Does being religious make you nicer?

[Mock Turtle]

Let me ask you this. What if you were a cop and the police force is full of corruption. In this case, empathy alone would not work. Because you naturally feel more empathy for those closest to you you would not be a whistleblower and go along with the corruption. There must be a sense of right or wrong as well as empathy. I had an example like this in my mind from the beginning but I botched it to you.

https://www.amazon.com/Against-Empathy-Case-Rational-Compassion/dp/0062339338

I would recommend this if any haven't come across it. It does make a good case for our empathy being too localised and that we really need a more generalised compassion for others. Which is what I would dispute about the message from some religions - the message of love - when what we actually need is compassion for others rather than love. Perhaps there isn't much difference though.

 

[TransmutingSoul]

Seems absurd that they can ALL be from God, since at times they completely contradict one another. It sounds far more likely to me that they were all just made up by fallible human beings and some of them just happen to contain occasional kernels of truth.

The more we look for the connections, the more we are absolutely amazed it is so. it is the Truth that will unite us all in the future.

Regards Tony

 

[Shia Islam]

Certainly, there is a spectrum. There is the "live and let live" type of religious person (my personal favorite), and then there is the absolute scary hellfire and brimstone fundamentalist who makes monsters under the bed seem tame in comparison.

If adhering to a religious belief is supposed to make one a pinnacle of society due to following a deity's laws, why is it then so many religious people find it difficult to actually be nice (I cannot be faulted for considering them on par with satan)?

Google Image Result for http://www.atheistrepublic.com/sites/default/files/accepting-religion.jpg

It depends on what religion you are to focus on..and on what type of religiosity too..

for example, In Islam, prophet Muhammad was faced by the Non-Believing Arabs and also by the Hypocrites who claimed to be following the prophet and joined him, but fought him from within his own people..

The Shiites who were minority in Islam, believed that after the death of the prophet, the upper two groups who were fighting the prophet during his life, have made a coalition and hijacked Islam and manipulated it..

However, since the Shiites were in the minority, they were forced to hide many of their beliefs in order to protect themselves from the intolerant majority..

So the aim of the Shiites was to protect themselves and to pass their belief to the new generations and to whoever is willing to hear..

Being a religious Shiite will certainty not harm others..
Yes, claiming to be a religious person, while you don't have a deep belief and a real fear of God that will prevent you from harming the other creatures of God is certainly source of real danger..

 

[Truthseeker]

If I worked with a group of corrupted people who had no empathy for others, why would I have more empathy for a bunch of corrupt people with no empathy than the people they are supposed to serve? It's really simple. If I wouldn't want government officials to be corrupt then I shouldn't be a corrupt government official and I certainly wouldn't have greater empathy for corrupt government officials than those who are not corrupt. Would you, and if so why?

Don't you see you are already forming a judgment that corruption is wrong regardless of the empathy you might feel.

 

[QuestioningMind]

The more we look for the connections, the more we are absolutely amazed it is so. it is the Truth that will unite us all in the future.

Regards Tony

I believe that what will unite us in the future is when we realize that all religions are nonsense and there's no longer any reason to allow them to divide us.

 

[QuestioningMind]

Don't you see you are already forming a judgment that corruption is wrong regardless of the empathy you might feel.

You're able to empathize with rapists and murderers and corrupt individuals? Having empathy myself, I find it impossible to have empathy for those who do not.

 

[TransmutingSoul]

I believe that what will unite us in the future is when we realize that all religions are nonsense and there's no longer any reason to allow them to divide us.

What you believe will be so, has started and has already been answered;

There was a great man named Varqa who felt honoured to have met Baha’u’llah on several occasions andonce wrote to Baha’u’llah asking; “How will the Cause of God be universally adopted by mankind?”

