visa:
Really? Then why are there so many religious people who practice racial and gender discrimination? Why are there so many religious homophobes? How many religious people would pass a lie detector if they said that they truly love their neighbours without prejudice or indifference?
So if there is no such thing as religion at all, do you think all the racial and gender discrimination disappear?
There is no solution in this world works 100% in ensuring harmony. But if you look at religion from a cost - benefit paradigm, its clearly better than the costly media campaigns, military deterrence and mainstream education.
Yes religion have been a caused of many bloody wars in the past, but thats in the past. Post 9/11 mainstream religions have changed a lot since then. In general, among different religions, similarities are emphasised, differences are trivialised. Obama had indeed made use of the similarities of Abrahamic faiths to reach out the the Muslim audience in Egypt.
That's like saying a person who is drunk is less stressed than a person who is sober; it might be factually accurate but doesn't actually mean anything and doesn't have any social benefits.
what.? How is drinking LIKE religion?
religion provides a buffer against trauma, promotes social cohesion , unity, at least within our communities. As mentioned earlier on, mainstream religion after 9/11 saw it as their one of their goals to mend ties between faiths. There are clearly social benefits in addition to the psychological benefits.
Let me explain by using examples. Let's think of a traumatic experience- say, your parents being killed in a terrorist attack. If you're religious, you might be more at peace thinking that your parents are in heaven. This alone however doesn't actually change the fact that terrorism exists. As such, if you think about it, the only person who stands to benefit is the child himself- in the same way that a drunk stands to benefit from drinking.
Other than the drinking part, i agree that that the child benefits from it. Well, that was my original point
Karl Marx described religion as "the opiate of the masses". In other words, if you believe that you will be rewarded for your suffering with a blissful afterlife, you're less likely to revolt against an authority which is exploiting you without you realising it. Neutral folks in who witnessed the Holocaust might have thought "Oh dear, it's terrible that all these people are being killed, but at least they're going to Heaven". Everything, after all, is "God's will".
Karl Marx is an idealist, his ideas arent perfect, you should take his ideas with a pinch of salt.
What better kind of cause is there to die for? Abraham Lincoln died for an idealistic cause. So did Gandhi, Martin Luther King and Joan of Arc. What would YOU give up your life for? If you say "I wouldn't want to give up my life for anything", that really means that your life isn't worth anything either.
I belief the basic goal of ALL living organisms is self-preservation. Only when such lower level needs are satisfied (self-preservation), human beings are then able to proceed to satisfy their higher level needs, as according to Maslow's Pyramid.
If you are dead, what use are you of to the world?
