Being religious = being a better human being?

[~Fire-Hazard~]

Do you think following a religion devoutly will improve your well being and something that will benefit you greatly as a human?

Or do you think it's a means of restricting you and becoming part of a "social order" or serve a purpose for giving you an identity?

I'm talking about all religions here, be it Sikhism, Hinduism, Islam, Christianity etc..

[Evil_Genious]

If you knew anything about religion, you'd know how stupid your question is.

[queen bee]

Purification of your actions and your intentions. Purification of the Soul - Would it make you a better human being?

I think the answer is fairly obvious, unless your a satanist.

[Rab C Nesbit]

Not necessarily.

A person who follows a religion won't lie, because God told them not to.
A person without a religion chooses not to lie, because they know it's wrong.

Sometimes, it feels like following a religion is the laziest thing people can do.
Those who follow it blindly, just do things without thinking.

[mindstate]

when i think about religion..or holy books....one thing springs into mind....very good for self-help...

the tony robbins of ancient times

[~Fire-Hazard~]

Originally Posted by Evil_Genious If you knew anything about religion, you'd know how stupid your question is.

I think I will never know enough about my religion, but it's something I'm trying and striving to do.

I was merely trying to get different views across. Not many people believe in a religion i.e. athiests and some may be agnostic.

I mean why do people stray? Why is there so much infidelity, indecent acts etc? Is it because of lack of faith, or have they strayed from the "right" path whichever they may be?

I weren't asking for my self benefit.

Thanks for all the other answers in this thread I don't think I'm gonna make anymore!

[CrazYt™]

Originally Posted by Rab C Nesbit Not necessarily. A person who follows a religion won't lie, because God told them not to. A person without a religion chooses not to lie, because they know it's wrong. Sometimes, it feels like following a religion is the laziest thing people can do. Those who follow it blindly, just do things without thinking.

A person who follows a religion and won't lie because God told them not to doesn't mean that person has no choice in choosing whether to lie or not. A religious person still has free will and can do whatever they desire to do just like an atheist. However the difference is the religious person chooses to submit to the will of God because they know it is the right path for them.

How can you say following a religion is the laziest thing to do? If anything not following a religion would be the laziest thing a person can do; they can do whatever they like and are not bound by any religious code.

Religion stipulates rules as a requirement to follow it, so I doubt if one is lazy they would follow a religion properly, they wouldn't bother with at least half the things religion asks of them.

[$ing$tar]

Originally Posted by ~Fire-Hazard~ Do you think following a religion devoutly will improve your well being and something that will benefit you greatly as a human? Or do you think it's a means of restricting you and becoming part of a "social order" or serve a purpose for giving you an identity? I'm talking about all religions here, be it Sikhism, Hinduism, Islam, Christianity etc..

nice thread!!

i believe in my religon its who i am yes i stil need to improve on alot of things n may allah swt help me, my religon restricts me from doing all sorts of BAD things and i am greatful for that! if the whole world didnt follow any religon it would be a very messed up place!

[$ing$tar]

sorry just noticed i didnt answer your question! yes being religous does help you be a better person but only allah knows that.

[Ranj]

I think that the morals and ethics that are established and strived for in all major world religions, can be followed without having to ascribe to a particular religion strictly. There's many of us regardless of our religion, who don't follow every last rule or guide, but we still act like decent law abiding individuals..and there's many individuals who use the name of religion as a means to promote hatred.

[Rab C Nesbit]

Crazy Person, I didn't say it was everyone, and I did try to make that clear.

I do acknowledge that there are people of faiths who do actively find out why they must carry out certain actions.

What I was trying to get at was those people who do things blindly.
"Why do you pray?" "Because God told me to"
"Why don't you eat meat?" "My religion prohibits it"
I'm sorry, but answers like that seem like cop out pathetic things to say.

They say that Actions speak louder than Words.
...but Actions mean jack shit, if you've got messed up intentions (or don't even know why you're doing things!)

A person may spend all their life "being good", but if their only reason was "because my religion says", and nothing about their own personal desire as a human to be good, then doesn't it feel like a sort of lie?

Simple example, a kid's taking special care in making some food.
He looks like he's really into it.
You ask how comes he's taking such care and he tells you that he'd much rather do something else, but his mum told him to do it.
In other words, he doesn't want to do it.

So, how can you think people are good, if their actions are false?

...Or am I just being negative?

[Zero]

I wonder if religion was never there. People would still be barbarians since thats what they were in most places until "religion" was revealed right? A lot of man made laws (especially the laws of the United Kingdom) were based on religion, wayyyy back when the church had a LOT of power over this country?

How does a human know whats right and wrong? I think its more than just the answer "something that makes us feel good, is right and vice versa"...

[CrazYt™]

Originally Posted by Rab C Nesbit Crazy Person, I didn't say it was everyone, and I did try to make that clear. I do acknowledge that there are people of faiths who do actively find out why they must carry out certain actions. What I was trying to get at was those people who do things blindly. "Why do you pray?" "Because God told me to" "Why don't you eat meat?" "My religion prohibits it" I'm sorry, but answers like that seem like cop out pathetic things to say. They say that Actions speak louder than Words. ...but Actions mean jack shit, if you've got messed up intentions (or don't even know why you're doing things!) A person may spend all their life "being good", but if their only reason was "because my religion says", and nothing about their own personal desire as a human to be good, then doesn't it feel like a sort of lie? Simple example, a kid's taking special care in making some food. He looks like he's really into it. You ask how comes he's taking such care and he tells you that he'd much rather do something else, but his mum told him to do it. In other words, he doesn't want to do it. So, how can you think people are good, if their actions are false? ...Or am I just being negative?

No of course not, no one should follow anything blindly, God gave us intellect, we are not robots so we should use it. And that includes questioning your religion to find out the evidence behind each deed, ruling and action so we know the reason behind it and reasons for doing it.

You are right in saying no one should follow anything blindly. If one did then the action that they perfom won't really mean anythng to them, and they will not be doing it for the right reasons.

A lot of people just follow religion because their forefathers followed that religion. They don't really look into their religion to find out and learn why such and such is done in such a way. Why is it that their religion is the truth and not any other. Many people just take religion as an inheritence and this is where people start following it blindly without really knowing why they do the things that they do in their religion.

Everything depends on the intention. If the intention is wrong however amazing the action may be it will not do that person any real good.

At the end of day we can't judge who is good, one may look good on the outside but on the inside they maybe rotten black.