Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Perhaps Aristotle understood that religion had been around a very long time, even in his day, and knew that if it ain't broke don't fix it. Science and mathematics were just beginning to become contenders as truth-tellers and we can see today that many people reject scientific facts and choose religion.
See but that’s also where many of the problems come from, especially the part about civil society. If a person requires religion to codify behaviour, then it becomes questionable whether they genuinely adhere to ethics or whether divine punishment plays a role in their attitude.
Almost everyone needs someone or something to hold them accountable for their behavior and to give their lives meaning. When they don't get it from religion, they often fill the void with other things which may or may not be any better. Some religions are toxic, but so are many secular ideologies.
When I was a kid I would have scoffed at any notion of religion being good for a society. Now that I'm near 40 and have seen the range of human behaviors and personalities, I completely understand the societal function of Rabbis, Priests, and Imams...
From my understanding he was against religion however he believe it was good for society. But why?>
This pretty much describes my stance, personally. Atheist but not antitheist. I think many people need something to believe in, and I shudder to think what some people could be capable of were religion not around to keep them in line. Secular morals can certainly be arrived at and upheld, but without that ultimate 'divine watchman' whom one imagines to be determining/upholding religious morals, people can (rightly) feel that secular morals are empty or arbitrary. I'll have to read into Aristotle's reasoning (or just read responses to this thread) to see if his thinking was similar, but, one thing I am aware of is that 'outright atheists' were far less common in antiquity. Heretics, sure, but 'actual atheists', eh....
Almost everyone needs someone or something to hold them accountable for their behavior and to give their lives meaning. When they don't get it from religion, they often fill the void with other things which may or may not be any better. Some religions are toxic, but so are many secular ideologies.
That’s where national law comes into play. Granted, many of these rules can trace their origins to religious doctrine, but they are also meant to evolve over time. What was considered acceptable at one point, may be out of touch with today’s reality and the same could e said of the reverse. Religion exists as construct to impose divine law, but none of it is tangible in anyway. It requires belief in an absolute power to carry out judgment.
See but that’s also where many of the problems come from, especially the part about civil society. If a person requires religion to codify behaviour, then it becomes questionable whether they genuinely adhere to ethics or whether divine punishment plays a role in their attitude.
But for those kind of people, it's actually better for society that they have religious beliefs. That's what prevents them from doing immoral acts. I personally think that as of now, American society is better off with having religions. Religious beliefs is the thin wall that separates them from being a moral person and a totally immoral person. You can usually tell who those people are. Those people, from my experience, majority of them are Christians and usually makes comments such as, "if God doesn't exist, then there would be nothing to prevent you from committing murder, rape etc. Those type of people are the ones that I hope they never leave their religion and/or become atheists. I want them to remain religious so that they won't commit immoral acts to society.
It's a type of caste system that allows society to function while providing a moral bedrock. In other words, it's one of the best systems for peace, prosperity, and happiness for the largest numbers of people, despite the shortcomings. There has to be a glue.
One thing is certain, all manipulators, physical/sexual/psychological abusers, thieves; etc in reality don't believe in any religion or in God. That's not to say that all non-believers don't have morals, just that the ones that usually do the most harm to society are all non-believers (even if they appear to be on the surface.)
I think the push of some towards making atheism much greater accepted by many could be doing more harm than good for the people that don't unleash their abusive and etc self simply due to a religious belief and their fear of God.
Cults & cult-like religions (Mod cut.) are more extreme & add:
Strict obedience to leaders
Shamed/shunned by own family if question leaders
Obsession with money/more tithe payers/missionary work
Last edited by PJSaturn; 04-16-2021 at 11:28 AM..
Reason: Please leave out specific denominations.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
