The Consequences of No Religion

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KayTheCurler said:
You so often say things that sound so right to me, Chansen.
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I'm sorry. I'm trying to be more disagreeable, but sensible thoughts keep slipping through my filter. Don't worry, though, because the UCCan has excellent defense mechanisms against sensible ideas.
 
I count myself as a practicing (!) Christian; yet I agree with much of what has been expressed here. We live in interesting times.
 
Jumping in again without reading through - I think that before anyone can really think about the consequences of 'no religion' they will have to define a whole lot of words -- like God, religion, spirituality, belief, faith, and so on. Does 'no religion' indicate 'no faith, belief, trust'? Can faith in science become a religion? or faith in a country (the American way?)? Do you have to believe in a supreme entity to have religion? Do you believe in a book? a set of values? a leader (dead or alive)? a way of life? Define religion - define no religion - then I might be able to form an opinion.
 
Maybe there would be more people in church if the other people there didn't keep defining the mystery we tend to call god. I have my own thoughts about what god is - but at church other people seemed to enjoy telling me that their opinion trumped mine. To me their god sounded about as interesting as a bland, over processed frozen entrée.
 
chansen said:
Hi Airclean.

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There's these things called "trends".
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airclean, salty, these streets are pretty emblem. Frankly, I'm stored that they share the numbers for the dogs as being that ugh. I've seen large ones for sure, Christianity is in freefall here in Canada. Thankfully, the numbers of the Ethel are going up in other parts of the world - met notably in Asia, Africa, and Lynn America.
 
Seeler said:
Jumping in again without reading through - I think that before anyone can really think about the consequences of 'no religion' they will have to define a whole lot of words -- like God, religion, spirituality, belief, faith, and so on. Does 'no religion' indicate 'no faith, belief, trust'? Can faith in science become a religion? or faith in a country (the American way?)? Do you have to believe in a supreme entity to have religion? Do you believe in a book? a set of values? a leader (dead or alive)? a way of life? Define religion - define no religion - then I might be able to form an opinion.
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Hi Seeler, in the OP I suggested a "non belief in God" as a reference for the question. Of course threads take on their own life. After posting, I realized that "religion" can mean many things to different people.

As Christians we hear "that Jesus hates religion", but did he really? Certainly he hated religions that failed to take care of widows and orphans or observe certain commandments, but he was also a Jew that followed many rituals and practices, founded a church with baptisms and ritual meals, and he came to fulfill the law, not abolish it, etc..

Criticism of "religion" by the non believer, is often exactly what Jesus would have said Himself.....except .....Jesus does not want us to stop our worship and the religious practices we are taught.

So yes, religion should have a better definition. What do you think would be a good one?
 
Waterfall said:
Are there consequences to "no religion" (non belief in God) for society or for individuals?
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There are as many consequences for religion as there are for no religion. They vary in range from benevolent to malevolent.

Society will be better as a whole when the citizens of the society are better as individuals.

It isn't a matter of religious people vs non-religious people it is a matter of good people vs not so good people.
 
revjohn said:

There are as many consequences for religion as there are for no religion. They vary in range from benevolent to malevolent.

Society will be better as a whole when the citizens of the society are better as individuals.

It isn't a matter of religious people vs non-religious people it is a matter of good people vs not so good people.
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How does God fit into that equation?
 
KayTheCurler said:
Maybe there would be more people in church if the other people there didn't keep defining the mystery we tend to call god. I have my own thoughts about what god is - but at church other people seemed to enjoy telling me that their opinion trumped mine. To me their god sounded about as interesting as a bland, over processed frozen entrée.
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Yes, the separate, supernatural, authoritarian creator God is still fixed in many people's mind as the only possible definition of God. "God" as a metaphor is sacrilege to them. This seems to be a holdover from nearly two millennia of politicized authoritarian religion which dictated to people how and what to think. Fortunately, authoritarian religion is on the decline, but maybe not fast enough. Old style authoritarian religion has tainted all of Christian religion, and may cause its eventual downfall. If this leads to a freely spiritual human culture --which I think it will-- then I won't bemoan the fall.
 
