was religion invented to enslave humans?

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   pisean282311posted 12 years ago

   Religion is one of most powerful tools to make humans adopt a way of life...do you think religion was invented by few humans to enslave human beings?

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      pstmightyposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      Yes it was, and its the most dangerous thing in the world. Everyone needs to know this

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      wildernessposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      Not in the very beginning, when it was simply an effort to explain what the people didn't understand.
      
      It didn't take the shamans and priests long to pick up on the possibilities, however - anyone that actually talked to the gods could wield enormous control over the rest of the population.  Which is exactly what they do.

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         Castlepalomaposted 12 years agoin reply to this

         agree

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         kessposted 12 years agoin reply to this

         Except the ones who would think to do these things are the ones enslaved by religion and those who they seek to enslave, are the ones who would see beyond religion.
         
         Religion enslaves but not in the most think...it seeks conditions the mind of all and has successfully done so until now.
         
         Some because they are absolutly convinced by it and others becauses they are totally unconvinced to the extent that they rail against it.
         Neither of these see beyond it thus their enslavement.

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            kessposted 12 years agoin reply to this

            I should also add the ultimate enslavement of religion is not unto itself (religion) but something as we might say greater than itself.
            
            So we see religion merely as the tool.

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               Castlepalomaposted 12 years agoin reply to this

               A tool used too often to enslave

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      A Troubled Manposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      Whether invented to enslave humans or not, it does.

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      mischeviousmeposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      Absolutely... Enslave the mind, enslave the person...

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      lizzieBooposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      Everything we have in this world is an enslavement of one kind or another. We are slaves to consumerism, to comfort, to sport, to hunger, to sex, to human company, to desire, to pleasure, to vanity, to government policy, to convention and to our consciences. We are slaves to mortality too, since death or a fear of death imposes certain restrictions on our ability to do certain things.
      Anyone who thinks that we would be free spiritually or physically in the absence religion is ignoring the nature of existence.
      Is religion designed to enslave people?
      In general, no.
      The point of religion is to activate a spiritual resistance against the human inclination towards basic animal instincts in favour of an obedience to the conscience. Christianity as a practice, frees the mind as a means to freeing the body. As mischeivousme says, "enslave the mind, enslave the person". A person without restraint is a slave to his or her immediate fancies. Spiritual discipline, in which the virtues of fortitude and patience are exercised, is about the mind taking command of the body with the aim of freeing the body from a meaningless and decrepit existence.
      A person who follows his religion without thought will not be free, but will probably be more free than a person who imposes no restrictions on their behaviour.

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         Charles Hiltonposted 12 years agoin reply to this

         To say that everything is a form of slavery is kind of missing---or dodging---the point. I can just as easily say that life itself is a form of slavery.
         Instead, I agree with the assessment by wilderness, that, initially, religion was a means of making sense of the mystery of life. But, soon, those who would conquer and exploit saw the potential for religion to not only unite, but, also to divide. Ever since then, religion has been used as sanction for the conquering, domination, enslavement, torture and execution of others. And it continues unabated today, in its various forms: Muslim violence; Christian Fundamentalist politics and propaganda; Protestant/Catholic hostilities, etc.

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            lizzieBooposted 12 years agoin reply to this

            Yes, life itself is a kind of slavery, and religion is one way of channeling our best instincts while controlling the ones which cause us discontent.
            Religion may be used to cause harm, but that is not the point of religion.
            If a person says, "I am a Christian and so I'm going to kill you", we cannot say that that is a fault of religion. That is the fault of a person.

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               Charles Hiltonposted 12 years agoin reply to this

               But, don't Christians claim a religious legacy from the Old Testament? And doesn't the God of that Old Testament initiate incidents of genocide and slavery and other atrocities; including the creation of racism when Ham saw Noah naked in his tent? And weren't Hebrew women just mere property?
               And did any of the New Testament authors refute or condemn any of the atrocities of the Old Testament? Not at all; instead, the history of Christianity is filled with Old Testament style brutality.
               So, you can't fall back on the argument that it's "the fault of the person" when it's God himself directing his "chosen people" to commit acts of brutality as recorded in the Old Testament.

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            jacharlessposted 12 years agoin reply to this

            ...science, technology, education, law/politics  included.
            
            These are all the elements of Theos (known as Duality, Tres Priori, Adamic Inception -and my own coined title: The Ism).
            
            Why is sensationalism being singled out? Typical spousal abuse, I suppose. Beat the wife and justify the husband? Sigh...
            Put perspective, in perspective: Had equation (deemed logic/common sense) never inspired sensationalism, it would have never got off the ground. It was their formation of sensationalism that even allowed the 'sciences' to remain. Equation was and still is the slaver of men. Reason. Sensation tempers the redundancy of extremely dry, if not mundane equation. So, it is: slavery with benefits.
            
            James.
            
            Humanity has been enslaved since the Inception. If, for even a brief moment, one could exercise practical faith -unbridled, passionate but still practical faith; in that moment they would taste what freedom truly is. Without pseudo, Without Mechanics, without memorialized verbose preconceptions; They could feed every mind, heart and body with just the taste of that instance. Now, take that instance and multiply it by seven billion more humans on the same planet. True, all equation and sensation would become null and void, but isn't that the entire point of the 'quest' of both? Isn't this what man was supposed to experience all the time?  ~ jcharless : The Ism ©2012

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               Charles Hiltonposted 12 years agoin reply to this

               I'm not singling out sensationalism. I'm pointing out the facts of religion, in general, and certain religions in particular. See my above response to lizzieboo.
               Why is it that we make excuses for God that we would never make for humans? We except the atrocities of the Old Testament God, yet, we would never imagine doing such things ourselves. We rationalize God's inhumanity while condemning it in humans. And it's religion that purports to speak for God, and that's what makes religion so dangerous.

