Religion is a source of comfort.

Woolygimp · #1 05-24-2007, 05:56 AM

Parents were married for 23 years, and then my dad left my mom for another woman. My mother is 63 years old, and initially she was devastated. However, my mom is very religious and has become even more so after the split and I've never seen her happier. How can someone who's life has been shattered be so optimistic and cheerful? What could she possibly be looking forward to, or where is this source of happiness?

My dad, an atheist, however is at the opposite end of the spectrum. He's about 8 years younger, and even though he left the family for someone else he's devastated. I've had about 6 conversations with him, and in every single one he's barely been able to speak without breaking into tears. He's spiraling into depression, and I'm really worried about him.

So whether or not God exists, the comfort that religion provides appears real even though I cannot fully fathom or comprehend it. Of course my dad could have clinical depression, and my mom could be a happy natured person as there really isn't a large sample size. Just something I wanted to share.

siegfriedandroy · #2 05-24-2007, 06:45 AM

if god doesnt exist then the comfort is not real

JussiUt · #3 05-24-2007, 06:58 AM

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if god doesnt exist then the comfort is not real

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Yeah right.

And what comes to the OP, religion can have a huge comforting effect. It also can have very depressing effects. People who find faith often become happier but people who abandon faith also often find themselves happier. The whole concept of 'belief system' is complicated.

Taraz · #4 05-24-2007, 07:23 AM

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And what comes to the OP, religion can have a huge comforting effect. It also can have very depressing effects. People who find faith often become happier but people who abandon faith also often find themselves happier. The whole concept of 'belief system' is complicated.

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QFT

Sephus · #5 05-24-2007, 06:09 PM

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if god doesnt exist then the comfort is not real

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this is just stupid.

Archon_Wing · #6 05-24-2007, 07:06 PM

People encounter a lot of difficulties in their lives. I mean, you may see all this [censored] up [censored] happen all the time, and there's so little you can do about it. The idea that someone or something is watching over you and will carry over the rough spots can encourage you to live on with your life.

It is no surprise that one major theme in many religions is that the evildoers will be punished. That would make life seem more fair, that another force is balancing things for us. And of course, most of us would never view ourselves as evil, thus we would imaging God, Allah, Buddah, etc would be on our side

Now obviously, I can only speak from my experience. Your mileage may vary. I don't think there's anything wrong with all of this, unless people use it to justify causing harm with it. People have different ways of coping with things, and this is one way.

Woolygimp · #7 05-24-2007, 07:32 PM

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Now obviously, I can only speak from my experience. Your mileage may vary. I don't think there's anything wrong with all of this, unless people use it to justify causing harm with it. People have different ways of coping with things, and this is one way.

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What Dawkins fails to realize is that religion doesn't cause violence. A violent person will be violent, and the reason the middle east is in turmoil is the same reason that minority neighborhoods here are gang-ridden.

Poverty is a catalyst for crime and violence, and when people are raised in a hard life they turn to violence. I've got a few friends that can speak for this, and there was a time when they would fight someone just to fight them without justification.

Dawkins apparently knows little about human psychology if he blames this on religion.

I'm undecided on God, because I'm young and I'm not going to rush to conclusions. I've decided that I'm going to live my life, be open-minded, and then form my beliefs instead of just taking things on faith.

Let's assume for a moment that God is non-existent, I don't think the human race is ready for it. Most of the posters on this board are intelligent, but you guys don't understand how people operate. The majority of the world's populace is dumb in one sense or another, and I think these people need something to fill that gap. When religion was absent, they turned to government. People feel the need to belong to something larger than themselves, and there may come a day when our race is more intelligent, logical, and reasonable but today is not that day. So for the time being religion is serving a purpose, and that's completely irrelevant to the argument over God's existence.

Another thing I'd like to point out is that when I go to church, I've observed that these are the happiest bunch of people I've ever encountered. Everyone is so damn upbeat, it's almost scary. Again, sample size...but still I couldn't help but notice it.

Archon_Wing · #8 05-24-2007, 07:41 PM

I have no idea what you are responding to.

bunny · #9 05-24-2007, 08:15 PM

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What Dawkins fails to realize is that religion doesn't cause violence. A violent person will be violent...

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Perhaps if a violent person will be violent irrespective of religious belief then a strong person will endure pain and suffering irrespective of religious belief also. It seems like you might be claiming the good things in a believer's life are products of religion and the bad things are inevitable parts of who they are.

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Let's assume for a moment that God is non-existent, I don't think the human race is ready for it. Most of the posters on this board are intelligent, but you guys don't understand how people operate. The majority of the world's populace is dumb in one sense or another, and I think these people need something to fill that gap. When religion was absent, they turned to government. People feel the need to belong to something larger than themselves, and there may come a day when our race is more intelligent, logical, and reasonable but today is not that day. So for the time being religion is serving a purpose, and that's completely irrelevant to the argument over God's existence.

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It is irrelevant as to whether or not God exists. That can be looked at two ways though - the question of whether or not God exists has an answer irrespective of whether or not religion is net good or bad for the world.

Kaj · #10 05-28-2007, 12:59 PM

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Let's assume for a moment that God is non-existent, I don't think the human race is ready for it.

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The human race is a collection of individuals. Many can reason, some never will. Spreading misinformation as truth to protect those who can't reason only hurts those with the potential to do so.

Quantum mechanics is also a very difficult concept. Most of the human race can not understand it. This doesn't mean we should all pretend that QM theories don't exist because some can't handle them.