Why are you taking this insurance policy?
Imagine someone approached you and proposed this: they have an insurance policy for a car, but, you get to pay the lowest premium in the market. So you ask how, and they say, that this will cover your great grand child's first car, and you just have to pay premium until the child's born. Will you buy this insurance, now? No? Then why are you paying premium for an insurance policy that is supposed to cover your 'soul' once you are in your afterlife? "Religions are multilevel marketing companies selling insurance for the afterlife"
Spartan101
Stealth
8 months ago
Say wha.....? Insurance policies like term are for your dependents, health and others for your personal unforseen circumstances. Where did afterlife come into picture here?
That is an anology for religions gaining people by indoctrinating them from childhood and threatening with hell. Good examples of this are the Pascal's Wager in Christianity and this Shloka in Hindutva:
अस्तिचेत् नास्तिको हतः
नास्तिचेत् अस्तिको हानिः
It's an analogy I used to question religion. Here you believe into God(s) of that religion and you pay the premium of blindly believing and not questioning any of what religions say, and you stop being rational. I also compare it with multi level marketing, because everyone who joined a religion will spread it to his offspring.
I would expect anyone who has had a proper education to start thinking rationally at some point in their life when it comes to religion and superstitions. If you cannot apply your education and commonsense into your everyday life, then I guess the education as a system has failed. You didn't get educated to live with a herd mentality.
School doesn't teach you "God is watching you" and "God will punish you for all your sins". It is the parents who do. Epics like Ramayana and Mahabharata should be purely taught as fiction and takeaways from it being the good and bad about life - more of a moral science at school. The entire problem lies with most parents who never questioned anything in their entire life and passed on the BS to the further generations. Your education hasn't helped you if you aren't questioning.
And, I don't see any difference between people fighting over God and those fighting over their favorite movie stars. Both are equally stupid IMO. But fighting over fiction, well! I have nothing to say.
Good analogy but the masses will continue to follow because they need something to have faith and keep going during tough times.
They will, no doubt about that. But the 'why' is what I continue to wonder about. If it is only for helping to cope with though times, I'm ok. But lately people are increasingly basing all their experiences on religion, and are starting to distort reality by pushing religion into education and politics. By building these playing card buildings, the moment one card in the base falls, the entire building will fall. I believe it's been to have a strong base by keeping it based on fact and not on faith.
Tl;Dr it is not religion in itself that says anything or asks anyone to do something. People have various motivations to use it to seize key political power, a.k.a, power to influence others and to be seen as someone worth of respect.
Let's keep in mind that the mass of people crave attention and derive a lot of meaning by aligning to a group that their immediate peers identify with. Off late, that is religious for many demographic slices, owing to the significant grassroots messaging by the most powerful political party today.
After this point, whether you believe in specifics propaganda, rituals, or not depends on who you are influenced by.
I know highly educated and highly scientifically minded people distributing religious items in their community . These are given to them by BJP for every election/festival or Ram Mandir thing, and their reasons are to foster the community they feel belonged to. One of their friends is a high profile lawyer who speaks for the community. But on this trajectory, they inadvertently yet enthusiastically take up superstitious activities, and refuse to believe that democracy or scientific organisations might be deteriorating. Still I don't see any sign of active hate mongering, which is a relief, but am worried for how long, given the easy propaganda to wrap anything in unquestionable claims.
Those with even slight religious beliefs go deeper and not with the popular rhetoric, while those with ulterior motives make an effective unquestionable shield using all vague stuff in it.
It takes a lot of social capital and skills to oppose something like that and still live in that community. So most people either silently resign and agree or actively join the ranks of supporters. Finally, as I said in the start, it doesn't matter what, but people do stuff that is somehow motivated by organized and centralized religious thought.
What exactly are religions selling after life? I thought religion is a way of life in this life period
majboormajdoor
Stealth
8 months ago
Religion and believing in God can be completely separate IMO.
Some non-believers are religious because it gives them a community, events, celebrations etc. They are agnostic or don't care at all, but remain a part of the tradition, the values and donate. It brings a meaning into their life. They would even fight other religions if there is a crusade. This will just be an extreme form of groupthink.
Then there are believers in God, who don't follow a religion. They are more individualistic in their relationship to God. They will seldom care about rituals and traditions, won't forcefully visit holy places, and won't believe in Sadhus and other Godly men.
I find the latter more tolerable. But either religion or God, people need something to hold by, something to give them meaning in their pretty fucked up lives. Some even need God/religion to have a moral compass. Most people are that smart to be empathetic so fear of God helps them to not no anti-social things. True, religion has led to wars when group-think is strong, but absence of that fear might have led to thievery, homicides, etc. For wars, humans would have found other reasons, if not religions. I find the ideas of religion and God having a net positive in the society.
GlassSkin63
Stealth
8 months ago
There is a difference in being religious and being spiritual. The latter is trying to find answers to questions that are yet to be answered wrt our true nature. The former is choosing to follow rituals due to fear or desires. Being religious can be a stepping stone to being spiritual if awakened enough.
And there is the third kind that's neither and likes to think they are above both kinds and are happy to mock others beliefs.
Qwerty2398
Stealth
8 months ago
Insurance is a great financial product, but unfortunately the least understood product.
Most people would buy this insurance because the cost is low. That's reality. The agents will get good commission for selling this.
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