Is religion a lie?

[Dolphins are the best]

Is religion a lie.........?
I want your opinions and why?

I'm not so sure but maybe after keeping those things written down for thousands of years can get misunderstood or tampered with... what do you think?

If religion is not a lie why are there are 4000 religions... every one apart from 1 has to be a lie!!! We have been deceived so much that we can't track back down to prove if it is a lie but it must be.

All religion boils down to a socially-acceptable way for adults to believe in magic.
The truth is that there is no such thing as magic.

[Bad Wolf]

There are 4000 religions because people are both gullible and stupid. And no every one apart from 1 doesn't have to be a lie. They can all be wrong

[paulpablo]

On an atheist forum the answer is bound to result in most people saying yes religion is a lie.
if you were on a religious forum of any kind then they would probably say the vast majority of religions are lying except the specific one they believe in, and the specific sect they are a part of within that religion.

[Bad Wolf]

I would not call them lies. A lie implies that the person telling it, knows that what they are saying is wrong or not factually correct. Sure, the religion may have started out as a lie or it may not have done. But no religious person today actually knows if their religion is true or not.

[DLJ]

Religions exist.

That's not a lie.

Myths and legends exist. That's true too.

Ignorance, fear and doubt exist too.

Add together, mix well...

Voila! Christianity.

[Dolphins are the best]

I would not call them lies. A lie implies that the person telling it, knows that what they are saying is wrong or not factually correct. Sure, the religion may have started out as a lie or it may not have done. But no religious person today actually knows if their religion is true or not.

I meant where they just "made up" to terrorize people instead of the word "lie/ deceive" then

[BrianSoddingBoru4]

No, religions are - by and large - not deliberate lies (I except Mormonism and a few others) as much as they are simple wrong-headedness.

A lie is a very specific sort of untruth. For instance, suppose you ask me how many eggs I have in my fridge and I answer, 'Six.' You take a look and find seven eggs, whirl and point dramatically and shout 'Liar!' But my answer is only a lie if I knew that I had seven eggs and deliberately misrepresented the number. Otherwise, it's simply a mistake.

Nor do I think that religions are deliberately made up (again, Mormonism) with the intention of terrorizing people. I strongly suspect that religion grew out of a sincere attempt by primitive people to understand the world around them. I can easily imagine Oog spilling water out of a gourd and extrapolating that there is a Great Gourd Spiller in the sky who is responsible for making rain. That being said, I've no doubt that the priest-class of every religion that has one have been guilty of using religion to control people through fear, but that's not quite the same thing you posited. Come to think of it, EVERY power class has used fear in an attempt to control the powerless. Religion isn't unique in this regard.

But we understand what causes rain (and earthquakes and lightning and floods and disease, etc, etc) so why is there still religion? A couple of reasons, I suspect.

Firstly, momentum. People have been religiously-minded ever since they've had time to wonder about things beyond basic necessities. And for most of our history, supernatural explanations for natural phenomena appeared to work. Atheism is the relatively new kid on the block.

Secondly, religion is comforting to religionists. How often have we all said or heard or read, 'Better an honest doubt than a comforting myth' or some such? But discomfort is tough for a lot of people. In general, I don't think religionists are as afraid of punishment for themselves (they seem to want to reserve that for people of different opinions) as they are hopeful of reward.

So, no - religion on the whole isn't a lie, nor is it intentional fiction.

But that doesn't make it true.

Boru

[downbeatplumb]

Some would have started as a lie mormonism and scientology spring to mind.
Others would have been made either as result of genuine delusion or the miss-perception of something.
Others would have started as something else other than religion and acquired dogma and religious trappings later.

One thing I am sure of is that no religion ever was the product of a supernatural entity interacting with people.

[Bad Wolf]

I meant where they just "made up" to terrorize people instead of the word "lie/ deceive" then

Undoubtedly some were, others may be believed genuinely by whoever came up with them