Some food for thought.... By some psychological norms, it is important for everyone to have a belief in a higher power - be that god, the universe, etc... It's important to keep in check our ego, to realize that we cannot control everything around us and its there to serve as a mechanism by which one can accept this reality and release frustration knowing that it was "beyond their control". Can religion become an addiction for some? I believe it can. Consider each, consider how each can equally affect your life? I can go into more detail, but I want to see if this starts anything or takes off anywhere. My strongest belief is that everyone should have the right to make their own choices. I fully respect everyone's right to their own beliefs, so dish it out.
make peace with death and enjoy the life you are already living. what if heaven is not a place we go to when we die? what if heaven is the world we are building today. the rhetoric explained in the bible advised people to do good and they would be rewarded with a "heaven". wouldnt every person on this earth helping eachother and being productive, as the texts from the OG bible's advise create an overall better life? since the bible is so old, the skrewn interpretation of it has translated various ways in which have been manipulated and transformed so many times it has been to hard to count. athiests want to blame religion for causing wars, sacrafice, persecution, segregation, the list goes on. the truth is, with anything in life the problem does not lie in the ideal, it lies within the mindset of cumulitive people who for some odd psychological reason, feel they need to control people and profit from misery. nobody will know the answer to this shit, but all we can do is help spread the good vibes and just encourage self respect, and match that with others and have them pay it foward.
I wouldn't go so far as to say an addiction. I'd say they use religion as a crutch. It is a way to justify the wrong, and explain the right in their eyes. Instead of coming to terms with the physical reality under their nose, they live inside an idea; the concept of religion. By treating the abstract as concrete, and set in stone, you bypass opinion and personal perception and rely on someone else's views.
Lately iv been thinking about the same sort of thing but i dont think of religion as an addiction as much as a tool for people (politicians always come to mind for me lol) to give themselves a positive image without actually having good morals. But thats just meh
Can religion become an addiction for some? More than just a addiction but a all consuming life style. Eg Christianity keeps a heap of mentally ill people out of mental health services by enabling to feel sane in a reality that meets there needs.
[quote name='Herballer']Some food for thought.... By some psychological norms, it is important for everyone to have a belief in a higher power - be that god, the universe, etc... Important for the benefit of who? everyone? the psychological norm society? The belief in the higher power - be that god, the universe league of deep thinkers. What facts are they basing this importance on and for whos benefit.
Not everyone has to subscribe to the belief of a god because of some "psychological norms" because psychological norms don't exist.