Religion was originally made to control the masses.

[[Maza]]

just because I'm not well spoken doesn't mean I'm not serious.
This is my hypothosis. waaaaaaaaaaaaay back in the day...before the greeks built their mighty empire. there were only a few religions....and almost all of them were attempts to explain all of the unusual things in this world....(volcanoes, death, sickness, why humans can speak but other creatures can't....then when the human population started to expand certain civilizations needed leadership and they were chaotic and many and some people rose to lead them...and legends were born of their name and they were tied directly into religions...some religions were meant to keep people alive....old doctrines from the jewish faith (for example) stated that you should never eat pork...Pig was extremely dangerous in those times and these doctrines kept these families alive. and now I want everyone to tell me either how stupid I am or how genius I am. I want good support and contradictions as well..I also want facts...

[Triste Morningstar]

You know, the whole idea of a theory is that is has, like, evidence supporting it. You know, it's not just pulled out of your a**, like this thread was.

[[Maza]]

The real truth is, I started this thread to spark something...I want to see if anyone else has had similar thoughts so that they can CONTRIBUTE. I NEVER intended to blab on about my own opinions and say that everyone else is wrong. If I'm full of it that tell me why...don't sit and insult me...all that does is instigate aggression. oh and also...(I'm serious about this) there is a HUGE difference between a theory and a hypothosis....

[maenad nuri]

Mazaleer

The real truth is, I started this thread to spark something...I want to see if anyone else has had similar thoughts so that they can CONTRIBUTE. I NEVER intended to blab on about my own opinions and say that everyone else is wrong. If I'm full of it that tell me why...don't sit and insult me...all that does is instigate aggression. oh and also...(I'm serious about this) there is a HUGE difference between a theory and a hypothosis....

You do realize that by not even including your reasoning for such odd theories (and you have more than one in there) you really are inviting people only to laugh at you.

Support yourself, and you'll get more intelligent responses.

[Geit]

I agree with you in some aspects. This "religion as a leader" idea was never conscious, and only now is being abused. Even if god didn't exist, man would create him, because we don't feel comfortable without some higher power to explain why life sucks. Though I am a bit confused about some of your h-y-p-o-t-h-e-s-i-s, I do agree that religion was created and keeps people in check. I believe they are mutually exclusive, however.

[Axioma]

Well, sociologically, the main purpose of religion "back in the day" was it's abbility to hold a community together cohesively, as well as provide a uniform system of morality.

This would be the "functional" aspect of relgion. Later, Marx also pointed out that religion also serves as a method of control of the masses by promising a better afterlife for enduring in this life. Of course, when he did this, Marx was thinking of his-day Christianity and not much of other religions.
So you're really just echoing Marx.

[Ananel]

You want these things, yet you will not give them.

Why should we?

[Starlock]

Religion was not originally devised to control the masses. That I'm pretty damn certain of without even consulting sources. However, I think you were probably speaking of ORGANIZED religion, not religion in general. But even with organized religion, controlling the masses was undoubtedly secondary to the primary purpose of religion. That purpose is to explain the world around you so it makes sense and doesn't seem so scary. Religion deals with things like the cycle of life and death, explaining why some people get blessings and other people get curses, or why the sun rises and sets every day. It wasn't devised as some sinister plot to control the masses, but so that the minds of individuals could have some peace and comfort.

[Fiddlers Green]

I remember reading a little story about the peoples in the fertile cresent (modern day Iraq, between the Tibris and Euphrates rivers.). Okay, it wasn't a story, it was a study of their way of life (the epic of Gilgamesh, now there was a story). As I recall, at the top of the Mesopotamian social structure was a preist-king. An office that held power, because this person was the conduit betwenn the mortals and the Gods. This was very important, because if the people couldn't appease they're dieties, they were likely to die (starving to death as a result of flooding, or unusual crop blights.). I however, tend to take the opposite stance to the belief that religion was engineered as a control mechanism. I see religious leaders, becoming secular leaders as a result of people needing their guidance, and wanting their dieties to be happy with them, rather than the religion being built just to control them...

[Operation Shoestring]

Marx rip-off.... rolleyes

[xsparkledovex]

And computers were originally made for computation, not so people like you could abuse them like this.
Go away.

[Theopneustos]

Mazaleer

old doctrines from the jewish faith (for example) stated that you should never eat pork...Pig was extremely dangerous in those times and these doctrines kept these families alive.

Dangerous? More like unclean.

[Change (Revolution)]

Karl Marx believed that, thats where the philosophy came from (no other philosopher has made that statement before Marx. Well, a few others, but Marx popularized the idea). He and all others beleived that, of course, saw religion in MODERN society and made the theory that religion was made as control.

Fact is, well, lets think about it, you can't take an observation from Modern society (well, its not modern anymore) and expect it to be accurate for the entire history of the world.

Religion is the cousin of Philosophy, which is a sort of quest for understanding. Religion came from philosophy, at least I believe, when people started analyzing the world. Or perhaps Religion came first as an easier way to understand things.

Either way, its about understanding the world around us, about life the universe and everything. Not to say religion is wrong. I have my faith, and I endorse others having theirs. As long as it is about empowerment and not discrimination, Im go (though Im a hipocrit and take pleasure in getting people pissed off at me)

[[Maza]]

Thank you all for participating in my study.
Allthough I'm very sure that none of the people who've posted in the thread will believe my next statement, I am obliged to make it anyway.
I have been trying to determine what sort of language gets what results..
in other words, I wanted to see what would happen if I wrote what I wrote.

I do actually have different ideas about the origins of organized religions, and I honestly believe it to have a strong signifigance in todays culture. I will later, when I have the mental energy to start a serious thread, indulge that conversation and give everyone here wonderful debate starter.

Yes this is for a paper I'm writing.
Yes any and all following posts in reaction to this post are relivent which is why I made the post...instead of simply writing it and making my observations.
Sorry if I've offended anyone.
Thank you for your honest opinions.

[Jediwannabe353]

Mazaleer

The real truth is, I started this thread to spark something...I want to see if anyone else has had similar thoughts so that they can CONTRIBUTE. I NEVER intended to blab on about my own opinions and say that everyone else is wrong. If I'm full of it that tell me why...don't sit and insult me...all that does is instigate aggression. oh and also...(I'm serious about this) there is a HUGE difference between a theory and a hypothosis....

I compleetly agree with you... Religion is a scam, and it only causes problems.