Why the need for religion?

Everyone has a need for religion. If you look at everyone, they all have some sort of religion. A religion is any style of worship to any form of god. Even those claiming to not believe in any form of god have a god. Look at the way some of them worship science or even evolution. Evolution requires faith, too. We were created with the need for religion. It is just difficult to find the true religion because Satan has blinded the minds of the unbelievers (2 Corinthians 4:4). And the whole world lies in the power of the wicked one (1 John 5:19). Also, there is only one true path. And few are the ones finding it (Matthew 7:13, 14). Why are few finding the path? Adam and Eve were perfect and they failed. Do you want to see the same thing happen that has caused all this pain and suffering? Their hearts were not with Jehovah God. Compare them to Jesus Christ. Jesus was perfect, too (1 Peter 2:22). But Jesus conquered the world (John 16:33). Adam and Eve made it look pointless to try and remain faithful. But Jesus proved it is possible. So, then, what is the point of religion? Well, joy. And only the true religion would bring true joy (compare Hebrews 12:2).

After the nighmare of World War II, the Soviet government came to those religious professionals they had not yet executed and asked them to reopen the churches, synagogues, mosques, and temples -- Why?

Because they saw that there was no other comfort that they could offer the traumatized Soviet nation that would be effective.

Likewise --

In the 1960ies, the AIM (American Indian Movement) organization started a program of reintroducing traditional Native American religion to the Native American communities.

Subsequent studies showed that (after controlling for other factors) among those who returned to the traditional religions there was a significant drop in despair actions ie: alcoholism and suicide, and an increase in positive activism.

Likewise among the American Black community --

religion was an important factor during slavery in retaining "humainity", and after slavery - in the pursuit of the Civil Rights Movement.

And the same in story after story of survival in the Nazi death camps.

===

To sum up -- religion gives hope to the hopeless

it gives the strength to remain human through inhuman torments

and a compass to work for a better future.

===

Yes -- there are bad outcomes of certain versions of religion

But this is true also without religion --

Evil people find reasons to be evil,

and gullible people can be sold any package of snake oil

There was a need for religion and it served its purpose, Cooperation and Community

Religion are possibly 200,000 years old. Ritual burial and garbage pits suggest it. Religion evolved within various cultures long before writing and the morality part evolved from lower animals. Our morality is biologically inherited as are our religions...

Religions are still a large part of our various "modern" cultures.

Which morals do you want? Nazi's thought their moral structure was good. They thought that killing off an entire race of people was the right thing to do. So when the allies achieved victory, they had to prosecute these guys and didn't know how to do it. They had to appeal to a higher court of understanding just as you do. You have your own moral set of beliefs, and you may personally think that stealing is right, but if you go to a court, just because you believe with all your heart it is right, it doesn't mean that judge isn't going to sentence you as guilty and throw your butt in jail.

Now that we've gone over that, lets get to your question on the need for religion. You asked, no-one can really be right can they? And you are right, no man can contain the character of a God and define it/him. I say this because, who are you and I that we can determine who God is? We didn't even name ourselves or pick the place of our birth, then how can we learn who he is if he even exists?

Yet what if one were to meet the real and living God, and not only found him, but found him to be one way? What then? Could he push for certain that he does know the true God? What if even the whole world thought he was nuts because they've never known him? So if he does exist, why is he so hard to find? Well a God who has made himself to be known, must have a way to be found. But if he is hidden why bother with religion? Good point, we don't need organized religions telling us how to believe in him/it and skewing who he actually is with their beliefs. If he exists, he is one way, not many that contradict themselves.

So if now we are free from religion and have our own will to choose, can we choose to know him? Your parents gave you this freedom and even parents who raise their kids in religions of the world, they still maintain the free will to choose (perhaps at the risk of making enemies of their parents). I know the answer is yes, we can know him, as he wants to be known.

So if God is real, and can be known, and you find out (lets say for instance he is the god of the bible) he will judge the nations of men. Then as stated earlier, despite your own morals and mine, we need to be concerned with how he himself will judge us. According to the God of the bible, all people have fallen short of the demand for perfection he requires. We all have sinned and turned from him and deserve justice, to pay for our crimes of wrong doing. If that's the case and he is our judge, it doesn't matter what we think. He will judge us that way. So since we all fall short we need someone to step in and save us from ourselves. That is where Jesus comes in.

Now it would be great if we could just live this life and be done with it, No judgement, but it is your responsibility to find out whether the judge is real. After all, it not only doesn't matter if the thief thinks the judge won't judge him, but it also doesn't matter if the thief thinks he will never go before a judge; in the end he will. It would be very horrible for us if we had to do some magic ritual, or like for Muslims where you have to travel to Mecca once in your life or you won't go to heaven, but God made it free for you. If you just seek him, you will find him, and if you put your trust and faith in Christ that he died for your sins, he would forgive you and look past all wrongs you've done. He'd only ever see the good you do.

So in this he retains his righteousness. He retains good morals, and we are free from religious law and obligations. Just trust that you have been freed through Christ. How do you do that? You walk and talk with him just as you would anyone who you intend to put your trust into.

So we don't need religion, we need to be forgiven in my opinion, and despite out mentality or morals, we need that forgivness. You say you are firm in your convictions and I applaud that, but I appeal to you not to be close minded. As a christian I have read many holy and unholy books, I have researched multiple positions on a range of topics. To close your mind to debate without fully experiencing evidences and other thoughts is not wise. I'm not saying you need to believe in all you read, but you should have a mind like an investigative journalist, always seeking to find the truth.

Yes religion is unnecessary. I thought everyone already knew that.

The world would be a great place

Hi new to the planet are you...

You see in the 6000 years of human history man has never gotten along and the Godless communist societies have been the worse offenders

Because the religious people are brainwashed dumbasses.

What Faithless said.....