# Why is religion still a thing?



## Krakatau (Aug 25, 2016)

After browsing on Reddit and checking a topic here I found out that many people are still religious... but why? We are 2016, we have education, we should have grown up by now and left religion behind. Religion isn't a thing anymore, it's associated with stupidity and ignorance. Why do people want to be considered stupid and ignorant? Religion is often immoral (look at Islam for example) and lacks any scientific progress or whatever...


Why are humans so stupid?


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## uribemaster (Aug 25, 2016)

Why are you so stupid as to think that everyone shouldnt be religious? I do not know anybody who thinks religion is associated with stupidity. Religion is all about faith. There is nothing wrong with that. So what if it is 2016? If you do not believe in an afterlife, what do you live for each and every day? One's religion gives purpose to his/her life most of the time and makes their lives better because of their beliefs.


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## gbaboy123 (Aug 25, 2016)

Krakatau said:


> After browsing on Reddit and checking a topic here I found out that many people are still religious... but why? We are 2016, we have education, we should have grown up by now and left religion behind. Religion isn't a thing anymore, it's associated with stupidity and ignorance. Why do people want to be considered stupid and ignorant? Religion is often immoral (look at Islam for example) and lacks any scientific progress or whatever...
> 
> 
> Why are humans so stupid?


You are the stupid that thinks everybody has the same opinion that you have.


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## Krakatau (Aug 25, 2016)

Where I live basically everybody associates religion with stupidity and ignorance.
Nobody associates religion with kindness or intelligence, it's stupid after all.


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## ihaveahax (Aug 25, 2016)

what's wrong with people believing in whatever they want? doesn't affect you or me.


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## uribemaster (Aug 25, 2016)

I feel bad for Belgium then


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## Krakatau (Aug 25, 2016)

uribemaster said:


> Why are you so stupid as to think that everyone shouldnt be religious? I do not know anybody who thinks religion is associated with stupidity. Religion is all about faith. There is nothing wrong with that. So what if it is 2016? If you do not believe in an afterlife, what do you live for each and every day? One's religion gives purpose to his/her life most of the time and makes their lives better because of their beliefs.



I live for doing something in my current and only life, I don't think like every failed religious imbecile that I will succeed in my afterlife.


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## Deleted User (Aug 25, 2016)

Krakatau said:


> Here in Belgium basically everybody associates religion with stupidity and ignorance.
> Nobody associates religion with kindness or intelligence, it's stupid after all.


"everybody" lol biggest BS i read today lmao


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## gbaboy123 (Aug 25, 2016)

Krakatau said:


> Here in Belgium basically everybody associates religion with stupidity and ignorance.
> Nobody associates religion with kindness or intelligence, it's stupid after all.


The funny thing here is nobody cares who you are or what you think, you must be a very stupid person calling people who have a religion stupid and ignorant while you are probably the most worthless person in the world who will never accomplish anything so.


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## uribemaster (Aug 25, 2016)

Krakatau said:


> I live for doing something in my current and only life, I don't think like every failed religious imbecile that I will succeed in my afterlife.


Well you better live it to the fullest because while your life will completely end, my second life will begin


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## Krakatau (Aug 25, 2016)

riyaz said:


> "everybody" lol biggest BS i read today lmao



In your country it's probably the same. Religion is associated with old people (who grew up with it) or with stupidity and ignorance.

--------------------- MERGED ---------------------------



uribemaster said:


> Well you better live it to the fullest because while your life will completely end, my second life will begin





gbaboy123 said:


> The funny thing here is nobody cares who you are or what you think, you must be a very stupid person calling people who have a religion stupid and ignorant while you are probably the most worthless person in the world who will never accomplish anything so.



It's funny when you realise the most stupid replies to my topic came from Americans...


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## gbaboy123 (Aug 25, 2016)

Krakatau said:


> In your country it's probably the same. Religion is associated with old people (who grew up with it) or with stupidity and ignorance.
> 
> --------------------- MERGED ---------------------------
> 
> ...


