Religion....why??

sparrowstail,

Thanks for sharing your opinion. I do believe we are disagreeing..

I don't quite see it this way. To use your analogy, I would say that our development of religion and interpretation of religious teachings is in the kindergarten -phase of humanity's spiritual development.

Humanity itself is in it's "kindergarten" phase when it believes it needs religion as a guideline....

It's not the idea of a spiritual moral code of excellence that is flawed but rather as viewed, interpreted, and enacted through imperfect eyes.

But then each and every religion and his spiritual moral code of excellence is correct? Or are you willing to say the morals that Christianity peaches are better then the morals of an other religion....

Religious morals are built on an obligation to a transcendental being who has influence over the world and who determines how man should behave.

But what if you have no need to be told how to behave? What if all the moral codes that pop up in every religion are already the moral codes you live by without the guidance of some transcendental being?

The only step lacking is taking the responsibility to act according to those morals without the need for some "angry God" to make sure you live up to those rules...

That's what i was trying to say with my "kindergarten" analogy.

It's like our social service system or health care system. We love to trash them, when we don't need them, appreciate them when we do, and often forget that they are the best we have at this point in time.

This just proves my point. Why would you feel the need to trash it? This just doesn't seem logic to me. I don't feel like trashing things i don't need! My own moral code states that if i am willing to trash things i don't need, then i should be ready to accept that others might want to trash the things i hold dear because they don't need them....

We are not born with common sense. People around us need to make it common. It usually has been made common through guidance, patience and tolerance. (I could say things made common through religion but I .....)

Yeah, i left the "common sense" part already because it doesn't work. But I would like to believe that each and every man (without the guidance of religion) has an idea of what is right and what is wrong. Basic things like...

-Do not do to others what you do not want done to yourself.

The "growing up" part of our society means that you are willing to apply this rule to yourself without feeling the need to mandate others to life by this rule.

Religion often gives me the feeling that a group of people are willing to live by a set of rules but only if everybody within this group (and sometimes outside of that group) is mandated to lives by these rules. While we should be looking for the realization of why we have to live by these rules.

Time for an other corny analogy:

I have to tell my children to clean up their room. If they don't do this then there will we consequences. They do not like to clean their room, they do not want to clean their room but eventually they will clean their room under the pressure of punishment.
An responsible adults has the realization that if he doesn't clean up his room the place will become one big mess and generally not a nice place to reside. So he understands why he has to clean up his room and does not need an outside source to apply pressure in order for him to do what is right..

Told you it was corny...

If, by now, i have stopped making sense to anybody..I completely understand and I'll admit that I am due for some serious lessons in ethics and morality because i am lacking any form of education in this field to logically debate this..

Peace


[edit on 13-2-2010 by operation mindcrime]