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                  jacharlessposted 12 years agoin reply to this

                  I find it often difficult to climb up and down the monkey bar. But, the reality of what you are implying is also dangerous. You mention the god of the "Old Testament", which is what most post-sensationalists lean on as fuel, without truly understanding what it was you briefly read, or were force fed, during that particular indoctrination. Singling out one god as the beholden of all gods. Interesting...
                  
                  Rather fitting the pendulum swings far left, to "uber" equation. No doubt, concessions/excuses are made for it as equally as sensationalists do there gods.
                  Both idols are the same, from opposite ends. It is called defending humanism.
                  Unless either id defended, people believe there is no justification. And without justification, cannot validate why they do what they do -nor can they propagate their wares upon the masses. And yes, the religions of science and sensation certainly claim to speak for their gods. Else, their ideas would die, and neither side wants that, at least at present.
                  
                  As I learned some time ago, translating a love letter in Russian, to Spanish, then Afrikaans, ends up sounding like a hate letter to an ex-mum-in-law.
                  
                  James.

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                     Charles Hiltonposted 12 years agoin reply to this

                     I agree that language has its inadequacies, and the more abstract the idea, the more difficult the translation into language.
                     As for making a god of science, I do no such thing. I apologize if I gave the impression that I idolize science. However, I do recognize the familiar ploy of framing science as the opposite extreme of religion when I encounter it.
                     At least science deals in observable---thereby quantifiable---phenomena, whereas religion deals in mythological speculation. So, your equating scientific reasoning with religious extremism is a red herring.
                     
                     Charles

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   Disturbiaposted 12 years ago

   Absolutely, organized religion exists for only one purpose, to control and manipulate the behavior of others.

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   tosocialsuccessposted 12 years ago

   I think religion can be a great place to put your trust, if you really believe in it. Whatever it is you are, try to have an open mind so you'll have more options. I don't like religions that tell you to be one type of person.

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   Disappearingheadposted 12 years ago

   Yes.
   
   http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/ … -Eden.html
   
   It does not seem unreasonable that the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil is an analogy of the invention of religion. Religion has the appearance of wisdom, but it ends up enslaving people to man made rules, that ultimately enslaved man to agriculture, and a life of toil and hardship.

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      mischeviousmeposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      The problem is the malleability of human behavior, we are very susceptible to magical and divine language. If it looks bigger on the menu, we're more likely to buy it.

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         Disappearingheadposted 12 years agoin reply to this

         Very true.

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      Charles Hiltonposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      Very unique and even revolutionary hypothesis---the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil as metaphor for the invention of religion. Brilliant supposition! And the implications could be revolutionary, but, most religious are highly unlikely to even consider the possibility.

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   Paul Wingertposted 12 years ago

   Religion = Supression

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      Druid Dudeposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      religion? It was created so the women and children would go to sleep. We see it as a human thing, but the neanderthals put flowers and pretty stones and shells in their burials...they had a concept of an afterlife? Maybe, but they obviously grieved.

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   Charles Hiltonposted 12 years ago

   It wasn't "invented" necessarily with that specific purpose in mind, but, it didn't take long for certain knaves and scalawags to see the potential for enslavement and seize upon it.
   In fact, I don't think religion was "invented" at all; it arose from the questioning of the newly born self-awareness of the human species and evolved over time into the incomprehensible muddle we have now.

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      Druid Dudeposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      I point out that originally the "bible" consisted of Ten Commandments. The books attributed to Moses were actually stories passed down from gen to gen, and all of these stories were already known to the Israelites. Moses learned to read and write in Pharoah's house, so he stepped up to record these other stories, which had already been accepted as fact.

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         Charles Hiltonposted 12 years agoin reply to this

         Some scholarship even questions the authenticity of Moses' authorship of the Pentateuch.

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   jacharlessposted 12 years ago

   Wouldn't that actually contradict every argument against sensationalism, as being irrational? The TOK is emphatic: knowledge. Knowledge meaning logic, reason, rationale, common sense, thinking, critique. This means the entire sum-substance of sensationalist-religion came from the same root as equation-religion (science).
   
   I agree, the TOK is what spawned the existence of both science and sensation. And, indeed, what a brilliant metaphor to finally comes to terms with the fact: science is religion as sensation is religion. Knowledge, knowing, learning by those parameters is the error of humanity.
   
   Outstanding!
   
   James.

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      Druid Dudeposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      Men willingly put the chains on, and those of us who are chained, willingly wear them.

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   ib radmastersposted 12 years ago

   Religion and the Laws of Society have different goals, but they both were created to control people.
   
   There is nothing divine about either of them, and both of them are sadly imperfect and up to the whim of the people creating them and modifying them.

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      A Troubled Manposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      Religions goal is to control all people, while the laws of society goal is to control the very small minority that harms others.

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         Charles Hiltonposted 12 years agoin reply to this

         You were almost right---it's the GOAL of society to control those at the top, but, it's not society that makes the laws. Those at the top make the laws---in religion and society.

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