This was Marx's belief and I am inclined to believe that he was correct at some level.
I don't see necessarly that religious people (particularly those belonging to a specific creed) are much better or kinder than others.
My mom is a perfect example. She is somewhat depressive and has always had a hard time coping in life. She often takes and took her rages/frustrations out on my brothers and I and her husband (our father) . She is very religious and devout and loves the Catholic Church, while criticizing parts of it.
I understand why she likes it so much. The Catholic churches are often very beautiful and at certain Masses, sometimes a priest will say something very moving and profound.
Yet I believe it is a crutch/coping mechanism for my mother too. She has a lot going on in her life that she is unhappy with and religion provides her with the "release" she needs.
I joined this group some years ago https://spo.org/, basically the Catholic version of Campus crusade for Christ. Many of the people in it were friendly enough, but somewhat narrow minded and rigid in their thinking. Catholocism and Catholic issues were literally all that interested some of them, and they did not seem to have a strong sense of "self" outside the Catholic religion (sometimes the most hardcore manifestation of it.)
The only issues many of them posted on their facebook statuses were about abortion, the dangers of premarital sex etc. Save the whales? Tibet? Gun control? There were almost literally no causes or concerns outside of Catholic stuff they thought worth mentioning or thinking about.
In short, a lot of them were sort of losers, in terms of their personalities. They weren't that compassionate either. They bascially liked you or had sympathy for you if you bought into the Catholic Church 100%. Gays, free thinkers, uppity women, Muslims etc. were not worth their time or consideration.
I basically came to the conclusion that SPO and things like it were for "weak" people. People with no strong personalities or opinions or interesting hobbies who wanted to be sheltered and taken care of, while shutting out the rest of the world as "Evil" or at least inferior.
So is religion a crutch? Is it for people who don't have lives? I am curious to know.
I don't see necessarly that religious people (particularly those belonging to a specific creed) are much better or kinder than others.
My mom is a perfect example. She is somewhat depressive and has always had a hard time coping in life. She often takes and took her rages/frustrations out on my brothers and I and her husband (our father) . She is very religious and devout and loves the Catholic Church, while criticizing parts of it.
I understand why she likes it so much. The Catholic churches are often very beautiful and at certain Masses, sometimes a priest will say something very moving and profound.
Yet I believe it is a crutch/coping mechanism for my mother too. She has a lot going on in her life that she is unhappy with and religion provides her with the "release" she needs.
I joined this group some years ago https://spo.org/, basically the Catholic version of Campus crusade for Christ. Many of the people in it were friendly enough, but somewhat narrow minded and rigid in their thinking. Catholocism and Catholic issues were literally all that interested some of them, and they did not seem to have a strong sense of "self" outside the Catholic religion (sometimes the most hardcore manifestation of it.)
The only issues many of them posted on their facebook statuses were about abortion, the dangers of premarital sex etc. Save the whales? Tibet? Gun control? There were almost literally no causes or concerns outside of Catholic stuff they thought worth mentioning or thinking about.
In short, a lot of them were sort of losers, in terms of their personalities. They weren't that compassionate either. They bascially liked you or had sympathy for you if you bought into the Catholic Church 100%. Gays, free thinkers, uppity women, Muslims etc. were not worth their time or consideration.
I basically came to the conclusion that SPO and things like it were for "weak" people. People with no strong personalities or opinions or interesting hobbies who wanted to be sheltered and taken care of, while shutting out the rest of the world as "Evil" or at least inferior.
So is religion a crutch? Is it for people who don't have lives? I am curious to know.
