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All religion is a construct of man

Gesualdo

New Member
There has been a lot of talk lately about the "evils" of Islam. I find this rather short-sighted as ALL religions are at their root evil. People speak of the violent nature of Islam and the scores of people who have been slaughtered in the name of Mohammed. Is Christianity any better? I think not, just look at the history - the crusades, the inquisition, etc.

In reality, all religions are constructs of man, not God. Perhaps the original ideas behind many religions were pure, however, in short order they all seem to go bad and become manipulators of opinion and harbingers of hatred. Very sad.

True spirituality must come from within, not from organized religion.
 

Madhuri

RF Goddess
Staff member
Premium Member
Evil is a religious construct. Therefore, if religions are all false then so is the concept of evil and thus no religion can be said to be evil.

Violent nature is something different. I would argue that only some religions have a violent nature. Specifically those that clearly condone violence. Not all religions condone violence. In fact, some specifically preach against it.

As for whether religions are human constructs, that cannot entirely be proven. I agree that the religious institution is man-made, but the teachings or beliefs that inspired the institution may or may not be Truth. So any absolute statement either way is a fallacy.

I think that saying that religions end in violence and manipulation is only a half-truth. They bring both joy and misery, as all things in the material universe seem to.
 

Gesualdo

New Member
Thank you and I agree with much of what you say. My entry was far to brief and narrow, but I have been moved by the recent talks about Islam and needed to get the basic complaint I have about many religions off my chest.

Thank you for your reply.

BTW, welcome to RF!
 

ChristineES

Tiggerism
Premium Member
People love to find scapegoats to take the blame off of themselves. Evil and violence is caused by humans. All humans- those with or without any religion.
 

Smoke

Done here.
There has been a lot of talk lately about the "evils" of Islam. I find this rather short-sighted as ALL religions are at their root evil. People speak of the violent nature of Islam and the scores of people who have been slaughtered in the name of Mohammed. Is Christianity any better? I think not, just look at the history - the crusades, the inquisition, etc.
So, you're going to judge all religions by the two worst religions in the world? What's so evil about the Jains or the Quakers?

In reality, all religions are constructs of man, not God.
Obviously.

True spirituality must come from within, not from organized religion.
If you take a fuzzy concept like "spirituality," and then insist you know about which kind of "spirituality" is "true," aren't you just buying into the same kind of crap as all the rest of them?
 

Copernicus

Industrial Strength Linguist
There has been a lot of talk lately about the "evils" of Islam. I find this rather short-sighted as ALL religions are at their root evil. People speak of the violent nature of Islam and the scores of people who have been slaughtered in the name of Mohammed. Is Christianity any better? I think not, just look at the history - the crusades, the inquisition, etc.
I do not consider religion good or evil. What it seems to do is exaggerate normal human behavior, whether that behavior is in the direction of good or evil. People who are nasty, angry, unhappy people tend to have gods or a God that is nasty, angry, and unhappy. Good, compassionate people tend to have a concept of God that is good and compassionate.

In reality, all religions are constructs of man, not God. Perhaps the original ideas behind many religions were pure, however, in short order they all seem to go bad and become manipulators of opinion and harbingers of hatred. Very sad.
Yes, you are right that religions are human constructs, but it is wrong to pre-judge them as inherently evil. Religious faith tends to be more pragmatic than idealistic in the end. It is only those on the fringe who seem to engage in extreme behavior.

True spirituality must come from within, not from organized religion.
I don't really believe that there is such a thing as "true spirituality", and I don't prejudge people on whether they follow an organized or purely personal religion. My own preference, of course, is that people take a skeptical view of religion in general. But all of this, in the end, is a matter of personal conscience.
 

Twig pentagram

High Priest
Evil is a religious construct. Therefore, if religions are all false then so is the concept of evil and thus no religion can be said to be evil.

Violent nature is something different. I would argue that only some religions have a violent nature. Specifically those that clearly condone violence. Not all religions condone violence. In fact, some specifically preach against it.

As for whether religions are human constructs, that cannot entirely be proven. I agree that the religious institution is man-made, but the teachings or beliefs that inspired the institution may or may not be Truth. So any absolute statement either way is a fallacy.

I think that saying that religions end in violence and manipulation is only a half-truth. They bring both joy and misery, as all things in the material universe seem to.
Evil has nothing to do with religion.
 

dancingsky

Well away from here
Religions are humans structures, that is why many of them including the worst bits of Christianity are so bad.
 

Ben Dhyan

Veteran Member
In reality, all religions are constructs of man, not God. Perhaps the original ideas behind many religions were pure, however, in short order they all seem to go bad and become manipulators of opinion and harbingers of hatred. Very sad.

True spirituality must come from within, not from organized religion.

So if true spirituality comes from within and this spirituality is expressed in religious writing, then surely it can't be said that this written expression is purely a construct of mortal man?

BTW, this is not to dispute the fact that much of the writings of the various Religions are human constructs, but not all.
 

Terrywoodenpic

Oldest Heretic
It is true religions can be traced back to a single person.
Mostly that person claims a personal relationship with God.
He usually writes down his thoughts, or Gods words, as a religious text.
Very often he writes down commandments and rules of life essential to be in good standing with God.

The Christian Religion is unusual in that it is based on the life and death of the object of that religion. Even though he himself only worshiped God and did not see himself as a figure to be worshiped, but rather as a servent to God and Man.
Jesus neither wrote nor dictated anything . Whilst at the same time his life and teachings and those few comands he has given us, have become the focus of Christianity.
Christianity is unusual in that Jesus, a man , is the focus of the religion
Whereas it is more usual for the founder of a religion to be the instigator, not the focus.
 

dancingsky

Well away from here
Claiming a personal relationship with god doesn't actually mean the relationship isn't more than in the mind of the believer.
 

blackout

Violet.
All human constructs are created by humans, for humans.

Anything that would cease to exist,
if humans ceased to exist...
(including concepts and moralities)
is a human construct.
 

Andal

resident hypnotist
religions are not evil, it is what people do with them that make them evil. a religion can not kill or torture but people can whether acting in the name of that religion or not. Some religions endorse such activities in certain situations while others do not. Does that mean everyone who belongs to a religion that approves of such tactics does it? Does that mean that those who don't belong to such religions don't do those things? Certainly not. People need to stop blaming religion and start taking responsibility for themselves. Religions can be twisted in any which way to suit personal needs.
 

Caladan

Agnostic Pantheist
There has been a lot of talk lately about the "evils" of Islam. I find this rather short-sighted as ALL religions are at their root evil. People speak of the violent nature of Islam and the scores of people who have been slaughtered in the name of Mohammed. Is Christianity any better? I think not, just look at the history - the crusades, the inquisition, etc.
Disturbing actions are taken by adherents of various religions, both the Abrahamic ones and the Dharmic ones. the strange attitude of 'holier than thou' of some of the Dharmic members in the face of their fellow Abrahamic members is questionable. I would not want to live as a member of a Dharmic culture in Asia.

In reality, all religions are constructs of man, not God.
This isn't really a surprising revelation.
Perhaps the original ideas behind many religions were pure, however, in short order they all seem to go bad and become manipulators of opinion and harbingers of hatred. Very sad.
Perhaps, and perhaps not.

True spirituality must come from within, not from organized religion.
I don't know what is this true spirituality you are talking about.
 
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