Religion

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Overview

A religion is "a system of social coherence based on a common group of beliefs or attitudes concerning an object, person, unseen being, or system of thought considered to be supernatural, sacred, divine or highest truth, and the moral codes, practices, values, institutions, and rituals associated with such belief or system of thought. It is sometimes used interchangeably with "faith" or "belief system"[1], but is more socially defined than that of personal convictions." In other words, a "religion" is a type of "faith" that includes social aspects.

The vast majority of religions, especially those based in the West where Abrahamic religions dominate, assert the existence of a single God who created the universe.

Mechanisms

Religion is a kind of sanctioned irrationality, an organized suspension of disbelief in certain areas by a coalition of willing believers. In exchange for this suspension, believers receive their belief-system essentially pre-digested (to an extent which varies by religion) by higher authority, rather than having to go to the trouble of working it out for themselves. Some believers will go to the trouble of trying to reconcile their beliefs with reality, but this generally only goes so far; when push comes to shove, it is reality that gets second priority.

Most religions encourage their believers to reproduce and to pass on their religion to their children, at an age when children tend to believe anything their parents tell them; this is one of the most powerful mechanisms by which religion is spread, and certainly the most powerful method by which it is maintained against contrary evidence.

Most if not all religions use a number of obvious memetic social control mechanisms to maximize the number of new adherents, minimize the numbers who leave, and prevent any serious inquiry into the veracity of doctrine. Some religions make more use of these than others, but it seems safe to say that they all use at least one of them:

Related Concepts

  • Russell's teapot [W] is an analogy coined by the philosopher Bertrand Russell [W] to refute the idea that skeptics have the burden of disproof regarding unfalsifiable claims of religions. Richard Dawkins adds to this the observation that we are all atheists about a great many things, including Odin, Zeus, and Quetzalcoatl, whose existence nobody even considers the need to disprove; why is it necessary to disprove the existence of God as well, for whom there is no more evidence than any of the others?
  • Einsteinian religion is a term used by Richard Dawkins (and possibly others) to describe the non-theistic, non-traditional uses of the words "God" and "religion" by Albert Einstein and other prominent non-religious scientists.

Related Pages

Reference

Achievements

Best

  • helps build community between its members, typically strengthening the larger community of which it is a part
  • countless majestic cathedrals and works of art
  • popularization of a number of generally good memes, including:
    • taboo against killing; the sanctity of (human) life (Judeo-Christianity)
    • taboo against lying (Judeo-Christianity)
    • "turning the other cheek", i.e. taboo against vengefulness (Christianity)
    • taboo against envious or jealous thoughts/behavior (Judeo-Christianity): helps to avoid the temptation to steal and also helps reduce friction between people of different levels of wealth
    • help the poor (Christianity)
    • respect for elders (Confucianism, Judeo-Christianity, others): supports parents in their efforts to impart good values to their children; supports the transmission of community history, so it can be learned from; helps prevent elder abuse
  • popularization of memes useful within their cultural context:
    • taboo against stealing; the sanctity of personal property (Judeo-Christianity): some viable cultures don't/didn't have the concept of personal property, at least not to the same extent; results have been mixed

Worst

  • The Inquisitions (Catholicism)
  • Persecution of homosexuals and others with non-standard gender traits
  • The declaration that rock music is the work of the devil (American Christian extremists, late 1950s)
  • The burning of Beatles albums in response to John Lennon's off-the-cuff statement that the Beatles "are more popular than Jesus now" (American Christian extremists, 1966)
  • Repression of women (most religions, throughout history)
  • Repression of scientific progress
  • Sexual repression, including: repression of homosexuality and transsexuality [W] [1]; adverse control of heterosexual behavior between consenting adults; adverse control of non-interpersonal sexual behavior
  • The destruction of countless works of art; examples:
  • Countless instances of religious violence; examples:
  • The Ku Klux Klan claimed to be a Christian organization (what was Christianity's reaction to this?)
  • The Flat Earth Society
  • Doctrinal arguments in support of slavery caused much of Christendom to support what we now know to be a great evil

Definitions

Jehovah's Witnesses

According to a flyer distributed in 2006 by the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania (the mouthpiece of the Jehovah's Witnesses, an apocalyptic evangelical Christian sect):

  • True Religion:
    • Practices love: "True worshippers are 'no part of the world', are not divided by race or culture, and display 'love among themselves' (John 13:35; 17:16; Acts 10:34, 35)... Rather than killing one another, they are willing to die for one another (1 John 3:16)"
    • Trusts God's word: true religion bases its doctrine on God's word, not on tradition or the commands of men
    • Strengthens families and upholds high moral standards: husbands must "love their wives as their own bodies", wives must develop "deep respect for their husbands", children must "be obedient to their parents", and "those entrusted with positions of authority must have exemplary morals". A "true religion" encourages or requires all of these.
  • False Religion:
    • Meddles in war and politics: quotes the journal Asiaweek (ceased publication in December 2001) as saying "...power-hungry leaders are cynically manipulating people's religious sentiments for their own needs." Contrasts the words of an unnamed "prominent religious leader in the United States" who said "You've got to kill the terrorists before the killing stops. ... Blow them all away in the name of the Lord." with several Bible quotations: "If anyone makes the statement 'I love God' and yet is hating his brother, he is a liar." (1 John 4:20) and "Continue to love your enemies." (Matthew 5:44).
    • Spreads false doctrine, which apparently means teaching that the soul does not die, or does not die under certain circumstances, and thereby extracting money from their followers to help ensure this reward. (Apparently what really happens is that the dead will be resurrected, as taught by Jesus (John 11:11-25), so no afterlife is necessary.)
    • Tolerates immoral sex, which apparently means homosexuality and gay marriage, as well as tolerance of child abuse

