What is Religion?

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anlarm

Religion is a way of thinking, a philosphy. All great religions (monotheist ones) preach almost the same things, except for some details in their practises. The main goal is to make us good human beings. That we should not hurt other people in any way (thou shalt not kill etc.).
They all talk about one great Creator (God, Jehovah, Allah...). This Creator is described as omnipower, omniscience... This means God is capable of everything. Even our destinies are pre-designed by God.
If that is the case, then one tends to ask a few questions. For one thing, if God is capable of anything/everything, then why doesn't He prevent evil deeds? Why does he let the devil interfere in our daily lives? Why doesn't he stop bad people before they harm us? Why does he design some good and some bad fates for us?
If God is 'not capable' of preventing the devil from carrying out his evil deeds, then should we not think that the devil is as powerful as God, or that God is not omnipotent?
If all our lives are pre-destined by God, then what is the purpose of living? What is the purpose in trying to act in the 'correct' manner? We will not be able to change our fates, would we?
If it is in our hands to do, or not to do something good or bad, then what is the role of God?
Religions (and God) teach us not to kill. However, all human conflicts throughout history have been based on religious differences. People have waged wars against each other in the name of God and religion. Is God 'good', but clergymen bad? If so, then why do we go to temples and listen to them?

Ipek K

Religion is the opium of the masses..

Meanwhile, Happy Ramadan's :)

Totally Blunt

After so many years of thinking, I've come to the conclusion that religions are attempts to change the society's ills. But all religions have been grabbed and thwarted by the establishment, which the religion was actually opposing.

If you look at all religions, you will see that they all are a few rules to encourage people towards morality (in humane terms, not religious) and inner peace. The prophet(s) comes up with an idea, preaches it to the masses, attracts the attention of (mostly poor) people, the "religion" catches, the priviliged grab hold of the change, own up the religion, and change it according to their own needs.

I have begun to think Muhammed was a great (capitalist) statesmen who told women to cover their boobs (let your scarves down and cover your "treasures"), everybody to share what they have, don't get wasted drunk and be tolerant to non-believers. Just look how Islam has turned out to be: a chador to limit free thinking.

As a result, I respect the core of every religion, but not necessarily the power-owners who say they practice that religion. In other words, yes to the books, no to Vatican, Bush, Saudis and our current government and its rich supporters. So, a star from me to you, in the name of freedom of speech.

O.CETIN BAYRAMOGLU

1)The answer is very clear if we read life-history , Takiyüddin efendi.
"Rasathanenin Hazin Sonu
İstanbul Rasathanesi ilginç bir yıkım yaşamasına rağmen, yıkımın nedenine ilişkin fazlaca veri elde edilememiş. Ancak, rasathanenin yıkılışında 1577 yılında gözlenen kuyrukluyıldızın ve 1578’de baş gösteren veba salgınının nedeni olarak gösterilmesinin, daha da ileri giden çevrelerce Takiyüddin ve rasathane personelinin meleklerin bacaklarını gözlediği yolundaki söylentilerin, şüpheleri artırdığı söyleniyor. Şeyhülislam Kadızade Ahmet Şemsettin Efendi’nin de bu görüşleri desteklemesi üzerine, padişahın verdiği emirle, Rasathane 1580 yılında Kılıç Ali Paşa’ya yıktırılıyor.

Rasathanenin padişah emriyle yıktırıldığı kesin olmakla birlikte, konuyla ilgili aydınlanmamış birçok nokta vardır. Yaygın bir görüş Rasathane’nin, verilen hatt-ı hümayuna dayanarak Kılıç Ali Paşa emrindeki donanma tarafından denizden topa tutularak yıkıldığı biçimindedir. Ancak, topa tutma konusunda kişisel anı yazıları dışında günümüze ulaşabilmiş hiçbir yazılı resmi belge yoktur. Rasathanenin betimlenen yerinin çok yakınlarında yerleşim bölgeleri olduğu da gözönünde tutulursa bu olasılığın tartışmaya açık olduğu söylenebilir. "
2)first we must discuss about idea of Philosoph İmam Gazali and against of his idea, Farabi-İbn Rüşt-İbn Sina .
3)about "Printing arriving 234 years later," , as to me , the main problems are social-economics.
Sources:" matbaanın ilk yıllarında , saraydaki el yazısı ile döküman kopyalayarak emeğini kazanan binlerce kişi var!)
and "yeniçeri ocağı ve 2.Mahmut'un orduyu modernleştirmesi".
4)We must analyzes of idee İmam Eşari and İmam Maturidi , about religions life of "Türkler" and "Araplar"
Source(s)
1)200 yıldır neden bocalıyoruz Author: Niyazi Berkes
2)http://www.halksahnesi.org/incelemeler/takuyiddin/takuyiddin.htm

DejaVu

in my opinion religion come to people to change some of their wrong and evil ways( for example, rapes, murders, robber, selling of women etc...)

when we look we will see they all come to Arab people as they were really short of these above..

They have served us human for years, they saved lifes, given human better qualities, but then when they started to change (by human again) then there had to be another hero (chosen one) to bring similar rules of life...then that carried on...

but then its said they cause wars, religions do not cause wars its HUMAN who use religion CAUSE WARS AND EVİL....

what I believe is that they all( all the religions) were meant for a better life and all the 'gods messengers' were wonderfull people...But I see religions as a way of life(tells us whats good and whats bad like a guide) instead of something holy...

єуℓüℓ

for me there is no religion. i believe there is God who created us but i think he doesn't interfere our lives yet he sometimes answers his prayers. you can call me a deist which i believe i'm. i think religion is abused in today's society. you know the situation back then and how religions were formed but now it "is" different and we must see the differences.

genç türk

Roadmap

kulla

A map for not being lost and system of a good life.Happy Ramadans.

hanibal

It's not religon. It's the result of using religon for personal satisfaction.