Retarded confirmed


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## Krakatau (Aug 25, 2016)

gbaboy123 said:


> Retarded confirmed



Religious imbecile confirmed.


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## uribemaster (Aug 25, 2016)

Krakatau said:


> In your country it's probably the same. Religion is associated with old people (who grew up with it) or with stupidity and ignorance.
> 
> --------------------- MERGED ---------------------------
> 
> ...


It's funny when you realize nobody so far cares for what you have to say. I'll just categorize you as an idiot and go on with my day. May you rest in piece


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## Krakatau (Aug 25, 2016)

uribemaster said:


> It's funny when you realize nobody so far cares for what you have to say. I'll just categorize you as an idiot and go on with my day. May you rest in piece



Well, you seem to care a lot about what I say. Even more than about my opinion than about your Biblical nonsense and imaginary stories, you are progressing!


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## Captain Library (Aug 25, 2016)

Someone put it quite well to me that religion will continue to prevail until the human race can better articulate the "meaning of life". It's quite a fundamental human yearning to want to understand how and why we're here, to assign some grand purpose to the things we do...

There are aspects of all religions which come from a good place, and aspects which are antiquated. It's difficult to reject some teachings while retaining others. Some denominations of Christianity have managed to do this better than others. There are moderate Muslims just as there are extremists.

Fundamentalists that invoke religion (eg. Daesh, KKK, Babbar Khalsa, many, many, many more) tend to do so to put in place power structures, rather than being true to the core fundamentals of the religions they claim to represent (in my view anyway). They have corrupted religion to serve their needs. That is absolutely immoral. But there are many examples of positive actions and examples of morality that stem from religion. I would contend that many modern "Western" constructs of morality have evolved from a Judeo-Christian teaching, those being the dominant religions of Europe and America for some time. It's a shame that those moral centres are only just coming around to the idea that, perhaps women aren't objects, or that being gay is okay... but there will always be things that seem outlandish now, even to those who aren't religious, that will be accepted in ten, fifty, a hundred years... that's how it's always been.

Many intelligent people choose to have faith, or have always known faith. I would never consider it my right to tell people who have a religion that they're stupid.


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## Deleted member 370671 (Aug 25, 2016)

>*After browsing on Reddit and checking a topic here I found out that many people are still religious... but why?*
Because of traditions? Because of personal reasons? Or simply because people are free to do what they want?

>*Religion isn't a thing anymore, it's associated with stupidity and ignorance. Why do people want to be considered stupid and ignorant?*
In my opinion, the stupid people are the one thinking religion is stupid. Not being able to accept other people's way of thinking is the definition of ignorance for me.
And admitting that people that think religion is stupid are right, do religious people really need to care about what they think? Stupid example, Animal Crossing games are considered childish by most people. Will I not play it because some people think it is stupid, in order to be "accepted"? No, I'll play the game, and I don't give a f*ck about what others think about what I do.

And no, I don't believe in any religion, I'm an atheist.


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## Krakatau (Aug 25, 2016)

Captain Library said:


> Someone put it quite well to me that religion will continue to prevail until the human race can better articulate the "meaning of life". It's quite a fundamental human yearning to want to understand how and why we're here, to assign some grand purpose to the things we do...
> 
> There are aspects of all religions which come from a good place, and aspects which are antiquated. It's difficult to reject some teachings while retaining others. Some denominations of Christianity have managed to do this better than others. There are moderate Muslims just as there are extremists.
> 
> ...



Anyone claiming women to be inferior, or gay-marriages to be bad should be left out of society. I agree with you in many aspects, but I do think that religion and stupidity have more in common than you may think.


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## Deleted User (Aug 25, 2016)

While I think the world would be a better place without religion, I won't shit on someone for being religious as long as they're not harming anyone because of it.


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## gbaboy123 (Aug 25, 2016)

Krakatau said:


> Religious imbecile confirmed.


I never defended any religion. you should learn to read retard. damn you are the reason why family shouldn't fuck. inbred


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## Krakatau (Aug 25, 2016)

gbaboy123 said:


> I never defended any religion. you should learn to read retarded. damn you are the reason why family shouldn't fuck.* inbreed*



No, I called you an imbecile.


