(May 5, 2015 at 9:31 pm)Polaris Wrote:(May 2, 2015 at 1:32 pm)Spooky Wrote: People have sacrificed themselves for a lot of things. But I'll grant you religion has one of the highest body counts.
Some people are scared of the possibility of god not existing.
Not all religions require the existence of a God or gods to be self-fulfilling.
To answer the question, from someone who used to be much more into religion, it brought me a great sense of joy and completeness. It also had a great sense of community brought together by a common love of both God and each other as if we were of the same blood family.
Religion is not required at all if it were there would be no different religions and most certainly there would be no atheists. There was no religion 200,000 years ago. There was no religion when the dinosaurs existed, and there will be no religions when our species goes extinct and our planet and sun die. The universe will go on with no record of us or the religions we create.
"self-fulfilling" is subjective as well. What you think fills you is not the same thing as what someone else thinks fills them. What is universal outside of that is our species ability to be cruel or compassionate. You play that stupid game of what it means to be "fulfilled" you get into the same trap of projecting your own perceptions on everyone else.
The only meaning we can give ourselves is individual and during our species ride right now. I think the most beneficial thing humans can do is stop being so self centered as to think their club is special to this planet and universe.