Joannah

Notwithstanding any religion, personally (at times) I think religion is something that was created by man to justify man's presence here on earth. At the same time, it gives people something to live for and believe in. Since no one has been to heaven or to hell and back, one can't say for sure if there is a life thereafter. Without some form of belief, I think anarchy would reign owing to the loss of value for life.

Religion gives one the comfort knowing that after everything's said and done, a reward or punishment lies in wait for the individual. One would hate to think that we are just like a light bulbs that can be turned on and off without this validation we need in our lives. Religion offers that.

Sweet Dragon

Religion is a form of politics.
Belief is something : (you have questions about where do we all come from, and who created all this, and where do we go to? life after life.... ) etc..
Religion is something else : under cover of providing you with answers to the above, religion controls your mind and body and social behavior. This is pure politics...
Read religions as a curiosity of the history of the mankind's mind. It is of course a production of the human mind, but we are not obliged to necessarily adopt one formula or the other.
The beauty in what you wrote is: Let's fight for the kingdom of kindness, and not fight to impose religions to people who are FREE.

Stephen H

"Religion" is mankinds adaptation to not being able to explain or control everything, You develop a deity-concept or concepts you can ask for things and blame FOR things. The organized religions are pre-packaged version of this, with clergy telling you what you are supposed to accept. Mankind is STILL, despite the advancements in science and technology, an ignorant, insecure lot. Religion comforts that insecurity by removing responsibility for things and limiting thoughts. To be even MORE effective, religions become oppressive towards different, COMPETITIVE beliefs. Once people realize that MANKIND created all of his gods, religion will cease to be important. Given mankinds general ignorance and insecurity, and the political hold that religions in general have within their native societies, I do not, unfortunately, see this hapening any time soon. Religion is a psychological "binky", and adherants theretoo are the "suckers".

MORTİCİA

according to me religion is a guide for the people to be good humanbeings.

Hurricane

Religion is just like that:

you got it? there is nothing concrete with religion,you have to believe in dogmatic information and they are all abstract.Actually i'm so curious if there is really religion or not.

sugar bear

Religion is the means that satan has used to murder & enslave mankind from the very beginning. What boggles my mind is the fact that no one wants to acknowledge that this is the work of satan on the minds & the hearts of men. They would rather just blame some man for their misdeeds & allow satan free reign upon the earth as the god of this earth. At the same time, we are created beings & it is in our nature to desire to worship something, no matter what it is! It would really help if people actually followed the scriptures & not the traditions of the church. This is where we get into trouble & here is the fault line of discipline that gets breached every time by one anothers diverse faiths. If we would simply follow the peaceful solution found in the bible, then the Father could lead us to True Peace amoung the nations!!!

Selena

To me religion is spiritual philosophy....all the prophets provided us with good rules and in every religion the basics are similar. But then came some people who took advantage of religion and used it for their own benefits solely to enrich themselves....so it is pretty sad what happened afterwards.

Grazie

Totally agree with you. Religion certainly causes more harm than it does good.

Go on the Religion and Spirituality site. They'll love you there!

Irmak

Religion is a person's life review..

carmelo_sabato

religion supposed to be good but is the opposite if the Italians the Greeks and the Turks had no religion the Mediterranean would be the nicest place in the world!!

megs

what is religion?

my honest answer... stupid.

all of it is just individual interpretation, its been shaped for hundreds and hundreds even thousands of years into what someone else wants you to believe in.... i mean think about it, look at the bible... consider how many "religious" people claim to worship this book yet the actions they exhibit usually shows no regard to it whatsoever (yes that is called generalizing, but from my experience, looking at the grand scale of things this is how it appears)...

then think about how old the bible is... its been translated and translated hundreds of times and formed into what they want you to read... so much of it has been lost, anything that might have been remotely holy about it has been lost many many years ago.

not trying to bash anyone, sorry i know its hard on some peoples' ears but i'm being honest... not all people believe the same things so keep that in mind... and i know that my answer is only dealing with one religion but i feel that all religion is the same, it all works the same and its all been transformed equally.

i personally think organized religion is one of the worst things that could have happened on this planet. i don't know why people hold on to religion. it baffles me.

smile

The problem is not with religion, the problem is with the clergy. Religion for all people and not only for religious people. For me ,in the past, I had doubts about Islam but after checking Quran (our holy book) and speeches of our prophet Muhammed, I found out that there must be one right religion and that is islam.

ithinkiatetoomuch

I agree with what you are saying.
It is the question of all questions, Why are we here? Some believe we are here to serve a god, some to chase power or knowledge or money. And these people clash.
I can't answer. I have no idea.

The Babe is Armed!

Religion, to me, means that someone has stopped thinking for themselves.

I have deep beliefs. I have convictions about things I have heard and about things I have experienced. As I learn more and experience more, those beliefs and convictions change.

But for people who are religious, they tend to think they already have all the belief they need and so they don't continue to learn anything outside of that religion.

The kind of oppression you're talking about isn't limited to religion. Religion is only one way people categorize themselves. Nations, races and ideologies are other ways which have caused major conflicts among peoples and which have hindered the progress of humanity in general.

Religion is used for this a lot because religion deals with how we as people relate to the universe. Religious beliefs are deep within people, so they can be used to make people do things they wouldn't normally do on their own.

phil

yes i agree with you, religions are all narrow minded in a way, they do not look outside , from there own inner walls.the outside world opinions are loss to them. this is there own ideas to do this.They limit themselves from different knowledge and visions.Everyone whistles to there own tunes.

God Father

I gree with u 180*

Fear of Failure and death of the absolute values

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