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Why treat religion as some cure for humanity's social ills?

Rainbow Mage

Rainbow Mage

Lib Democrat/Agnostic/Epicurean-ish/Buddhist-ish
I have to be honest, I don't get this concept at all. This idea that we need revelation to tell us how to live.

Secularism is the most humane system humanity has ever put into practice, and that's because it keeps religion and government separate.

That's the question I'm asking. Is religion really some great fix to tell us how to run society as Islam, Baha'ism, and some others maintain?
 
Gjallarhorn

Gjallarhorn

N'yog-Sothep
The best I've heard is that religion is the cure for existentialism. Apparently mutually agreed upon codes of conduct aren't good enough. They have to be hard-coded into the universe.
 
4

4YAH80

Member
"Religion is a snare and a racket"---- J.F. Rutherford

I stay far away from any religion, total confusion if you ask me.
 
Rainbow Mage

Rainbow Mage

Lib Democrat/Agnostic/Epicurean-ish/Buddhist-ish
Gjallarhorn said:
The best I've heard is that religion is the cure for existentialism. Apparently mutually agreed upon codes of conduct aren't good enough. They have to be hard-coded into the universe.
Click to expand...

Yeah and humans aren't smart or resourceful enough to figure out a humane system on our own :-\
 
Rainbow Mage

Rainbow Mage

Lib Democrat/Agnostic/Epicurean-ish/Buddhist-ish
What gets me the most is that secularism has even progressed way beyond what a theocracy would entail, but we're told that's wrong because we need to follow the revelation.
 
LuisDantas

LuisDantas

Aura of atheification
Premium Member
Those are in fact four very proper questions, with not very clear or simple answers.
 
The Sum of Awe

The Sum of Awe

Brought to you by the moment that spacetime began.
Egyptian Phoenix said:
I have to be honest, I don't get this concept at all. This idea that we need revelation to tell us how to live.

Secularism is the most humane system humanity has ever put into practice, and that's because it keeps religion and government separate.

That's the question I'm asking. Is religion really some great fix to tell us how to run society as Islam, Baha'ism, and some others maintain?
Click to expand...

Because any kind of rule over society would be a moral code system and who really has the right to decide which moral structure is better?

The only difference from a religion's system ruling over government and just a system of "secular system" (what exactly is a secular system?) is that one is organized and the other is not. Even my political beliefs, I admit, are no better than the other end. Mine are not organized or based around my belief in God, they can be considered secular.

In fact, if by secular system you mean ANY system as long as it isn't under a theocracy, then I don't see a point in stating this in a thread because a whole government system based around a deity or spirituality at all hasn't existed, at least that I'm aware of, for a long time. Unless you get to certain foreign countries, and those certain foreign countries are too small to influence another nation. Nothing to worry about - that is assuming that that's what you mean.
 
Philomath

Philomath

Sadhaka
Is religion really some great fix to tell us how to run society as Islam, Baha'ism, and some others maintain?
Click to expand...

Religion is not a cure to humanity's ills nor should it tell us how to run our society. I do believe though that religion has some moral ethics which can be beneficial to us all.
 
Rainbow Mage

Rainbow Mage

Lib Democrat/Agnostic/Epicurean-ish/Buddhist-ish
The main point I'm trying to make is we don't really need religion or revelation to make a good government.

Why do some religions make it a tenant that we do? That we need this revelation from Muhammad, Bahaullah, or whomever to make a truly good society?
 
The Sum of Awe

The Sum of Awe

Brought to you by the moment that spacetime began.
Egyptian Phoenix said:
The main point I'm trying to make is we don't really need religion or revelation to make a good government.

Why do some religions make it a tenant that we do? That we need this revelation from Muhammad, Bahaullah, or whomever to make a truly good society?
Click to expand...

While I agree with you that we don't need it, I'm just trying to say that there isn't really such thing as a secular government, all of it is opinions, and the only difference between Christianity ruling and Bob Marley's code of ethics ruling is that one is really an organized religion and the other isn't organized (until it reaches the state of being in the government so often that it deserves a label).

One believes to look at revelation for the answer, and the other looks at marijuana for the answer.
 
LuisDantas

LuisDantas

Aura of atheification
Premium Member
Egyptian Phoenix said:
The main point I'm trying to make is we don't really need religion or revelation to make a good government.

Why do some religions make it a tenant that we do? That we need this revelation from Muhammad, Bahaullah, or whomever to make a truly good society?
Click to expand...

I may be mistaken, but I think that there is a strong instinct in many people that it is best (or at least more confortable) to just find The Way instead of having to deal with the unpleasant, unglamorous duties of building one's own path and government from the ground up.
 
Rainbow Mage

Rainbow Mage

Lib Democrat/Agnostic/Epicurean-ish/Buddhist-ish
LuisDantas said:
I may be mistaken, but I think that there is a strong instinct in many people that it is best (or at least more confortable) to just find The Way instead of having to deal with the unpleasant, unglamorous duties of building one's own path and government from the ground up.
Click to expand...

I agree and I might not find that as bad as I do if it weren't for some of the seriously inhumane stuff in some of these proposed religious governments.

I mean look at Saudi Arabia.
 
ChristineES

ChristineES

Tiggerism
Premium Member
I don't think religion has been used a "cure" for humanity's ills. I certainly don't use it for such. People, even those who don't follow any faith, have always done pretty well to make a mess of the world. Although I believe in God, I still have to live, work, and play in the real world. And I deal with some very major problems.
I would say that a lot of religious people don't use their religion as a band-aid.
 
Rainbow Mage

Rainbow Mage

Lib Democrat/Agnostic/Epicurean-ish/Buddhist-ish
ChristineES said:
I don't think religion has been used a "cure" for humanity's ills. I certainly don't use it for such. People, even those who don't follow any faith, have always done pretty well to make a mess of the world. Although I believe in God, I still have to live, work, and play in the real world. And I deal with some very major problems.
I would say that a lot of religious people don't use their religion as a band-aid.
Click to expand...

I don't think every religious person does, speaking as a religious person! However, Islam and the Baha'i faith seem to have as a fundamental dogma that only God's supposed revelations can tell humanity how to make a good society.

That is what I contest.
 
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