2012-02-20, 05:37 AM
oops a little late to the party...
Religion is about people coming together to share in belief systems centered around recognizing and worshiping supernatural beings, specifically Universe-creators and/or all-powerful intelligent beings. Notice that the "people coming together" and "worshiping" thing is why atheism isn't a religion. There ARE atheistic "religions", and there are religious organizations which are open to atheists. Humanism comes to mind immediately, although I'm confident that many Eastern religions could be considered atheist-friendly. See also: the very nature of irreligion. It's impossible to not have a "system of beliefs", as even the absence of beliefs is itself considered a "system". Thus, people who reject belief systems count as irreligious, and that's where most atheists lie. Interested persons should also look into the concepts of nontheism and secularism.
Many organized religions use their position to effect an influence on the morals of their followers, but morality exists outside of religion for anyone with a rational mind. Otherwise, agnostics, atheists, skeptics, etc., would have no sense of morality, and religious people would be measurably more ethical in all cases (hint: they're not, in fact, it could be exactly the opposite). Even the "Golden Rule" of ethics, often incorrectly attributed to Jesus of Nazareth, and a strong foundational element to ethics, has existed for ages, long before any written accord of it was ever put down to paper. Furthermore, many religious organizations don't even try to connect themselves with establishing moral law. Religions have historically had a few societal values: "historical" knowledge of Man's past, moral code, "scientific" knowledge about the nature of the World, entertainment through storytelling, etc. Not every religion plays a part in each of those sorts of roles, some have focused more heavily on certain aspects than others, and today, each of those roles can be filled by more grounded, academic fields.
Anyway, I'm atheist with a bit of agnosticism. I don't believe in any supernatural beings, but I'm willing to admit that it's theoretically possible for them to exist in some intangible form that has no measurable effect on the Real World around us. However, I also fall under the category of religious skepticism because although I'm willing to admit that it's possible for a supernatural being to exist, I'm confident that no religion has ever nor even could ever could get it right. I also have a general hatred for organized religion because of all the terrible things that have come directly out of religious wars or discrimination brought about because of terrible belief systems. I don't even care if individuals within religious institutions claim to individually be good. I still consider the system itself broken and terrible. I also hate the methods of indoctrination that religious organizations and parents apply to young minds who don't yet know how to think rationally for themselves yet.
ps I expect everyone to read every article I've linked to. Each and every one. Also, check out this one: Moral Relativism.
pps
Religion is immutable and based on Faith. Science changes with new evidence and observations and is based on Reason. Reason is the complete opposite of Faith. Religion is about accepting things despite lack of measurable evidence, Science is about accepting ONLY things with measurable evidence.
Heidi Wrote:Uhhhhh what? Morals are a huge part of religion.No they aren't. Ethics is a philosophical study and, despite what some may feel, has nothing to do with religion.
Religion is about people coming together to share in belief systems centered around recognizing and worshiping supernatural beings, specifically Universe-creators and/or all-powerful intelligent beings. Notice that the "people coming together" and "worshiping" thing is why atheism isn't a religion. There ARE atheistic "religions", and there are religious organizations which are open to atheists. Humanism comes to mind immediately, although I'm confident that many Eastern religions could be considered atheist-friendly. See also: the very nature of irreligion. It's impossible to not have a "system of beliefs", as even the absence of beliefs is itself considered a "system". Thus, people who reject belief systems count as irreligious, and that's where most atheists lie. Interested persons should also look into the concepts of nontheism and secularism.
Many organized religions use their position to effect an influence on the morals of their followers, but morality exists outside of religion for anyone with a rational mind. Otherwise, agnostics, atheists, skeptics, etc., would have no sense of morality, and religious people would be measurably more ethical in all cases (hint: they're not, in fact, it could be exactly the opposite). Even the "Golden Rule" of ethics, often incorrectly attributed to Jesus of Nazareth, and a strong foundational element to ethics, has existed for ages, long before any written accord of it was ever put down to paper. Furthermore, many religious organizations don't even try to connect themselves with establishing moral law. Religions have historically had a few societal values: "historical" knowledge of Man's past, moral code, "scientific" knowledge about the nature of the World, entertainment through storytelling, etc. Not every religion plays a part in each of those sorts of roles, some have focused more heavily on certain aspects than others, and today, each of those roles can be filled by more grounded, academic fields.
Anyway, I'm atheist with a bit of agnosticism. I don't believe in any supernatural beings, but I'm willing to admit that it's theoretically possible for them to exist in some intangible form that has no measurable effect on the Real World around us. However, I also fall under the category of religious skepticism because although I'm willing to admit that it's possible for a supernatural being to exist, I'm confident that no religion has ever nor even could ever could get it right. I also have a general hatred for organized religion because of all the terrible things that have come directly out of religious wars or discrimination brought about because of terrible belief systems. I don't even care if individuals within religious institutions claim to individually be good. I still consider the system itself broken and terrible. I also hate the methods of indoctrination that religious organizations and parents apply to young minds who don't yet know how to think rationally for themselves yet.
ps I expect everyone to read every article I've linked to. Each and every one. Also, check out this one: Moral Relativism.
pps
Heidi Wrote:It seems that you are assuming that science and religion must contradict.They, by nature, do, even if they can exist side-by-side in many cases.
Religion is immutable and based on Faith. Science changes with new evidence and observations and is based on Reason. Reason is the complete opposite of Faith. Religion is about accepting things despite lack of measurable evidence, Science is about accepting ONLY things with measurable evidence.