Originally posted by DaMayor
Religion was created by man, for man.
Because of cross-references between the many, many religions, this can only be seen as correct. Personally, i also agree.
How do people from certain religions feel about the way their gods and prophets are presented in other religions? For instance, in christianity and all those related, Jesus Christ is the Son of God - quite a point of authority as far as the whole bible thing goes, however in muslim he is merely (a term i use here comparitively) a prophet.
There are clearly flaws in logic and continuity for all religions. In fact, the faiths are based on writings of many hundreds of years ago. There is no solid proof that any of it actually took place, so when people say they believe because of faith, is it not more because they fear what will happen to them if they don't believe and it turns out to be true? They fear what will happen? In this case, is fear and faith not interchangable?
Do people live in fear of their God(s) and not in love of them? Why choose to follow a way of life that induces fear?
Have you ever considered that religion started out basically like the current police forces of the world as a means to keep law and order, but using that which cannot be explained as a means to induce fear into the people so they follow the rules?
Maybe when certain followers disliked various rules, they broke from convention to start their own religions but included the gods, stories (noah's ark is not confined to christianity and cathlocism alone) and apparations of their previous religions?
Or maybe they migrated and took their religions with them but twisted them for their own benefit? Could this explain why there is a different populus regarding the various religions? (i.e. more muslims in the middle east and asia etc...)
So the ten commandments are pretty much the "stanard" of most religions - ten laws to abide by or else you will have to face the fury of your God. So you'd expect that once you broke one, you're done for, right? Oh course not! You can reconcile your sins and be cleared.
Hmmmm...This is suspect to me. Maybe the religions worked at first, but once someone believed their ticket to heaven was gone they just got worse? Maybe reconciliation is just a means of restoring order once it has gone? There is always a possibilty and all that jazz.
It worked for a long time, but since science is more prominent these days, more and more people are looking less to the "heavens" since more and more can be explained scientifically. For example, the dinosaurs. No mention of them in the bibles or kurrans, eh? No two triceritops boarded the Ark in Noah's tale eh? Could that be because back then they didn't have the scientific techniques to discover the dinosaurs? Would God not have let on about them? Were they his first "model" of life before thinking "fuck it" and starting again?
I was christened as a child and up till the age of about 15-16 as a regular church goer. Not because i believed (i rarely paid attention anyway) but because i knew it made my dad feel better. I did it out of fear of hurting his feelings, not faith in God. Since science has become more of an interest to me, i don't believe at all. I DO think there must be some sort of super-being somewhere, but that he has nothing to do with the abundance of religions on earth. I DO think that a man called Jesus once lived and was the focal point of the bibles. Whether his "miracles" were achieved because he turned out to be the first hashman or whatever, i dunno.
The only reason i follow the ten commandments (because i do for the most part) is down to consideration of others and fear of the (heavy) hand of the law. I fear losing freedom in this life, nevermind damnation in another. I like how religion started the idea because he has worked to keep law and order, however, it has also caused problems when people are almost "too extreme" in their beliefs that they are willing to harm themselves or others in the name of it. Case point: 9-11, done in the "name of Allah." Would Allah really approve of such an act?
I just don't understand why people follow lifestyle's based on fear of something they have no solid evidence exists. Is that "faith" or just stupidity?
Answer some of my Q's, and don't ruin this thread.
LOL 