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## zoogie (Aug 25, 2016)

Krakatau said:


> Where I live basically everybody associates religion with stupidity and ignorance.
> Nobody associates religion with kindness or intelligence, it's stupid after all.


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Religion_in_Belgium
The majority of people in your country are religious.

Facts over emotion, give it a try.


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## migles (Aug 25, 2016)

Krakatau said:


> Here in Belgium basically everybody associates religion with stupidity and ignorance.
> Nobody associates religion with kindness or intelligence, it's stupid after all.


well, we humans had religion for thousans of years, even the piramids where build with a religion system... and most likely religion was a thing even a long time ago
religion had always evolved and changed..
lots of religions disapeared or merged inside the ones that exist nowadays
it's "stupid and ignorant" to think that religion will go away any time soon....
come on.. people believed in all things for thousans of years, and you want religion to go away in about 10 or 20 years?


i am an atheist and (i think, i am not sure about the date but) since the 2000s there had been a lot more atheists but religion is still strong and going...


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## uribemaster (Aug 25, 2016)

Krakatau said:


> Well, you seem to care a lot about whatoccurred  Even more than about my opinion than about your Biblical nonsense and imaginary stories, you are progressing!


I will just tell you this. Throughout my life, there have been amazing events that have occurred in my life that cannot be a mere coincidence and cannot be explained. I know that there is life after this. You need to have faith and not everybody has that. I am just sad for you that you are one of them. God is like the wind. You cannot physically see them, but you can feel them. That is a very simple simile that everyone should be able to understand but i am sure you will have trouble grasping the meaning of it


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## gbaboy123 (Aug 25, 2016)

Krakatau said:


> No, I called you an imbecile.


I called you retarded.


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## Krakatau (Aug 25, 2016)

zoogie said:


> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Religion_in_Belgium
> The majority of people in your country are religious.
> 
> Facts over emotion, give it a try.



Most of the people I know don't care about religion and are openly against it. The ones religious are mainly older and less-educated people, we can't deny that there a less smart than stupid people I suppose?


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## Deleted User (Aug 25, 2016)




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## Krakatau (Aug 25, 2016)

uribemaster said:


> I will just tell you this. Throughout my life, there have been amazing events that have occurred in my life that cannot be a mere coincidence and cannot be explained. I know that there is life after this. You need to have faith and not everybody has that. I am just sad for you that you are one of them. God is like the wind. You cannot physically see them, but you can feel them. That is a very simple simile that everyone should be able to understand but i am sure you will have trouble grasping the meaning of it



Did you just get out of rehab or what?


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## Captain Library (Aug 25, 2016)

Krakatau said:


> Anyone claiming women to be inferior, or gay-marriages to be bad should be left out of society. I agree with you in many aspects, but I do think that religion and stupidity have more in common than you may think.


My country recently held a referendum on its membership of the European Union. We were told that it would never happen, that it would be stupid to leave the European Union. People who wanted to leave the European Union were displeased by the assertion that they were stupid. They mobilised. We voted to leave the European Union. People who voted to remain in the European Union told those who voted to leave that they were stupid. Those who voted to leave were angered by this. There was tremendous disquiet and a lot of nastiness. My point is, whether you agree with someone or not, simply calling them stupid is never productive.


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## gbaboy123 (Aug 25, 2016)

Krakatau said:


> Did you just get out of rehab or what?


take that https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eurotrash_(term)


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## Krakatau (Aug 25, 2016)

Captain Library said:


> My country recently held a referendum on its membership of the European Union. We were told that it would never happen, that it would be stupid to leave the European Union. People who wanted to leave the European Union were displeased by the assertion that they were stupid. They mobilised. We voted to leave the European Union. People who voted to remain in the European Union told those who voted to leave that they were stupid. Those who voted to leave were angered by this. There was tremendous disquiet and a lot of nastiness. My point is, whether you agree with someone or not, simply calling them stupid is never productive.



But what if they are really stupid?


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## uribemaster (Aug 25, 2016)

Krakatau said:


> Did you just get out of rehab or what?


