Why has religion retained its appeal?

[alchresearch 214]

11 hours ago, Phanerothyme said:

Coming together in a community of like-minded people is not a good quality?

I found that an odd statement too.  A local church near me runs all kinds of schemes and groups - playgroups, parent & baby groups, OAP dance meets, OAP coffee mornings, jumble sales, blood donations, and many more.

 

It would be interesting to see what other organisations would run all these for little or no profit.   

[SnailyBoy 10]

24 minutes ago, alchresearch said:

I found that an odd statement too.  A local church near me runs all kinds of schemes and groups - playgroups, parent & baby groups, OAP dance meets, OAP coffee mornings, jumble sales, blood donations, and many more.

 

It would be interesting to see what other organisations would run all these for little or no profit.   

That's because you're focusing on the positive aspects. You don't have to dig deep to find examples of 'like minded' people having a negative impact on a society as a whole.

[woodview 10]

5 hours ago, SnailyBoy said:

That's because you're focusing on the positive aspects. You don't have to dig deep to find examples of 'like minded' people having a negative impact on a society as a whole.

What a horrible outlook on life.

[SnailyBoy 10]

36 minutes ago, woodview said:

What a horrible outlook on life.

Not really, just a realistic outlook on life.

 

It isn't all church fêtes and tombolas out there. Some 'like-minded' people are all too fond of telling other people how they shouldn't be living their lives.

 

Religious intolerance of same sex marriage and reproductive rights for woman, as examples.

Edited March 27, 2019 by SnailyBoy

[woodview 10]

29 minutes ago, SnailyBoy said:

Not really, just a realistic outlook on life.

 

It isn't all church fêtes and tombolas out there. Some 'like-minded' people are all too fond of telling other people how they shouldn't be living their lives.

 

Religious intolerance of same sex marriage and reproductive rights for woman, as examples.

I think you'll find there's lots of people who are all too fond of telling people how they should be living their lives. This forum contains depressing examples of that.

[SnailyBoy 10]

3 minutes ago, woodview said:

I think you'll find there's lots of people who are all too fond of telling people how they should be living their lives. This forum contains depressing examples of that.

Yep, but in the context of this thread, it's about those who feel they have been told how people should or shouldn't be living their lives.

[woodview 10]

5 minutes ago, SnailyBoy said:

Yep, but in the context of this thread, it's about those who feel they have been told how people should or shouldn't be living their lives.

So, are you against the village church being there, having a vicar, and the church goers organising jumble sales and toddler groups, because ISIS are also an organised religious group who chop peoples heads off?

Are we to stop any groups of 'like minded people' organising stuff, or just the ones who don't hold your set of beliefs and opinions?

Edited March 27, 2019 by woodview

[SnailyBoy 10]

1 hour ago, woodview said:

So, are you against the village church being there, having a vicar, and the church goers organising jumble sales and toddler groups,

No

 

1 hour ago, woodview said:

because ISIS are also an organised religious group who chop peoples heads off?

Desperate exaggeration, I gave examples earlier

 

1 hour ago, woodview said:

Are we to stop any groups of 'like minded people' organising stuff, or just the ones who don't hold your set of beliefs and opinions?

It depends what they're organising. On reflection, no-one has suggested stopping anything.

 

Edited March 27, 2019 by SnailyBoy

[Phanerothyme 12]

On 27/03/2019 at 13:54, CaptainSwing said:

The problems begin with the attitude to people outside the community - or to people inside the community who are not like-minded enough.  Most religions tend to develop a totalitarian streak, sooner or later.

 

In the end, the only community that matters (to me) is the community of humans.

Not morally good, specifically because morals change, but good for genetic propagation.

It doesn't really matter whether that's communities of cannibalistic child abusing totalitarians or communities of vegan, liberal, free thinking, democrats.
 

[Phanerothyme 12]

On 27/03/2019 at 07:40, SnailyBoy said:

So it can be defined as anything really, it just manifests as personal experience?

Yes, the kind of personal experience that makes a person more likely to be a part of a community or society of people centred on belief.

On 27/03/2019 at 07:40, SnailyBoy said:

 

What does yours say to you?

That's irrelevant. I'm not talking about now. I'm addressing the OP directly.

Religion is a human behaviour that was once more useful than it is today. It's predicated upon the existence of spiritual/religious experiences in individuals. Given the ubqiuity of religion historically and geographically, it's reasonable to suppose these experience are universal., Given the state of natural selection in the community of humans today, the prediliction for religious/spiritual experience isn't likely to diminish very quickly.

[SnailyBoy 10]

12 hours ago, Phanerothyme said:

Yes, the kind of personal experience that makes a person more likely to be a part of a community or society of people centred on belief.

That's irrelevant. I'm not talking about now. I'm addressing the OP directly.

Religion is a human behaviour that was once more useful than it is today. It's predicated upon the existence of spiritual/religious experiences in individuals. Given the ubqiuity of religion historically and geographically, it's reasonable to suppose these experience are universal., Given the state of natural selection in the community of humans today, the prediliction for religious/spiritual experience isn't likely to diminish very quickly.

How does an individual confirm that a personal experience is 'spiritual/religious'? 

12 hours ago, Phanerothyme said:

Not morally good, specifically because morals change, but good for genetic propagation.

How are you defining morality?

[Hots on 10]

On ‎27‎/‎03‎/‎2019 at 17:05, SnailyBoy said:

No

 

Desperate exaggeration, I gave examples earlier

 

It depends what they're organising. On reflection, no-one has suggested stopping anything.

 

I bet you sneer at the Salvation Army just because they're a Christian organisation.