What religion were you before you stopped believing in a higher power?

That's the way it should be, but it's not. People should try to be kind because they enjoy it. But sometimes that's not enough. Many people believe they need a reason to do things for other people. They say, "I don't owe them anything, so why should I do them a favor?".

This is when religion comes in. They learn about why caring and giving can pay off. I know it's not exactly the best reason, but sometimes people need a reason.

1stCommando

Well, I suppose that being kind and generous for some reason is better than not being that way. However, it still seems to me that most people seem to go straight to that reason without even trying to instill in people other reasons, which I don't think is the right way to go about things. At the heart of it, it just seems like a person giving someone money because another guy has a gun to their head. I've always been a big proponent of doing things for the right reasons, not just focusing on the end result.

I also don't like the way in which some people seem to act as if anyone who doesn't belong to their religion can't possibly be a good, upstanding person, or as if fear of God is the only reason anyone would ever do something good. Not saying that you act that way, just making a general comment on a related subject.

catholic, now athiest

[QUOTE="1stCommando"]

That's the way it should be, but it's not. People should try to be kind because they enjoy it. But sometimes that's not enough. Many people believe they need a reason to do things for other people. They say, "I don't owe them anything, so why should I do them a favor?".

This is when religion comes in. They learn about why caring and giving can pay off. I know it's not exactly the best reason, but sometimes people need a reason.

GabuEx

Well, I suppose that being kind and generous for some reason is better than not being that way. However, it still seems to me that most people seem to go straight to that reason without even trying to instill in people other reasons, which I don't think is the right way to go about things. At the heart of it, it just seems like a person giving someone money because another guy has a gun to their head. I've always been a big proponent of doing things for the right reasons, not just focusing on the end result.

I also don't like the way in which some people seem to act as if anyone who doesn't belong to their religion can't possibly be a good, upstanding person, or as if fear of God is the only reason anyone would ever do something good. Not saying that you act that way, just making a general comment on a related subject.

I agree. I find the idea that religion makes people 'better' to be a bit insulting actually. Ever heard of altruism? It's being good to others for the sake of being good. If you need religion to feel that you should help others, then really that's not entirely selfless.

Caring and understanding isn't something taught by religion. It's something expected of people living in an interdependent society. Your reward is the satisfaction that you helped someone else and contributed to the world around you. Religion's reward? Eternal life in Heaven, which can be misconstrued as "I'm helping you so I can have immortality". If faith helps an individual through day to day life, then more power to them, but it isn't relevant to everyone.

I was never really big on religion before. Last summer I went to a church with my dad and uncle and they locked the damn doors and tried make everyone who was new there become a reformed christian. We were there for 6 hours because me and my dad are the most stubborn SOB's you will ever find.

The only reason we were able to get out was because the entire congragation was getting tired of sitting around or the pastor was having a hard time finding more passages in the bible to bash non-believers or make mention of them going to hell or some stupid crap. As the doors open I flipped the robed a-hole the bird and when he tried to tell my dad what I did my dad went off on him "You seriously think that kind of crap is gonna get people to join your religion? Thanks a lot because of you half of a good Sunday has been wasted I don't care what kind of gestures my son made to you because you deserved it you bible banging PoS."

So yeah. I'm athiest and I am against all forms of organized religion. My dad believes in God but is also against organised religion.

[QUOTE="GabuEx"]

[QUOTE="1stCommando"]So you're just assuming I'm an Atheist?1stCommando

Well, the demographics of the forum do seem to be rather lopsided towards that end of things.

-10 points for thinking you need a reason to be kind and generous.

I've always belonged to the Finnish Lutheran state church but I've been an agnostic theist for as far as I can remember. I didn't know I was that before I was about 15 though, that's when I understood what I actually had been believing the whole time (on my confirmation camp :P).

I was never raised in any religion or belief system and didn't believe in anything as a kid, but as I grew older I became unable to deny the likelihood of some kind of creator based on logic and the evidence within the universe, so I actually went in the opposite direction.GabuEx

That's my main argument for the existence of some kind of god too. As a physicist you simply encounter so many unexplainable coincidences you have to start believing in something IMO.

[QUOTE="gasmaskman"][QUOTE="123625"][QUOTE="gasmaskman"]

Satan also isn't a person/being. It's a dark force or something like that.

I was baptized as a Catholic, but I was never raised to that way. My mom never bothered to teach me about her religion, and I never really questioned anything.

123625

Satan could be a being of some kind...

Not the Satanism being discussed (Laveyan).

Whats Laveyan?

Think of a mix of Ayn Rand and Nietzschian philosophy and you'll have a quite good picture of it. I think it's based on the belief that we always should pursue or own best at all times.