I’m in my mid 20s, and an atheist. I remember back in 2014, when I was an edgy little shit, I thought once people lost religion, as per the trend, people would be nicer to each other and science would rule the day. Probably a naive thought.
Yet, it feels like nothing is sacred anymore. Everywhere you look it’s just people trying to get their slice of the pie, ethics be damned. Everything feels like it’s going badly. I’ve just graduated and the job market is full of time wasting rituals. It just feels like people have lost touch with decency and community. No one has any pride in what they do.
Correlation != causation of course, and so the decline in religion may not be the cause. Still I wonder if for a certain segment of the population, those that seem to thrive and filter to the top of our wonderful society, the fear of damnation was check on their base impulses.
Or if perhaps this is a part of the process, perhaps the reasonable people have all left the churches leaving an ever growing concentration of barbarous individuals holding the reins of that decrepit institution.
Or it’s just the lack of community that religion once forced upon us, to see and be civil, if not caring for those in our immediate geographic community that hold differing opinions from us. A moderating influence if you will.
I think we need community again; I don’t think that means religion necessarily. Some of the most shameless, godless people in America are evangelical christians
People have never needed religion, it is just a tool for the people in power to prevent uprisings
In my experience religious people have not been the nicest. Very religious people of certain religions can be but some other religions make them nastier and the casually religious tend to have a morality of convenience.
Not sure what country you’re in, but have you seen the United States lately? The majority of the assholes here making life worse for all of us are doing so in the name of their god.
I am from the United States. I don’t really know anymore. I don’t understand how both parties can be so terrible, but they are. I cannot abide my own contradiction in that I believe in democracy, I believe in the ideals espoused by my country: life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, yet I no longer believe in the people, or the institutions.
I don’t understand how both parties can be so terrible
You might enjoy the book https://theinvisibledoctrine.com/ which thoroughly explains the rise of neoliberal ideology which is responsible for the state of our institutions.
religion was never the issue. the issue is people being stupid and lacking morals, which they will do and justify regardless of the situation.
You’re right that people are more selfish lately. That’s deliberate - the elites are backing us all into a corner using stress and rage so that we’ll fight each other instead of fighting them.
Who are the elites? It’s a term thrown around, yet do we mean the billionaires? Are they working together? What is their goal in the long term? Without answering these questions, I find it hard to differentiate between meaningful political discussion and conspiracy theory. The trump people blame the “elites” as well, which we can presume are in some way different from the ones you’re talking about.
The elites are the ones who don’t feel anxious when the economy gets worse
No, fuck religion. Religion is the source of so many of our modern problems. People need more practice at rational thinking and religion often discourages that.
I’m fine with having better community but it’s like… a really simple problem. Look at Spain, everyone spends their free time in common spaces where they develop relationships with their communities are stronger for it.
What we fucking need is less cars and more parks and plazas - we don’t need a church meddling in our shit.
People didn’t listen to their commandments when the majority of people believed in them, it just gave them a reason to hate those that were different from them.
Overall, I’ve found people who aren’t religious to be more open minded, and far more accepting of people different to them.
The next step should be replacing fear of damnation with fear of the guillotine.
Fuck No!
People. Family, friends, neighbors. Connect with real people. Not some con that’s fooled countless people into giving away their $$ for fake promises and false “gods”.
while community is desperately needed, religion is a con to control humans. the idea of the divine is utterly absurd and has no place in the modern world.
It’s a good question. Obviously the answer is “no” in the narrow sense. Most genuine atheists are not going to spontaneously start believing supernatural dogma just because it’s good for them.
the fear of damnation was check on their base impulses.
This is a double-edged sword. If some people are not doing bad things simply for fear of cosmic comeback, then they might also do bad things for other irrational reasons. Think suicide bombers. It’s the Voltaire quote: “Those who can persuade us to believe absurdities can make us commit atrocities.”
About damnation specifically, personally I’m with Dawkins on that one: this kind of belief can only ever begin in childhood, and to frighten children with threats of hellfire and damnation is a form of child abuse. I’m certainly pleased nobody ever did that to me.
Or it’s just the lack of community that religion once forced upon us, to see and be civil, if not caring for those in our immediate geographic community that hold differing opinions from us.
Yep I think it’s this. Religion is above all a forum for community. What we’re missing is community.
I’m much to lazy to post the two spacemen meme. Just because you are finally aware of something doesn’t mean it just happened.
Are you saying that people have always been like this or?
Si
Look man all I’m saying is I’ve met a lot of women that were sexually abused in their church and it was swept under the rug to not cause a scene. I don’t know what the solution is, but more religion definitely ain’t it
Yeah that’s not good. Maybe things weren’t better then it just appeared so because it was less visible.
People need a purpose in life. The church gave people purpose. The bold, the brave, and the great thinkers outgrew the purpose imposed upon them by religion and forged their own path. The masses sought to follow them in the name of freedom and liberty of the mind.
Unfortunately the masses are dumb bumbling buffoons incapable of original though looking for a shepherd to guide them right into the wolf’s moor.
We used to have a couple paths of religious doctrines (where each groups members share a collective ideal) all fighting eachother. We now have a million paths of “pseudo-religious” doctrines all fighting each other. For instance the american left and right resemble a religion more than they resemble a group of political ideals.
Just remember the average person is an idiot and half of all people are dumber than that.
Religion is useful for one thing and one thing only - as a barrier to depression. Having a predefined higher purpose neutralizes the existential dread, it helps you function in the face of a meaningless life.
Unfortunately it’s all false. Once you understand the the falsehood it doesn’t help any more. Which is why so many religious people cling to their religion. Giving up on whatever belief kept them alive equals suicide, and they want to keep on living.
