Larry King - "if we didn't die there'd be no religion."

[Sweetie]

Thoughts on that assertion?

[slimshady2357]

Thoughts on that assertion?

My thoughts are that Larry King is an idiot. Ok, he's not an idiot, but he sure acts like one sometimes.

Even if we didn't die, people would wonder how we came to be, they would still need to search for an answer to why the universe and everything in it is here.

I really, really doubt that if we didn't die there would be no religion.

Adam

[viscousmemories]

Well to be clear, he actually said:
Isn't it true, Father Manning, that all religion is really based -- if we didn't die there'd be no religion. All religion is based on fear of dying?
So the question (I disagree that it was an assertion) was "Isn't all religion based on fear of dying?" Now I don't know enough about non-Abrahamic religions to answer that question, but it seems to me that Abrahamic religions are solidly based on the assumption that we have an immortal soul. So in that way it seems reasonable (if not completely accurate) to describe it as based on a fear of dying.

[livius drusus]

My thoughts are that Larry King is an idiot. Ok, he's not an idiot, but he sure acts like one sometimes.

I beg to differ (http://www.freethought-forum.com/forum/showthread.php?t=2344), kind sir. :P

[Ymir's blood]

Death is so central to the human experience that I don't think we could really even guess what life would be like without it.

[Sweetie]

What I see presented is the idea that religion only exists because of fear, in this case, fear of death.

Now, for all those who believe that religion came to exists and continues to exist so successfully because it makes one feel good, because some people need it, "if there was no God it would be necessary that we create him," Voltaire, or for reasons similar.....

So, that's what I was aiming to discuss.

Does religion exist primarily because of fear of death?

Does religion exist primarily because of fear of the unknown?

[viscousmemories]

I'm sure fear (of death, the unknown, whatever) plays a part, but it seems more likely to me that religion is the result of a natural desire to know why we exist and a corollary desire to believe that our existence is meaningful. :shrug:

[Valz]

if we didn't die there'd be no religion."

Using that line of reasoning, it could be argued that the portrayal of Gods as immortals and/or souls living for eternity is an indication that death is NOT a good thing.


Valz

[livius drusus]

Or that death is a transitional step to eternity, or one spoke in an ever-turning wheel, or a price to pay for transgression. I think that even within the structure of eternal being theologies, death can play many roles.

On another note, it's lovely to see a new user dive right in. Welcome to FF, Valz. :welcome2:

[Valz]

On another note, it's lovely to see a new user dive right in. Welcome to FF, Valz. :welcome2:

Thanks, nice forum :)

Valz

[livius drusus]

Thank you. Nice avatar. :thumbup: