Was Modern Religion just a way to enslave the masses?

Yup. I went there.

But I truly believe that in the beginning, religion was good and just, until evil minds warped it into the mind control device it now is.

This goes for every branch of just about everything, Christianity, Judaism, Catholicism, and whatever other branches I'm forgetting..

This is not meant to offend any followers of these beliefs of course, I just want to spark an intelligent discussion.

 

who is the enslaver?

 

Anything good can be used for evil purposes. I am not offended. I actually agree with you. There are those that have taken an honest expression on how to live a more compassionate and respectable way and turn it into a means of controlling.

But like Neodude is bringing up, who is the one doing enslaving? Who is the man behind the iron curtain? The simple answer is that there is no man. It just morphed by those that could not care about the message of that religion and instead have used it to gain anywhere from social standing, profits, and a means to manipulating people because they have a will to power rather than a will to meaning or a will to understanding.

 

Religion is about meaning. All myths, ceremonies, rites, writings, dogmas and beliefs are rooted in this meaning. Until you have the direct, immediate experience of this meaning, you cannot speak with any real authority about it. Without this direct experience of this meaning, it is all too easy to submit to the illusion that anyone who helps others find this meaning is using "mind-control."

You could say the same about anyone who offers a sufficiently overwhelming and extraordinary experience, regardless of whether it is meaningful or not. You could say that their wealth, power, fame, is their tangible benefit of their ability to use "mind-control."

If you don't know meaning, you can't know what you're talking about.

 

Yeah modern religion is used to enslave the masses. There are still some sects and religions that don't do this, but for the most part those who follow a set religion are pretty much cattle.

 

Any system that promises salvation in exchange for sacrifice or payment is a wolf in sheep's clothing. Not only do they pull the wool over your eyes, they charge you for the privilege.

 

Why should I believe you?

 

I never ask anyone to believe what I say, because what I say is my personal opinion based on my own reflections. As Lao Tzu says in the Tao Te Ching "Those who know do not speak, those who speak do not know." As such I only know for myself, not for anyone else.

 

Yes, there ARE disreputable "religious leaders" who make their fortune selling snake-oil spirituality. It is called Simony. It has always been a problem and it has always been forbidden.

Simony has nothing to do with any truly inspired religious experience. Those who tell you THAT may be doing so for reasons that also have nothing to do with your best interests.

It's your experience to have or not have, don't let anyone take it from you.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oqbeo5A6ujE

 

I can respect that.

Anyone as wise as Lao Tzu accepts truth any way it may be known.

 

'was'? i think 'is' is more like it.

 

Religion is what keeps the poor from murdering the rich -Napoleon

 

Damn right. But cases like this sadden me: "Weighing my religion against my sense of logic is wrong, my religion says so!"


You were born free, you can do anything short of eating your own head if you were to attempt to. But this raises an issue: "If I can go set that man's house on fire after bludgeoning him with a tennis racket, what's to stop others from doing that to me?". In a way, every law, moral or civil, restricts the number of actions you can undertake, but they also protect. The "moral" laws of religion were mostly intended to protect the society that those religions revolved around, I'd say. The problem with religions is that they claim to be eternally correct and applicable to the world, which is ever-changing. I can agree that several philosophical concepts are still true, and will probably remain true. I think that "treat others as you wish to be treated" is a fucking awesome idea to stand behind. To attend those massive churchgroups talking about the rapture and shit though? You'd have to be a slave to shit-retardedness, maybe. Really, I think the concept of religion started with the best interests of many; if you think your religion is the only way to "eternal life" you have a bit of an obligation to try to convert others. But now it consists of a few good, many gullible, and those who realized how much money they would make catering to the religion that people aren't allowed to ignore. If you thought that by buying some dbag's bullshit holy water you'll be in the grace of God, you better not ignore it, and you better send a payment of $19.99 +S&H.

 

The essence of prejudice . . . All X Are Y.

X is whatever group of people, or school of thought, you simply refuse to know on their/its own terms. These days, Muslims and non-English-speaking Immigrants are very popular subjects for this kind of dehumanizing ignorance, as are any followers of any Western religion and one or the other half of your fellow Americans (however you divide us).

Y is whatever uneducated nonsense you choose to believe about X.

But hey, it's your mind. Believe whatever you are capable of.

 

If Religion really was controlling the minds of the masses, wouldn't the masses' behavior be a lot better . . . or, a least, a lot more consistent?