Is Utopia Religionless
August 25th 2008 16:09
What makes atheists hate religion and the religious? Bill Maher has even gone so far as to make an anti-religion movie entitled ‘Religulous’.
I am a former atheist. I do not state that fact with pride. The word ‘former’ is there for a reason. I proudly accepted Jesus as my savior seven years ago. My family is Christian, for the most part. I have two uncles who are Full Gospel preachers. When I walked away from the faith as a teenager, it hurt my loves ones, especially my mother. I never once berated them for their faith. I respected their beliefs.
Why do people find that difficult?
If you have faith in your beliefs, or lack of, then you won’t feel threatened by what others believe. Sure, we would love to convert everyone to our way of thinking, but in the end all we can do is tell others of our faith, why we believe as we do and let them decide for themselves.
I haven’t seen Maher’s film but from what I’ve heard it’s his effort to convince everyone that religion, all religions are bad. Roger Friedman of Fox News.com believes Maher’s message is “that the world would be a better place without any religions, that wars would be eliminated and there would be universal understanding.” Sounds Utopian and very unrealistic to me. Humans will behave humanly regardless of whether they believe God exists or not.
I am a former atheist. I do not state that fact with pride. The word ‘former’ is there for a reason. I proudly accepted Jesus as my savior seven years ago. My family is Christian, for the most part. I have two uncles who are Full Gospel preachers. When I walked away from the faith as a teenager, it hurt my loves ones, especially my mother. I never once berated them for their faith. I respected their beliefs.
Why do people find that difficult?
If you have faith in your beliefs, or lack of, then you won’t feel threatened by what others believe. Sure, we would love to convert everyone to our way of thinking, but in the end all we can do is tell others of our faith, why we believe as we do and let them decide for themselves.
I haven’t seen Maher’s film but from what I’ve heard it’s his effort to convince everyone that religion, all religions are bad. Roger Friedman of Fox News.com believes Maher’s message is “that the world would be a better place without any religions, that wars would be eliminated and there would be universal understanding.” Sounds Utopian and very unrealistic to me. Humans will behave humanly regardless of whether they believe God exists or not.
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Comment by JoshZ
A Simple Christian
I think that people will always want to believe in something bigger than themselves and something after death. That itself tends to take away a great deal of the fear of death.
The other interesting question is what do we define as a religion? Is it just spirituality stuff or does it include philosophies like communism?
JZ
Comment by Missy Frye
Opine Opinion Opinionation
I agree that people want to believe in something bigger. It brings comfort.
As for defining religion, that's a tough one. I personally do not include "philosophies like communism" but admit that many philosophies are influenced by religion. That's a great question that I will definitely give more thought.
Missy
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Comment by Missy Frye
Opine Opinion Opinionation
God has shown us the way and gave us free will to choose whether to follow him or not. You've made your choice and I've made mine.