into existance without a god being involved, etc.

I did oversimplify; but I have only a short space to write in, I can't be expected to write an entire history of the world in it.

I'm still waiting on evidence to show that religion is anything other than a made up story to impress peasants. Perhaps you have evidence?

[whisperFFW06]

Science currently doesn't explains the "world" better than religion. Is it a story to impress peasant?

[Scorpio]

I'm still waiting on evidence to show that religion is anything other than a made up story to impress peasants. ***Perhaps you have evidence?

Sure. Please take a look at the particular holy book that has 114 chapters written in perfect Arabic with absolutely no mistakes. Do you honestly believe that this and other major religions were made up by humans in one huge conspiracy?

Peasants indeed.

[Baron Hurlothrumbo IIX]

Science currently doesn't explains the "world" better than religion. Is it a story to impress peasant?

Explain.

IMO it explains the world far better than religion, because it explains some of it, as opposed to none.

Religion does nothing for explanations, simply adds more questions, with the added penalty that its not verifiable.

'How did the earth come to exist?'
Science - stellar formation, planetary formation, orbits, radiation, etc etc etc.

Religion- 'GAWD DID IT. Why? Because I said he did, thats why.'

[Baron Hurlothrumbo IIX]

Sure. Please take a look at the particular holy book that has 114 chapters written in perfect Arabic with absolutely no mistakes. Do you honestly believe that this and other major religions were made up by humans in one huge conspiracy?

Peasants indeed.

No mistakes you say?

Contradictions, factual inaccuracies, and historical inaccuracies aren't mistakes, are they?

Perfect arabic? Where did you get that?

Yes, peasants. Made to impress the common people by a slightly more educated elite.

No conspiracy: just simple self- interest. They may even have had a mental disease meaning they heard voices (which are really themselves) - same as all the people with the same condition today - who are in mental homes.

[Suma]

Quote[/b] ]I'm still waiting on evidence to show that religion is anything other than a made up story to impress peasants. ***Perhaps you have evidence?

No, I do not. Do you? History is quite complicated to provide real evidence for anything, especially for something in such early history.

I can point out that if you will check how most religions originated, you would see the founder was almost never any ruler. I am unable to prove it is not a "made-up" story, but even if it is made up (which is something beyond possibility of proving), this fact itselft makes quite unlikely the motivation for making it up was as simple as suggest.

Moreover, I did not cite any authorities to make it appear religion is a scienctific fact, just to show it is not something modern science has completely shown false, as you seem to suggest.

For anyone intersted in Darwin and God subject, there are some interesting articles you can find easily:

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