Reply #62: "Religion is the opiate of the masses"

[Dem Agog]

You ask: Do people really need this feeling so they can go on with their daily lives?

Answer? ABSOLUTELY!

Religion was borne out of a crisis of self-awareness. We're the only creatures on this earth that are aware that we will not go every day like the one before it.

We are the only creatures who know we will die. Your dog has no clue. Your cat has no clue. The bird out your window has no clue.

How do you cope with that?

For many people, it's religion. As I wrote in another post here, I believe that western religion is an attempt to market spirituality in nice, plastic packaging that's palatable to everyone: infants, toddlers, adults... The less people think and just accept their pretty package of spirituality the more viable the product is.

The problem comes when people start introducing logic into the equation. Those people (like me, I was baptized in a Christian church at 10, but I am not religious) sometimes step back and then realize that they weren't sold the "real thing".

I believe that reality is that there is no afterlife. I believe that spirituality, and working to be a better person and to connect with the world and our universe is the only legitimate "divinity" out there. Everything else in the US at least, is as marketed and marked up for profit as McDonalds happy meals.