I’ve already read the first post. And it wasn’t original that time either.

The problem with this theory is that the reason that religion was created was not “to instill hope in people so that they would not feel sad knowing that everything was just going to die and feel nothingness for forever”. The reason organized religion was created was to keep the populace under control. Rulers, in both ancient times and the present, have found it far easier to attribute laws to the will of an omnipresent God than to attribute them to common sense and rational thinking. Religions, especially the Abrahamic religions (Judaism, Christianity, and Islam), are a tool of subjugation which allows the people in power to stay in power with a minimum of trouble. Laws that are of supposedly divine origin are an easy way for the rulers to keep people from rising in defiance, because people are far less likely to break the law of a god than the law of a man.

Also, the human psyche doesn’t need to believe in a supernatural being to lead a contented life, so the idea that “no one wants a 6 year old to be depressed knowing that he will die and experience nothingness forever” is spurious. If a child is brought up to understand the finality of death and embrace the fleeting life he has before him without ever being told that there is a magic man in the sky called God who controls everything, created everything, and requires his worship, the child can still lead a healthy, productive life; in fact, without the veil of misguided faith, such a child would have the potential to grow intellectually much faster and more fully than his religious counterparts, because he wouldn’t have to waste his time and energy on the pointless tasks of prayer and ritual, and he would be unhindered by any religious taboos that might prevent him from fully exploring all lines of rational thought.

The only part of OPs theory that I agree with is that Death is the “only true and complete happiness, bliss, and freedom that you can experience”. The only problem with how OP describes it is that after death, there is no quantification of nothingness, so the forever of nothingness is but an illusion. Non-existence isn’t the same as perceiving nothing forever, there is no perception. It’s a hard concept for most humans to grasp, and it’s a fear of that non-existence that drives the faith of many of those who are religious. Belief in a God and afterlife allows a person to think that perhaps there is something after death, and makes it easy to discount the idea that death is truly the end.

Hopefully this wasn’t too wordy or pompous as a first post, I just ran across this site and thought I’d share my opinion on a topic that I have thought about at length.

GREETINGS FRIENDS

I GUESS I’M GOING TO HARP A BIT BUT IT’S JUST WHAT I’VE COME ACROSS IN MY 53 YEARS

WHY GOD CAME INTO EXISTANCE

“GOD” HELPED TO EXPLAIN THE UNKNOWN
AT LEAST AT FIRST
IT WASN’T UNTIL LATER THAT HE WAS USED TO CONTROL PEOPLE
IT WAS MUCH LATER THAT HE WAS USED - BY SOME - TO OFFER HOPE
HEAVEN, HELL AND THE DEVIL ARE CHRISTIAN CREATIONS SO THEY ARE NOT SO VERY OLD. THE JEWISH SATAN IS NOT LIKE THE CHRISTIAN DEVIL.
THE “NEW TESTAMENT” HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH THE BIBLE - WHICH IS JEWISH (CALLED THE OLD TESTAMENT)

THROUGHOUT HISTORY PEOPLE HAVE BEEN AFRAID OF THAT WHICH THEY COULD NOT EXPLAIN. THEY…WE…WERE AFARID OF DEATH, SUFFERING, LOSS IN BATTLE…....
NOW YOU CAN EVEN USE GOD SO YOU DON’T HAVE TO TAKE RESPONSIBILITY FOR YOUR ACTIONS   GOOD OR BAD

IF YOU DO SOMETHING VERY VERY BAD GOD WILL WASH YOUR SINS AND YOU WILL BE FORGIVEN
IF YOU WIL SOME GREAT VICTORY IT’S BECAUSE GOD PICKED YOY TO WIN
LIKE ‘GOD’ REALLY CARES WHICH TEAM WINS   I NEVER GOT THAT ONE EVEN WHEN I WAS LITTLE AND BELIEVED THAT I BELIEVED

THESE ARE JUST MY THOUGHTS AND I HAVE NO NEED TO DEFEND OR FORCE THEM
JUST THOUGHT I WOULD JOIN IN .... BEING NEW HERE AND ALL

ANY WAY   THANKS FOR YOUR TIME

LEE

sorry about the caps
I’ll do better next time

You might want to check your keyboard. . .I think you have some gum stuck on your Caps Lock key.

Has anyone heard about the new book “The Grand Design”
I want to read it next and see what Mr. Hawking has to say.
The man is truly a genius

LEE

*drags in a large suitcase*

*hefts fish, slapping it meaningfully into one palm*

was it at least dead???

SaneAsylum - 28 January 2010 02:07 PM

Your wittle faces mean nothing.  : )

You left the IN of the front of your login name!

The FACT that God exists is not something you can handle so you move in there is not God
direction.  What you don’t realize is that you are arguing something that should have absolutely
no meaning to YOU and YOU alone. 

Why do you gain from trying to object to my belief?  It seems those that don’t believe are
the ones that are desperately looking for something to believe in. 

If my God doesn’t exist in your world (which he does you just don’t accept it) what harm comes
to you because of my belief?

Does Darkness exist?  NO, it’s just the absence of Light.
Does hate exist?  NO, it’s just the absence of Love.
Does Cold exist? NO, it’s just the absence of Heat.

In each of the questions above the basic premise is that if you think those things
do exist it’s because of a lack of the active portion of the earth’s gifts.

In your life Does God exist?  If the answer you give is no, then you are just missing the presence of
God in your life. 

If you want God to show himself you have to put yourself in a position to see his love and mercy.

If you want to know why bad things happen to good people, you will have to find that answer on your own.

It’s easy to say there is no God, what ‘s hard is to live life without even trying to find the truth.

Good luck with life, it seems as if you are going to object to the good things because you are stubborn.

You may not believe in God, but I assure you that he believes in you.

LEE - 13 November 2010 03:14 AM

IF YOU DO SOMETHING VERY VERY BAD GOD WILL WASH YOUR SINS AND YOU WILL BE FORGIVEN
IF YOU WIL SOME GREAT VICTORY IT’S BECAUSE GOD PICKED YOY TO WIN
LIKE ‘GOD’ REALLY CARES WHICH TEAM WINS   I NEVER GOT THAT ONE EVEN WHEN I WAS LITTLE AND BELIEVED THAT I BELIEVED

Those that usually pray for a victory seem to be misguided.  All I’ve ever witnessed live is that a team prays that they
perform to the best of their ability and should they win, or make score the visible reaction you see is mostly thanks to God
for giving them the ability to do what they do.

If you don’t believe then that is something you have to come to grips with.  Don’t proselytize others to lose their belief.

Those that believe have something you don’t, but it does you absolutely no harm.  You want to live in a world without God?
Fine, let those that believe live in their world with God.

Semilogical - 01 March 2011 03:19 PM

Those that believe have something you don’t, but it does you absolutely no harm.

While this is how it should be: alas, there are too many examples where it does harm.

*...Slathers mustard on Robin’s fish…*

*...Dons goggles and steps back…*