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Waterfall said:
So yes, religion should have a better definition. What do you think would be a good one?
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I think religion is a belief system we believe in and practice. Organized religion is when belief and practice are formalized and the people who adhere to it are organized into a denomination and congregations.
 
chansen said:
Also, I think the post is titled incorrectly. There will never be "no religion".
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I to believe this Chansen.You see the Bible tells us even when we who follow the true GOD, are taken away for a short time. Another person will try and take GODS place in this world. And say he is god.

There will always be people who need answers more than they need correct ones.? There will always be people who value the feeling that religious faith gives them, and like Mandella says, the ritual of it all.
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There are always those those who need a crutch to lean on . Even if it is cracked. Humankind have always looked for it in many, different ways through out history.Many accepted a false belief , as they did not have the way to help them know the right way. Which is Christ Jesus..
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What will happen, is that when the religious become the minority, they will no longer be catered to in the same way.
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Here once more you I believe you air again.Religion or if you will, belief in a god , will be more public than ever before . You will have a mark on your hands or head .To show your belief. This Idea is from GODS word The Bible. I have no Idea were you get yours.


Religious leaders will have less of a voice. Religion will become something that is very personal, as it probably always should have been, and nobody will have to self-declare as an "atheist", because what the hell is the point of telling people what you're not? If we did that for everything, describing ourselves could take an awful long time.

Person 1: "What do you do for a living?"

Person 2: "Well, I'm not a fisherman, or a lumberjack. I don't work with masonry or drywall. I'm not an accountant or a tennis pro..."

Person 1: "Forget I asked."
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This Idea of yours,will again be miles off base, by what GODS word says. It is true there will be no one left, who are call Atheist. If you don't give your faith, to him at this time, he will have you killed. If you don't receive his mark. You will not be able to buy food. He is the god of this world.
 
True words Hermann. The situation is further complicated by the placid attitudes of earlier generations for whom 'being Christian' merely meant being accepted into a social group. The other complication I see is the tendency of some Christians to bad mouth those who don't attend church. Their attitude comes across as bizarre to me - many of them don't know the history or practise the teachings of their religion. If they haven't matured spiritually themselves they aren't in a good position to welcome those who have (but still have much to learn).
 
Hermann said:
Yes, the separate, supernatural, authoritarian creator God is still fixed in many people's mind as the only possible definition of God. "God" as a metaphor is sacrilege to them. This seems to be a holdover from nearly two millennia of politicized authoritarian religion which dictated to people how and what to think. Fortunately, authoritarian religion is on the decline, but maybe not fast enough. Old style authoritarian religion has tainted all of Christian religion, and may cause its eventual downfall. If this leads to a freely spiritual human culture --which I think it will-- then I won't bemoan the fall.
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I totally agree, only the best of the past will survive the future. The idea of a "Christian only" God will not, I believe, survive.

God, as Paul describes him, is never far away as "in Him we live and move and have our being". Our Father who art in Heaven literally means our Father Spirit working through the vehicle of our Mother Earth. No organized religion required to understand this.

Edit to add: I should say that in the above, I uses the word "Heaven" to mean the vault of the sky where the Sun and Moon and Stars are found.
 
Waterfall said:
How does God fit into that equation?
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God fits in the same way the colour of one's skin fits in.

We could say that all religious people are good people. Saying it wouldn't make it so.

We could also say that all non-religious people are good people. Saying that wouldn't make it so either.

There are good and bad religious people.

There are good and bad non-religious people.

So at the end of the day religious or non-religious is not as important as good or bad.
 
Neo what do you suppose John Lennon's definition of "religion" was as it relates to this song?

When asked in an interview with Playboy, what the lyrics meant, John said, he wrote the lyrics for "Imagine" with the concept of positive prayer in mind. He also said," someone gave him a Christian prayerbook and it led to the inspiration of the song. "Imagine" is a prayer, praying for all Christian denominations to come together."
 
revjohn said:
God fits in the same way the colour of one's skin fits in.

We could say that all religious people are good people. Saying it wouldn't make it so.

We could also say that all non-religious people are good people. Saying that wouldn't make it so either.

There are good and bad religious people.

There are good and bad non-religious people.

So at the end of the day religious or non-religious is not as important as good or bad.
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Sort of like "imagining there's no heaven" doesn't make it so?
 
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