Links

Facts & Data

Religious POV

News

Criticism of Religion

  • 2006-12-05 When Atheists Have Their Say by Matt Arnold (blog entry with comments)
  • 2006-11-24
    • The Alpha Male Monkey In The Sky
    • Beyond belief: "What is belief? Is absence of proof the same as proof of absence, or is it just as misguided to disbelieve something without evidence as it is to believe in it? In this article we explore the touchy issue of dogmatic belief and try to establish why atheism is not just 'religion for the nonbelievers'."
  • 2006-11-14 Faith Won't Heal a Divided World by Sam Harris: "It is worth observing that religion is the one area of our lives where faith in dogma – that is, belief without sufficient evidence – is considered a virtue. If such faith is a virtue, it is a virtue that is completely unknown to scientific discourse. Science is, in fact, the one domain in which a person can win considerable prestige for proving himself wrong. In science, honesty is all. In religion, faith is all." ... "It would, of course, be absurd to speak of 'Christian physics' or 'Muslim algebra.' And there is no such thing as Iraqi or Japanese – as distinct from American – science. Reasonable people really do have a monopoly on the truth. And while they might not agree about everything in the near term, common ground surrounds them on all sides."
  • 2006-05-24 How do you prove Jesus existed? CNN article about an Italian man who is suing the Catholic Church to prove the existence of Jesus (with reader comments)
  • 2006-05-16 Why Religion Must End by Laura Sheahen, Beliefnet (original is much more cluttered)
  • 2006-03-05 The Book of Bart: "In the Bestseller 'Misquoting Jesus,' Agnostic Author Bart Ehrman Picks Apart the Gospels That Made a Disbeliever Out of Him"
  • 2006-03 Killing the Buddha by Sam Harris: religion stands in the way of rational discussion of belief
  • The End of Faith: Religion, Terror, and the Future of Reason by Sam Harris: ISBN 0393035158 (hb) ISBN 0393327655 (pb)
  • Islam: The Religion of Peace (Believe It Or Else): not sure how rational this site is, but it certainly presents food for thought
  • Exposing Religious Error and Deception: bizarre, disjointed criticisms of Christianity (by someone apparently named Seven Star Hand) which nonetheless seem to make a few useful points... but mixed in with all kinds of bizarre nonsense...

Experimental

  • WikiWrit: "The Holy Book Anyone Can Edit"

Related Articles

Related Concepts

  • Providentialism is the belief that God is actively directing the affairs of the world, e.g. through the actions of 'chosen people' whom God "provides" for such purposes.
  • Blasphemy
  • Heresy

Problems with religion

Woozle makes some points

  • The chain of reasoning in many religious arguments vanishes into a black box, usually with the inscription "God says" on the outside. Even with churches like the LDS which admit the possibility of individuals communicating directly with God in order to get a better understanding of what God means, you are still either (a) forced to admit belief in God (can't communicate with something you don't believe in), (b) argue solely from existing religious doctrine, or else (c) have the validity of your arguments denied (your argument isn't based on God's word, so your premises may be wrong). In order to take part in the discussion, you have to admit to belief in God -- which is basically conceding the argument. In other words, the whole thing is a circular argument based on the infallibility of God.
  • Belief in absolutes (moral absolutism and the infallibility of God) can be used to justify extreme measures. If your faith's doctrine tells you with absolute, unquestionable certainty that what someone is doing is absolutely wrong regardless of circumstance, that removes most or all of the uncertainty and allowance for mistake (perhaps there are extenuating circumstances; perhaps your belief that their actions are wrong is incorrect; and so on) with which most people operate when deciding whether to take action against someone.
  • Because of the belief in absolutes (which allows for a great deal of preci and the black box nature of basic religious doctrine, it is extremely easy for someone who is both unscrupulous and power-hungry to manipulate those who have been raised and trained in the validity of such thinking.
  • If absolute truth can be had by speaking with God (as allowed by some faiths, but not all):
    • If you believe that God has spoken to you, how do you know that it is really God? (How can you tell the difference between the "real God" and an extremely advanced but non-divine being who isn't entirely honest?)
    • If someone else claims God has spoken to them, how do you know they are not lying (or else deceived, as above)?

Quotes

"When one person suffers from a delusion it is called insanity. When many people suffer from a delusion it is called Religion." – Robert Pirsig

Trivia

  • Contrary to a popular saying, there are atheists in foxholes. [2]

Satire

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