I knew you werent going to be able to understand. Just Continue gaming man


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## Deleted User (Aug 25, 2016)

Krakatau said:


> But what if they are really stupid?


Doesn't make it any more productive.


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## gbaboy123 (Aug 25, 2016)

Wow and to think this kind of people actually exist and are in gaming forums


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## Deleted member 370671 (Aug 25, 2016)

Krakatau said:


> But what if they are really stupid?


But what if you are stupid? What if I am? What if every single human on the planet is?
That's not the point. The point is that whether you consider something "stupid" - or rather, if you don't understand something - you should either try to understand why this thing exists and accept it without judging, or simply ignore it. If you fail to do that, then - in my opinion at least - you can truly be considered "stupid".


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## amoulton (Aug 25, 2016)

Krakatau said:


> We are 2016, we have education, we should have grown up by now


The truth is these cults are only propagated because children are indoctrinated WAYY before they have any formal education. This mythology would never continue if they waited until adulthood to brainwash people into it.

EDIT: it's also why no matter how much money we throw at public education (at least in America) poor people never get smarter- because they still spend 80% of their time at home with people from previous generations without the benefit of a quality education.


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## Glyptofane (Aug 25, 2016)

"It is current year!"


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## Krakatau (Aug 25, 2016)

gbaboy123 said:


> Wow and to think this kind of people actually exist and are in gaming forums



Ahahahahaha. You made my day.



amoulton said:


> The truth is these cults are only propagated because children are indoctrinated WAYY before they have any formal education. This mythology would never continue if they waited until adulthood to brainwash people into it.



Parents who tell their children stories about god at the age of 5 or related should be locked up.


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## Deleted User (Aug 25, 2016)

amoulton said:


> The truth is these cults are only propagated because children are indoctrinated WAYY before they have any formal education. This mythology would never continue if they waited until adulthood to brainwash people into it.


You still do have adults who choose to join a religion of their own volition later on in life, though.


Krakatau said:


> Parents who tell their children stories about god at the age of 5 or related should be locked up.


That's a little fuckin' extreme.


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## amoulton (Aug 25, 2016)

Tomato Hentai said:


> You still do have adults who choose to join a religion of their own volition later on in life, though.


They join a different religion from which they were raised- no adults choose faith after a thoroughly secular upbringing.


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## gbaboy123 (Aug 25, 2016)

we have to stop feeding the troll. nah never mind people keep replying oh and I wonder what civilized conversation this could have been. the guy insulted humans right from the very beginning. who cares


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## Krakatau (Aug 25, 2016)

Tomato Hentai said:


> You still do have adults who choose to join a religion of their own volition later on in life, though.
> 
> That's a little fuckin' extreme.



These parents should read a book about how to raise their children. You want your child to become a smart civilian with common sense, not a fool with immoral and stupid stories as a base for their future life.

--------------------- MERGED ---------------------------



amoulton said:


> They join a different religion from which they were raised- no adults choose faith after a thoroughly secular upbringing.



To be honest my parents or related never told me anything about religion. I'm so glad about it.


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## Deleted User (Aug 25, 2016)

Krakatau said:


> These parents should read a book about how to raise their children. You want your child to become a smart civilian with common sense, not a fool with immoral and stupid stories as a base for their future life.


Not all religious people are idiots, though.


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## amoulton (Aug 25, 2016)

Krakatau said:


> To be honest my parents or related never told me anything about religion. I'm so glad about it.



It's easy to choose logic when your upbringing was rooted in it. People who have succumbed to the oppressive forces of religion have been brainwashed literally from birth- try to have some compassion for those unfortunate souls.


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## Krakatau (Aug 25, 2016)

Tomato Hentai said:


> Not all religious people are idiots, though.



I wasn't intending to call all of them idiots, I was talking about the 'majority'. Maybe my explaination wasn't great either.

--------------------- MERGED ---------------------------



amoulton said:


> It's easy to choose logic when your upbringing was rooted in it. People who have succumbed to the oppressive forces of religion have been brainwashed literally from birth- try to have some compassion for those unfortunate souls.



