Religion and comfort

[A_A]

I was reading someone’s take on religion on Quora, and app were users can answer any question. It was interesting and I wanted to share it. Essentially the user argues that the reason why religion is so successful and widespread is because it creates social structure. Religion makes people start writing systems to write their holy books down, rules to structure society. What I liked the most was the fact that religion is comforting. If a mother loses her child she is comforted at the fact that the child will Ben in heaven. A matyr is comforted knowing god is at his side. As a atheist, how can you explain to a heart broken mother that heaven doesn’t exist and that there is no god. Anyways it was very interesting to read and I want to see your thoughts on it.

 

[Azirah Anonymous]

Well it makes sense that it creates social structure. It is a way of life, guidance. Without rules and regulations people would just follow their desires.

Following a religion does bring comfort. We have been told the book was send down to ease your burden in life.

 

[The alchemist]

I was reading someone’s take on religion on Quora, and app were users can answer any question. It was interesting and I wanted to share it. Essentially the user argues that the reason why religion is so successful and widespread is because it creates social structure. Religion makes people start writing systems to write their holy books down, rules to structure society. What I liked the most was the fact that religion is comforting. If a mother loses her child she is comforted at the fact that the child will Ben in heaven. A matyr is comforted knowing god is at his side. As a atheist, how can you explain to a heart broken mother that heaven doesn’t exist and that there is no god. Anyways it was very interesting to read and I want to see your thoughts on it.

Not only in the monotheistic religions. The ancient greeks and romans for example, used to describe natural phenomenon through mythology. If a flood happened, they said 'poseidon is angry with us, and if we don't sacrifice and give him offerings, we are going to get a taste of his wrath'.

And you've made a good point, people that lived long ago all lived shity lives. They didn't have good food, access to modern medicine, so most of their children died before they became teens. So a woman was expected to make as many babies as possible to get a better chance that some of them had stronger and healthier bodies, but most died and it was expected. People had weak immune systems, so they died of normal things like diarrhea and fever, and plagues where rampant, because of bad hygiene and less understanding of human biology and anatomy. And that's why you see in the 1700s that the population increased dramatically. Because through a variety of food choices and better medicine the immune system became stronger against diseases. And now these same mass producing baby machines lost less children.

And naturally people are looking for a sign of comfort in that hars reality, that maybe this is just a test, and since we struggled the most, then surely there must be something better after this.

Some religions were actually there to controll also. Like the catholic church in the middle-ages. They used to tax the poor people and say that they could get a better chance to go heaven if the more you give. And if they payed bonus, they could get a grave closer to the monastery which gave them a better chance to get into heaven.

But i believe objectively that islam was more knowledge driven than any other religion, because the catholic church actually executed smart people that discovered new knowledge and stifled this culture. While in the islamic empires, people became more learned and it was primary an inspiration by the Quran.

 

[Kratos]

As a atheist, how can you explain to a heart broken mother that heaven doesn’t exist and that there is no god.

You can't. Life can be harsh though, that's reality. You can tell someone good things in the hopes that it will console them but it doesn't mean that what you said is true. Sometimes lies can make us feel better because the truth is simply too unbearable.