Vigormortis said:
First of all, what is happiness? Why, unless I'm mistaken, it's a state of mind triggered by chemical reactions. Regardless of what triggers those chemicals, it still has the same end result. Your argument is flawed. As to your other point, you are at least partially correct. However, religion isn't an outlet for faith. People do not need religion to express their faith. Religion drives the idea of faith in a particular belief system into it's followers minds. I'll ask you this, while we're on the topic of postulation (as you've brought up). If your parents, grandparents, guardians, friends, or whoever else raised you had never, ever once mentioned ANYTHING about faith, religion, God, or any such thing, would you even contemplate the idea of putting your "faith" into something like a religion? Let's face it. You wouldn't. You probably wouldn't even have had the idea there was any kind of deity. Likewise, while it is true many people have taken things "too far", as you put it, the problem is, religion throughout history has given power to those that do take it too far. It also gave them excuses to perform horrible atrocities. I never stated that religion was the sole cause of all of histories worst nightmares, but it was a major player in most of them.
I'm sorry, was this still going?
Alright, I'll put it this way: The happiness you get from crack is synthetic, and damages your ability to control the happy-hormones yourself. Religion doesn't.
Religion is an outlet for faith. That does not mean people need religion to express their faith, but it is a way they can.
As for your argument about whether or not I would have "put my faith into something like a religion" if the idea had never been brought up... I will have to say yes. It's human nature.
I, personally, am not religious. I have this quasi-religious view that everything will work itself out (and so far, it has) but I align myself with no deity. Except plausibly the mouse in the purple tailcoat and top hat I contemplated when I was little, but that's irrelevant.
Religion has given people an excuse to take things too far over the course of history, but that's just because it was an easy excuse. Even without religion, most of these atrocities would have occurred, because they had a different driving force behind them, be it conquest, greed or just plain violence.
As it has been an easy excuse to justify actions, it has also become an easy outlet for blame. I honestly don't see why you are so hostile towards it, but I'm guessing it has had some form of negative impact on your life.
