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Is religion about avoiding reality?

Tim the plumber

Tim the plumber

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YouTube

Why do religious believers hate reality so much?

A video which seems to sum up the issue of trying to communicate with the god-bothers.
 
Tim the plumber said:
YouTube

Why do religious believers hate reality so much?

A video which seems to sum up the issue of trying to communicate with the god-bothers.
Click to expand...

I haven't watched the whole video yet. Aron Ra tends to make me sleepy when he speaks.

I could see the case for your thread title's assertion.

Religion surely helps people avoid dealing with reality in many ways.
The largest avoidance I might guess to be the whole death thing.

I'm not suggesting that it's all bad either. Finding comfort in a very harsh situation is something we all naturally seek.
Coping with depression and loss through religion is surely a much better alternative than using alcohol or drugs.

Wow....this topic could go many different directions.
 
Dragonfly said:
I haven't watched the whole video yet. Aron Ra tends to make me sleepy when he speaks.

I could see the case for your thread title's assertion.

Religion surely helps people avoid dealing with reality in many ways.
The largest avoidance I might guess to be the whole death thing.

I'm not suggesting that it's all bad either. Finding comfort in a very harsh situation is something we all naturally seek.
Coping with depression and loss through religion is surely a much better alternative than using alcohol or drugs.

Wow....this topic could go many different directions.
Click to expand...

I may be biased.

But I don't see coping with loss through either drink, drugs or denial of the real world as coping.

The secular, modern application of scientific experimentation and thinking has lead to grief counseling and other therapies which will allow you to actually deal with loss and not just carry around all that pain forever. I suppose if you did not have access to all that it might be something but.... I heard a funeral where the priest forgot the name of the deceased. Surely that would just inflame the wounds of loss?

I see the only people helped by religion are those who lead it.
 
Tim the plumber said:
I may be biased.

But I don't see coping with loss through either drink, drugs or denial of the real world as coping.

The secular, modern application of scientific experimentation and thinking has lead to grief counseling and other therapies which will allow you to actually deal with loss and not just carry around all that pain forever. I suppose if you did not have access to all that it might be something but.... I heard a funeral where the priest forgot the name of the deceased. Surely that would just inflame the wounds of loss?

I see the only people helped by religion are those who lead it.
Click to expand...

I think because religion has been so deeply ingrained (brain-washed if you'd like) into our society so much, that it does help people cope with all kinds of things.
It's perhaps the ultimate placebo effect, but it's impossible to deny.

Think about when someone dies. Heart breaking and highly emotional time for friends and family. Especially if the deceased died unexpectedly at an early age.
Coping with that loss by believing the things religion teaches helps many get past, or even in many cases avoid emotional devastation.

I can't deny that's a good thing. Even if I think it's a load of hooey.
 
Tim the plumber said:
Why do religious believers hate reality so much?
Click to expand...

<facepalm>

You non-believers are the ones who hate the reality of the resurrected Jesus Christ.

And the reason? If you believed then you'd have to admit you're sinners, repent of your sins, and get off your lofty thrones and let Christ/God take his place there and be Lord of your lives.
 
Logicman said:
<facepalm>

You non-believers are the ones who hate the reality of the resurrected Jesus Christ.

And the reason? If you believed then you'd have to admit you're sinners, repent of your sins, and get off your lofty thrones and let Christ/God take his place there and be Lord of your lives.
Click to expand...

Why is it that you will resist looking at the deep field image? That this will show you that the universe has expanded from a small point over the last 13+ billion years will cause you to know that the literal "truth" of the is wrong. That it is at best a collection of fables.

You know this.

We all know that you do not like this idea.

You show your avoidance of reality almost every post.
 
Logicman said:
<facepalm>

You non-believers are the ones who hate the reality of the resurrected Jesus Christ.

And the reason? If you believed then you'd have to admit you're sinners, repent of your sins, and get off your lofty thrones and let Christ/God take his place there and be Lord of your lives.
Click to expand...

There are 8 billion people alive today.
Roughly 2 billion "claim" to be christians.
Probably some rather small percentage of them might fall under your definition of "true believer".

Why would "your god" appear to be so weak as to not be able to reach a higher percentage of the population?
 
Tim the plumber said:
YouTube

Why do religious believers hate reality so much?

A video which seems to sum up the issue of trying to communicate with the god-bothers.
Click to expand...

Maybe you should look into what true reality is...Colossians 2:16-20..."reality belongs to the Christ..."
 
Elvira said:
Maybe you should look into what true reality is...Colossians 2:16-20..."reality belongs to the Christ..."
Click to expand...

re·al·i·ty
/rēˈalədē/
noun
1.
the world or the state of things as they actually exist, as opposed to an idealistic or notional idea of them.
Click to expand...

Ummm...
 
Dragonfly said:
Ummm...
Click to expand...

“I would not expect religion to be the right tool for sequencing the human genome and by the same token would not expect science to be the means to approaching the supernatural. But on the really interesting larger questions, such as ‘Why are we here?’ or ‘Why do human beings long for spirituality?,’ I find science unsatisfactory. Many superstitions have come into existence and then faded away. Faith has not, which suggests it has reality.” - Molecular biologist Francis Collins
 
Dragonfly said:
Do you understand how illogical that statement is?
Click to expand...

