Yep, FEAR is the prime motivator for belief. It was certainly mine when I attempted to conform to this mindless bullshit. Relgions exploit these three most basic characteristic of humans to hold them in the faith-grip:
1) Fear of death
2) Fear of pain
3) Fear of the unknown
FEAR is something all religious people have in common. They find comfort from their fear in faith - knowing full well that faith is actually the cause of the fear they are so desparately running away from. They are afraid when they believe it and even MORE afraid when they don't. It's a viscious circle from which escape is almost impossible, but I believe for some people there is a way out. I have found that once people understand the way religion was constructed to trap and subdue them with their own fears then they *internalize* their fear, they discover that they aren't afraid of some unreasonable god thing, they are afraid of their own thoughts, the realization of which brings about more of a belly-laugh than anxiety.
I think a great many people do not understand the psychology behind religion. These social/political/prophet types who created religions weren't stupid, they devised a way to totally fuck with people's minds in the absolute deepest sense and make them
-defeat their own will,
-disregard their own sense of logic,
-willingly give up their personal liberties,
-pay taxes without question,
-fight in wars,
-never question what the leaders say, and
-turn them into mindless drones who will propogate the religion themselves.
Man that's sick and twisted. It's such a cruel mind-fuck which does such a HUGE amount of harm to individuals and society.
I think religion will eventually die and will be replaced with a better way of expressing love and community, one that is based on logic and compassion instead of selfishness (salvation) and fear (hell). Only then can humanity unite under one cause and further the propagation of our species in a more humanitarian way. I am optimistic this will eventually occur because there is more interbreeding going on between the races and cultures (and therefore the religions which grew from them). Just as eventually everyone will be a shade of brown, I think the great social dividers that are religions will also melt together and, like this concept of "race", eventually just fade from our minds completely.
I can dream, can't I?
Satori
1) Fear of death
2) Fear of pain
3) Fear of the unknown
FEAR is something all religious people have in common. They find comfort from their fear in faith - knowing full well that faith is actually the cause of the fear they are so desparately running away from. They are afraid when they believe it and even MORE afraid when they don't. It's a viscious circle from which escape is almost impossible, but I believe for some people there is a way out. I have found that once people understand the way religion was constructed to trap and subdue them with their own fears then they *internalize* their fear, they discover that they aren't afraid of some unreasonable god thing, they are afraid of their own thoughts, the realization of which brings about more of a belly-laugh than anxiety.
I think a great many people do not understand the psychology behind religion. These social/political/prophet types who created religions weren't stupid, they devised a way to totally fuck with people's minds in the absolute deepest sense and make them
-defeat their own will,
-disregard their own sense of logic,
-willingly give up their personal liberties,
-pay taxes without question,
-fight in wars,
-never question what the leaders say, and
-turn them into mindless drones who will propogate the religion themselves.
Man that's sick and twisted. It's such a cruel mind-fuck which does such a HUGE amount of harm to individuals and society.
I think religion will eventually die and will be replaced with a better way of expressing love and community, one that is based on logic and compassion instead of selfishness (salvation) and fear (hell). Only then can humanity unite under one cause and further the propagation of our species in a more humanitarian way. I am optimistic this will eventually occur because there is more interbreeding going on between the races and cultures (and therefore the religions which grew from them). Just as eventually everyone will be a shade of brown, I think the great social dividers that are religions will also melt together and, like this concept of "race", eventually just fade from our minds completely.
I can dream, can't I?
Satori