I can consider myself a lucky individual I suppose.


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## mashers (Aug 25, 2016)

I actually thought this might be an interesting discussion from the thread title, but I see it has become a childish namecalling shitfest. What a shame some people can't have a civilised discussion without throwing around offensive terms like 'retard' and 'inbred'.


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## amoulton (Aug 25, 2016)

Tomato Hentai said:


> Not all religious people are idiots, though.





Krakatau said:


> I wasn't intending to call all of them idiots



Willful idiocy or complete gullibility- either way it's despicable that organized religion is allowed to prey on them.


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## gbaboy123 (Aug 25, 2016)

so where are the mods. this shit need closing now. my computer smells like shit because of this thread. I just wasted 20 minutes of my life that are never coming back.


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## mashers (Aug 25, 2016)

gbaboy123 said:


> so where are the mods. this shit need closing now. my computer smells like shit because of this thread


Already reported.


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## amoulton (Aug 25, 2016)

mashers said:


> but I see it has become a childish namecalling shitfest


ironically similar to the cult organizations that systematically and unapologetically demean the "nonbelievers"


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## Krakatau (Aug 25, 2016)

amoulton said:


> ironically similar to the cult organizations that systematically and unapologetically demean the "nonbelievers"



You deserve a medal.


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## air2004 (Aug 25, 2016)

Krakatau said:


> After browsing on Reddit and checking a topic here I found out that many people are still religious... but why? We are 2016, we have education, we should have grown up by now and left religion behind. Religion isn't a thing anymore, it's associated with stupidity and ignorance. Why do people want to be considered stupid and ignorant? Religion is often immoral (look at Islam for example) and lacks any scientific progress or whatever...
> 
> 
> Why are humans so stupid?


I can't tell if you're serious, misinformed , ignorant, a heretic or just a bot. Because of such , this thread should be closed.


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## Deleted member 370671 (Aug 25, 2016)

Krakatau said:


> You want your child to become a smart civilian with common sense, not a fool with immoral and stupid stories as a base for their future life.


You say that, but almost every single element that can be found on ancient religions is found in today's societies. Instead of saying "duh religionz=pepl that believs in god", try to understand what a religion really is.


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## GalladeGuy (Aug 25, 2016)

The human mind is unable to comprehend its own nonexistence, so it creates an alternate personality (God) to tell it the "truth." Some early humans had a form of schizophrenia that made them see and hear their gods. Of course, they all believed their god was the real god. But it isn't. None of them are, because none of them are real. People with weak minds started to listen to the crazy people and passed it down to their children, simply because it was the best answer they had to questions like where we came from and where we go when we die.


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## amoulton (Aug 25, 2016)

TheKawaiiDesu said:


> You say that, but almost every single element that can be found on ancient religions is found in today's societies. Instead of saying "duh religionz=pepl that believs in god", try to understand what a religion really is.


You're right, religion isn't just people believing in some shit that isn't there, it's the deliberate and directed effort of people in power to convince people that something that isn't true is- as a means to manipulate the masses to share one morality- 2000 years ago they wanted people basically not to steal or kill and to propagate the species- since we have 1 billion people in india shitting in the streets, i'd say we've accomplished the latter, and thanks to police forces from every major government on the planet, we have seen striking progress fighting against the former. So while tricking people into a morality that supersedes what exists on earth may have made sense before globalization and technology existed, it has long since outlived it's utility.

--------------------- MERGED ---------------------------



GalladeGuy said:


> The human mind is unable to comprehend its own nonexistence, so it creates an alternate personality (God) to tell it the "truth." Some early humans had a form of schizophrenia that made them see and hear their gods. Of course, they all believed their god was the real god. But it isn't. None of them are, because none of them are real. People with weak minds started to listen to the crazy people and passed it down to their children, simply because it was the best answer they had to questions like where we came from and where we go when we die.


And when they heard of disembodied voices they didn't have the medical knowledge to identify schizophrenia, so they just wrote it down as scripture- it was a simpler time, really.