Baha’u’llah said "that first, the nations of the world would arm themselves with infernal engines of war, and when fully armed would attack each other like bloodthirsty beasts. As a result, there would be enormous bloodshed throughout the world. Then the wise from all nations would gather together to investigate the cause of such bloodshed. They would come to the conclusion that prejudices were the cause, a major form being religious prejudice. They would therefore try to eliminate religion so as to eliminate prejudice. Later they would realize that man cannot live without religion. Then they would study the teachings of all religions to see which of the religions conformed to the prevailing conditions of the time. It is then that the Cause of God would become universal."

Regards Tony

 

[QuestioningMind]

What you believe will be so, has started and has already been answered;

There was a great man named Varqa who felt honoured to have met Baha’u’llah on several occasions andonce wrote to Baha’u’llah asking; “How will the Cause of God be universally adopted by mankind?”

Baha’u’llah said "that first, the nations of the world would arm themselves with infernal engines of war, and when fully armed would attack each other like bloodthirsty beasts. As a result, there would be enormous bloodshed throughout the world. Then the wise from all nations would gather together to investigate the cause of such bloodshed. They would come to the conclusion that prejudices were the cause, a major form being religious prejudice. They would therefore try to eliminate religion so as to eliminate prejudice. Later they would realize that man cannot live without religion. Then they would study the teachings of all religions to see which of the religions conformed to the prevailing conditions of the time. It is then that the Cause of God would become universal."

Regards Tony

Yet plenty of people live just fine without any religion at all, so your assertion that people can't live without religion isn't valid.

 

[TransmutingSoul]

Yet plenty of people live just fine without any religion at all, so your assertion that people can't live without religion isn't valid.

The question is what is true life?

If one answers with only this life, then death will win over any intelligence. If one answers the life of the Spirit, then knowledge transends this world and is eternal.

Regards Tony

 

[QuestioningMind]

The question is what is true life?

If one answers with only this life, then death will win over any intelligence. If one answers the life of the Spirit, then knowledge transends this world and is eternal.

Regards Tony

Of course, there's absolutely no verifiable evidence that Spirit exists or that there is anything that transcends this world. You can delude yourself into believing that there is, but that's all it is, delusion.

 

[TransmutingSoul]

Of course, there's absolutely no verifiable evidence that Spirit exists or that there is anything that transcends this world. You can delude yourself into believing that there is, but that's all it is, delusion.

You may have to consider that, It may be you, that has have deluded yourself, that our true self is Spirit and Mind.

NDE and Dreams are fields that science will find are connected to our spiritual aspect, which is Soul and Mind. Mind is not part of this body. Mind transends time and space.

Regards Tony

 

[QuestioningMind]

You may have to consider that, It may be you, that has have deluded yourself, that our true self is Spirit and Mind.

NDE and Dreams are fields that science will find are connected to our spiritual aspect, which is Soul and Mind. Mind is not part of this body. Mind transends time and space.

Regards Tony

That's a nice idea, but again, there is absolutely no evidence that a soul exist. In fact, there never been an example of mind existing without a physical body, which suggests that the mind is a product of a functioning physical brain.

 

[TransmutingSoul]

That's a nice idea, but again, there is absolutely no evidence that a soul exist. In fact, there never been an example of mind existing without a physical body, which suggests that the mind is a product of a functioning physical brain.

Or the brain only functions because it has a connection to Mind. The light that fires the circuits of the brain.

There is a good many wonderful NDE experiences, that there is no other explanation. But of course many will try to explain the experiences away.

Regards Tony

 

[tayla]

If adhering to a religious belief is supposed to make one a pinnacle of society due to following a deity's laws, why is it then so many religious people find it difficult to actually be nice

The purpose of religion is not to make you nice. If it were, they would emphasize it, and drill you on it until you mastered it. Listen to what they talk about in their church services; that is what their purpose is.

 

[QuestioningMind]

Or the brain only functions because it has a connection to Mind. The light that fires the circuits of the brain.

There is a good many wonderful NDE experiences, that there is no other explanation. But of course many will try to explain the experiences away.

Regards Tony

Actually the fact that people can explain it away suggests that there actually IS another explanation. Just because you have decided that there's no other explanation doesn't mean that there isn't.