Comments on: What Does Religion Provide?

By: myantitheism

myantitheism — Thu, 18 Jul 2013 09:20:32 +0000

Greta, I am so pleased to read this blog post. So often Atheists attack all forms of beliefs that involve a higher power. Such an attack is unnecessary and makes us look irrational (as we are supposed to be the rational ones), After all, atheists and anti-theists are only against theism. Theism by my definition is a creator, personal type god, which is ridiculous for many reasons that I won’t get into here. However, religion is not the enemy by any means. The etymology of the word religion comes from the Latin root religare, which means to link or bind, ultimately meaning to link with a higher power.
My main enemy ( a strong word but the right word nonetheless) is the three big monotheistic religions, specifically Christianity. Too often Atheists will acknowledge that some good is accomplished by these theistic religions. An acknowledgment that is a grave mistake (see my post).
Your acknowledgment that religion provides one unique contribution to humanity is spot on, and by religion I mean the true definition and not the absurd monotheistic belief systems which.

See my post on this subject: http://myantitheism.com/2013/07/18/does-christianity-contribute-anything-to-mankind/

By: myantitheism

myantitheism — Thu, 18 Jul 2013 09:17:18 +0000

Greta, I am so pleased to read this blog post. So often Atheists attack all forms of beliefs that involve a higher power. Such an attack is unnecessary and makes us look irrational (as we are supposed to be the rational ones), After all, atheists and anti-theists are only against theism. Theism by my definition is a creator, personal type god, which is ridiculous for many reasons that I won’t get into here. However, religion is not the enemy by any means. The etymology of the word religion comes from the Latin root religare, which means to link or bind, ultimately meaning to link with a higher power.
My main enemy ( a strong word but the right word nonetheless) is the three big monotheistic relighions, specifically Christianity. Too often Atheists will acknowledge that some good is accomplished by these theistic religions. An acknowledgment that is a grave mistake (see my post).
Your acknowledgment that religion provides one unique contribution to humanity is spot on, and by religion I mean the true definition and not the absurd monotheistic belief systems which.

By: Jesus is the Anti-Christ » Does Christianity Contribute Anything to Mankind?

Thu, 18 Jul 2013 09:12:02 +0000

[…] with the help from some other blog posts. I recently read a post by Atheist Revolution and a post by Greta Christina. I thoroughly disagreed with the post by Atheist Revolution and thoroughly […]

By: brucemartin

brucemartin — Tue, 16 Jul 2013 02:14:29 +0000

It bothers me when some people speak of the “comforts” of religion in ways that make it clear to me that these comforts don’t actually need to be “real.” What, if anything, is it supposed to mean if someone speaks of comforts the way they might speak of alcohol? It provides a warm inner glow? It provides a peace that passes all understanding? It gives comfort? It enables them to cope? It’s traditional in their group? The people down the street are really good at providing this stuff? One has grown so accustomed to it that one can’t imagine giving it up?

None of the above “reasons” offer anything to distinguish religion from drunkenness. I’m not saying that faith is always of no more value than heavy drinking. But I don’t think that the religious should be able to get away with giving an “explanation” which they have not distinguished from liquor. If they can’t explain it more specifically than that, then they haven’t really made an assertion that would need to be taken any more seriously.

So that’s now my first test on this issue. If they can’t make a better case for their holy spirit than for any other spirits, then I don’t have to take the suggestion seriously. Thanks for listening.

By: Michael Tiffany

Michael Tiffany — Sun, 14 Jul 2013 00:53:13 +0000

Answers you want to hear for the questions which scare you.

By: Deen

Deen — Sat, 13 Jul 2013 12:25:52 +0000

I personally suspect that religion’s appeal is mostly as a one-stop shop. They’re not offering anything you can’t get elsewhere, they may not even be the best at what they offer, but it’s all there in one convenient location.

By: Givesgoodemail

Givesgoodemail — Sat, 13 Jul 2013 11:54:37 +0000

I’ve taken a pretty conventional stance on religion:

Religion is a system of belief that gives comfort in a non-intellectual way to its followers. Religion explains the world and how it works without any need to work at understanding the reasons behind anything.

“God’s Will”
“Karma”
“The wisdom of Allah, peace be unto him”
“Hare Krishna”
“Blessed Be”

They all pretty much sum it up.

By: Zinc Avenger (Sarcasm Tags 3.0 Compliant)

Zinc Avenger (Sarcasm Tags 3.0 Compliant) — Sat, 13 Jul 2013 05:39:40 +0000

I do think it’s interesting to ask why these human needs have traditionally been met by religion.

Perhaps because if religion stopped meeting those needs people would notice that it provides nothing else.

By: Greta Christina

Greta Christina — Sat, 13 Jul 2013 02:38:11 +0000

Speaking from very recent personal experience, religion does “death” way better than non-religion. (snip) It’s really no wonder religion persists. Because it pretty much has a lock on death.

Kevin @ #1: I absolutely, 100% do not agree. I mean, if that’s true for you, it’s true for you — but it’s very, very far from universal. If for no other reason: Religion requires you, when you are grieving, to be in a state of cognitive dissonance — and that is not a good emotional place in which to deal with grief. It only appears “sure-footed” — it’s actually very unsteady ground to be standing on. Religious beliefs in an afterlife are only comforting if you don’t examine them.

And speaking for myself: In dealing with my own father’s death in the last year, there has literally not been a single point at which I found myself wishing that I believed in God or an afterlife, and I have found my materialism and my rationality very deeply comforting. And in talking with/ reading the writing of other atheists, I know I’m very far from the only for whom this is true.

It actually kind of drives me nuts when atheists concede the ground of death, accepting without challenge or question the idea that of course people would rather deal with death using religion, and that this is universally true for everyone, and that religion is just an inherently better way of dealing with death than atheism.
(I encourage you to read another piece of mine, Do We Concede the Ground of Death Too Easily?, for more thoughts on this topic.) Again — if this is true for you, it’s true for you, and I wouldn’t try to talk you out of it. But please don’t assume that it’s true for everyone, or that it’s automatically and inherently true. It isn’t.

By: Kevin

Kevin — Fri, 12 Jul 2013 21:39:46 +0000

@2: To be an atheist is the simplest thing in the world. I became an atheist around age 8, when I intuited that the stories in the bible were nonsense fables.

Defending your atheism against assault from superstitious people might take a little more work. But the atheism itself? Nothing to it. Just don’t buy the mythologies told in “holy books”.