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## Jay Clay (Aug 25, 2016)

Krakatau said:


> After browsing on Reddit and checking a topic here I found out that many people are still religious... but why? We are 2016, we have education, we should have grown up by now and left religion behind. Religion isn't a thing anymore, it's associated with stupidity and ignorance. Why do people want to be considered stupid and ignorant? Religion is often immoral (look at Islam for example) and lacks any scientific progress or whatever...
> 
> 
> Why are humans so stupid?






Christianity, in particular Roman Catholicism, is the largest religion in Belgium. About 58% of the population adheres to the Roman Catholic Church. Members of the Protestant and Eastern Orthodoxchurches together constitute around 7%.[1]

The second-largest religion in Belgium is Islam, which accounts for 5% of the population. If all immigrants with Islamic backgrounds are included, the Muslim share of the population rises to 8.1%.[2] Muslims are concentrated in certain regions of the country, constituting 23.6% of the population in Brussels, but just 4.0% in Wallonia and 3.9% in Flanders.[3]

A 2006 inquiry in the Flemish region of Belgium found that 55% of its inhabitants identified as religious


According to a 2010 Eurobarometer poll:[5]


*37%* of Belgian citizens believe there is a God.
*31%* believe there is some sort of spirit or life force.
*27%* do not believe there is any sort of spirit, God, or life force.
*5%* declined to answer.

Seems like we have an attention whore , I don't want to be so mean or rude with you, I am not even a religious person either, but the way you talk... lol.


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## Bimmel (Aug 25, 2016)

uribemaster said:


> Why are you so stupid as to think that everyone shouldnt be religious? I do not know anybody who thinks religion is associated with stupidity. Religion is all about faith. There is nothing wrong with that. So what if it is 2016? If you do not believe in an afterlife, what do you live for each and every day? *One's religion gives purpose to his/her life most of the time and makes their lives better because of their beliefs.*


I could not have said that better. Thumbs up!


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## air2004 (Aug 25, 2016)

The science of has been trying to take over the place of the Maker since the beginning of time . Answer me this one question and I will answer yours .

From where does the big bang come from :
Was brought forth by man or the maker ?


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## 7iven8Nine (Aug 25, 2016)

I don't even understand why I click on these things.


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## FrozenDragon150 (Aug 25, 2016)

Wow, I got an aneurysm just from reading the OP


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## DeoNaught (Aug 25, 2016)

Krakatau said:


> After browsing on Reddit and checking a topic here I found out that many people are still religious... but why? We are 2016, we have education, we should have grown up by now and left religion behind. Religion isn't a thing anymore, it's associated with stupidity and ignorance. Why do people want to be considered stupid and ignorant? Religion is often immoral (look at Islam for example) and lacks any scientific progress or whatever...
> 
> 
> Why are humans so stupid?


 You act/say that like Religion was just a phase the world was going through like the 90's.
And you know (Probably not) not all Islams are stupid, and ignorant.


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## Dorimori (Aug 25, 2016)

People can believe whatever they want, I personally don't give a shit.
also:


Krakatau said:


> After browsing on Reddit


le /r/atheism!?!?


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## DinohScene (Aug 25, 2016)

Cause it's been indoctrinated in some groups (extremists), it's been taught from parents to kids (majority of religious people) and it's spread by clergy and other religious people to non-religious people.

For as long as humans exist, religion will exist along side it.

I, I'm non-religious.
I do believe in Karma (the do good receive future happiness one) but that's about it.


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## ComeTurismO (Aug 25, 2016)

It's funny how you're bashing religious people even though they're responsible for discovering and inventing so many things you have in your life. You say that 'we have education' but clearly you didn't use it properly before making this comment.


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## gbaboy123 (Aug 25, 2016)

is harambism a religion?


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## Deleted User (Aug 25, 2016)

gbaboy123 said:


> is harambism a religion?


Every night before I go to bed, I pray to my lord and savior Harambe.


;O;


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## ihaveahax (Aug 25, 2016)

gbaboy123 said:


> is harambism a religion?


anything could be a religion if you want.