I understand that he knows the difference, along with many other believers...
 
“I have run the silly rounds of pleasure, and have done with them all. I have enjoyed all the pleasures of the world, and I appraise them at their real worth, which is in truth very low. When I reflect on what I have seen,and what I have done, I can hardly persuade myself that all that frivolous hurry and bustle of pleasure in the world had any reality.” - Philip Chesterfield, 18th-century English courtier and orator
 
Elvira said:
“I have run the silly rounds of pleasure, and have done with them all. I have enjoyed all the pleasures of the world, and I appraise them at their real worth, which is in truth very low. When I reflect on what I have seen,and what I have done, I can hardly persuade myself that all that frivolous hurry and bustle of pleasure in the world had any reality.” - Philip Chesterfield, 18th-century English courtier and orator
Click to expand...

Any chance you'll actually post some original thoughts on the subject?
 
Tim the plumber said:
YouTube

Why do religious believers hate reality so much?

A video which seems to sum up the issue of trying to communicate with the god-bothers.
Click to expand...

When I was much younger, I had many friends who were genius level intellects. I think they enjoyed the comic relief...

They had access to various brainy things that I could never reach, but that didn't mean that I denied the existence of Physics or Science.

As I have aged, I am absolutely certain that there is a higher power that has taken an interest in me and that is helping me to be a better version of me.

I embrace this higher power as a part of reality. I deny neither reality nor the higher power and embrace both as parts of the whole. I am equally amazed and impressed by both as I continue to live and learn.

The speaker in the posted video presents a gloomy view of the higher power. Of course, most religions do as well.

In regard to the thread's title, is religion about avoiding reality? It probably is. I've always felt that Christ was sent to straighten out the mess left by the poor interpretation of God's word by the prophets.

If that was the case, we are probably about due for another visit. Sadly, the result of a present day visit would probably be about the same as the Biblical one.

I wonder how the Vatican would respond today regarding a Jew in the Middle East claiming to be the Son of God... Same question regarding the UN and all of the countries and other religions as well.
 
Tim the plumber said:
I may be biased.

But I don't see coping with loss through either drink, drugs or denial of the real world as coping.

The secular, modern application of scientific experimentation and thinking has lead to grief counseling and other therapies which will allow you to actually deal with loss and not just carry around all that pain forever. I suppose if you did not have access to all that it might be something but.... I heard a funeral where the priest forgot the name of the deceased. Surely that would just inflame the wounds of loss?

I see the only people helped by religion are those who lead it.
Click to expand...

Religion and belief are two different things.

Are you citing both as being the same thing?
 
Logicman said:
<facepalm>

You non-believers are the ones who hate the reality of the resurrected Jesus Christ.

And the reason? If you believed then you'd have to admit you're sinners, repent of your sins, and get off your lofty thrones and let Christ/God take his place there and be Lord of your lives.
Click to expand...

There seems to be a whole bunch of baggage that religion packs that Jesus never recommended.

Johnathan Edwards and Jesus Christ didn't seem to agree on much.
 
code1211 said:
If that was the case, we are probably about due for another visit. Sadly, the result of a present day visit would probably be about the same as the Biblical one.
Click to expand...

If the events of the early to mid 20th century (WW1 & WW2) weren't enough to bring "god" back, why would "present day" anything bring "god" back?
 
Tim the plumber said:
Why is it that you will resist looking at the deep field image? That this will show you that the universe has expanded from a small point over the last 13+ billion years will cause you to know that the literal "truth" of the is wrong. That it is at best a collection of fables.

You know this.

We all know that you do not like this idea.

You show your avoidance of reality almost every post.
Click to expand...

Belief in "The Big Bang" excludes belief in a Supreme Power?

It seems like the existence of matter, energy and thought could all exist together with none automatically excluding the existence of either or both of the other two.

All of the three most certainly coexist right now.
 
Dragonfly said:
There are 8 billion people alive today.
Roughly 2 billion "claim" to be christians.
Probably some rather small percentage of them might fall under your definition of "true believer".

Why would "your god" appear to be so weak as to not be able to reach a higher percentage of the population?
Click to expand...

The strings of a my guitar are separate and yet vibrate with the same music.

How many people world wide are committed to a religion regardless of the nature of the Deity?

We all experience the world according to our gifts and our limitations.
 
Dragonfly said:
If the events of the early to mid 20th century (WW1 & WW2) weren't enough to bring "god" back, why would "present day" anything bring "god" back?
Click to expand...

Jesus spoke of such things as the "beginning of pangs of distress." Matthew 24:8...
 
Dragonfly said:
Ummm...
Click to expand...

Pictured below is the skyline of Dubai. Dubai was the site of temporary camps until it was settled in about 1830.

Before the city was there, it was not there in the real world. Every piece of it was placed there by people who could see a vision of something different than what was there.

Reality for them was unreal for most.

Unreality to most of us is only evidence of a lack the ability to see a greater reality that exists beyond our ability to experience it.

 
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