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## gbaboy123 (Aug 25, 2016)




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## Haider Raza (Aug 25, 2016)

@Krakatau
*After browsing on Reddit and checking a topic here I found out that many people are still religious...but why?*
Because they don't give a F for people like you!!
*
We are 2016, I need education, we should have grown up by now.*
Congrats you have some knowledge that we are in 2016.

*Evolution isn't a thing anymore, it's associated with stupidity and ignorance of me being monkey.*
Yes! we know bad for you!

*Why do people consider me stupid and ignorant?*
Cuz you are!

*Evolution is often immoral (look at my monkey ass for example) and lacks any scientific progress or whatever...*
Hmmmmmmm :

*Why am I so stupid?*
I don't know!


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## TotalInsanity4 (Aug 25, 2016)

I find it interesting that you associate religion with ignorance


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## p1ngpong (Aug 25, 2016)

I am just going to shut this doomed discussion down.


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## FAST6191 (Aug 25, 2016)

Edit. ooh I see it got locked.
Locked so song


---

I made a response in the other topic that is probably relevant here
http://gbatemp.net/threads/do-you-believe-in-god.405333/page-11#post-5856264

"stupidity and ignorance"
For some it is assumed as such, for others it is tradition/culture, for some it is a means of social survival (200 people go to church and are bored as sin each Sunday, that is 200 potential clients for my fixing crap business, 200 I might not have so easily got had I spent it watching TV), for some it might be a mental crutch (that death lark is scary and the minds that survived are the ones that strived to avoid it), for others I am not sure. Suffice it to say though not everybody considers it as such. Give or take my knowledge of developmental psychology and economics might consider it a lack of or failure in critical thought to have religion when the evidence is so steeped against all the major players, probably most of the minor ones if more than 50 people have heard of them, historically most that have ever existed have been or been coopted as power grabs and maintaining power, and it is entirely possible to live your life in an awful lot of places with no real negative effects for lacking it.

Beyond that gravity demonstrably works regardless of whether you believe in it, the religious mind may well have some odd conditioning but it is entirely possible it can calculate its likely effects far more readily than my own. By similar token the religious mind can be incredibly adept at using a logic taught it within the framework of a religion, it is no different than you and I discussing the in game abstract logic associated with the latest and greatest RPG or arguing using historical precedents, what are held to be fundamental truths/rights and the like to argue cases of law. To pull that off an awful lot of information has to be stored (you have the book, some associated texts, historical precedents, things which might not apply any more but are kept around because it is somewhat important), available for immediate recall, a system of logic that tends to be somewhat alien to baser instincts gets to be introduced and almost driven to supplant many of those.



ihaveamac said:


> what's wrong with people believing in whatever they want? doesn't affect you or me.


If it was left at that then that may be so. However it does often cross over into reasoning for laws (my book says gays should not marry I think, apparently pork is bad because no good reason that is relevant today, no shops should be open on Sunday, my club does not want to pay taxes), actions (if you think your chosen sky fairy will protect you then so be it, however your car flipping 10 times because of that at best causes a delay in my trip, likely causes some poor bastard to have to go scrape it up or replace the barrier, and at worst crashes into me and does me no favours*) and beyond (is conditioning a child to believe something when they are programmed to believe the food and shelter giver rather than letting their reason develop and then choosing whether they accept whatever a moral thing? International law say probably best to allow it and I will happily uphold it similar to free speech and with similar provisos to that). Basically it is the difference between prejudice and discrimination -- think green eyed people are the worst if you like, it is a bit silly really but refuse to sell to/rent to/hire... because of that and then you are the arsehole -- and yes that would also mean that I would tolerate someone's voting for something for no other reason than their reading of the book of zen as written by Thor's fish's djinn says so.

*nihilism is just as dangerous if you go for that and absolutely agreed that for the promise of some ephemeral reward then some people that might have sat on their arses end up doing nice things.

Equally "thank god that it worked"... no I am the engineer that spent the time to fix it/make it survive the failure and my mate was the medic that stitched you back together... credit hogs, what bastards.

Be excellent to each other.


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