What is the fundamental nature of religion?

W

water

the sea
Registered Senior Member
What is the fundamental nature of religion?


Is it that religion is essentially dealing with matters of what happens after death?
Or ...?

I'm confused here, someone said I probably misunderstood the fundamental nature of religion.
By golly, I might have.

So. What is it?
 
From the perspective of someone inside, I guess it is "Salvation".

From the perspective of someone outside, it's "Beneficial Delusion".
 
being as many religious movements as there is, i imagine it will be hard to pin down the nature of religion as a whole. i think the common essence of religions is to spread a message of a greater life and better way of living. problem we have with the western religions is they fall short of their own aims and ideals.
 
To establish and engage in a positive relationship with God.

All Praise The Ancient Of Days
 
Fundamental Nature of Religion: (I'll Take a Stab at it)

I: You must dissect what religions have in common
A. Joining of People together for one cause or purpose
B. Centered around Higher power(s)
C. Recognition of own shortcomings (Code of Morality)
D. Tax exempt status (only kidding)
E. Common meeting place
F. Heritage/History (unless the religion started yesterday, it has some history to it.)
G. Common Bond with other members(Same as A)

II. You must look into the goals of the Religion
A. Self Help
B. Organized Crime
C. Faith
D. Advancement of said religion
E. War
F. Peace
G. Helping (The poor, hungry, homeless, Community, ect.)
H. Get Rich Scheme (Similiar to B.)

III. You must look at past successes and failures (Heritage/History)

ect. ect. ect. It takes time to really sum up the nature of religion in one sentence without thinking through some of information regarding.
(I am sortof tired right now, but maybe I'll add to this later)
 
Ellion,

i think the common essence of religions is to spread a message of a greater life and better way of living. problem we have with the western religions is they fall short of their own aims and ideals.
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But that isn’t religion since as an atheist I share the same ideals as do humanists etc. That isn’t the fundamental nature of religion.

The common factor in every major religion of whatever variation is an expectation of life beyond death. The features you and others have been describing here (in essence are variations of morality) are the rules one is expected to follow to qualify for the life beyond death. In Buddhism what you do in this life is expected to affect your next life, with Judaism, Islam, Christianity, Hinduism, etc, your actions in this life determine your qualifications for entering paradise when you die. The fundamental nature of these religions is a promise of eternal life and somewhere better than this after you die.

The role you play in this life is not the objective but the test. Nearly all religions and every major religion follow this fundamental paradigm. The differences between the religions lie in the details of the life rules, mainly because they each grew from different cultures with little interaction between them during the formative years. But the underlying concept of a life beyond death originates from that universal desire for most humans that non-existence is unthinkable and not acceptable.
 
Adstar,

To establish and engage in a positive relationship with God.
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But to what end? I.e. why? Isn't the answer an expectation of ultimate reward, or eternal punishment otherwise?
 
The fundamental nature of religion.

Why, after all our converstions I would expect you to know it by now. It goes by this one name:

Herdism.
 
I would say, the fundamental nature of religion as it is;
A fixed body of teaching and rituals pertaining to spiritual existence and moral codes.

The fundamental nature of religion as it should be;
The art of discovering our spiritual selves and uncovering our true nature.
 
I think religion is one way to explain why things happen, namely Why Bad Things Happen To Good People.
 
Light Travelling,


I would say, the fundamental nature of religion as it is;
A fixed body of teaching and rituals pertaining to spiritual existence and moral codes.

The fundamental nature of religion as it should be;
The art of discovering our spiritual selves and uncovering our true nature.
Click to expand...

I don't see these two as clashing.


This:
"A fixed body of teaching and rituals pertaining to spiritual existence and moral codes." is the theory,
and this:
"The art of discovering our spiritual selves and uncovering our true nature." is the practice.
 
Quote w:
"I'm confused here, someone said I probably misunderstood the fundamental nature of religion.
By golly, I might have."

* Heh. By golly, why sweat in the first place? On general observation I agree with SouthStar. But I have an interesting intuition that the pursuit of religion equates to the pursuit of a deeper understanding of oneself. It seems people accept themselves better when they have achieved a certain level of religious understanding.

Allcare.
 
stretched said:
But I have an interesting intuition that the pursuit of religion equates to the pursuit of a deeper understanding of oneself. It seems people accept themselves better when they have achieved a certain level of religious understanding.
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Yes. Religion is just the means, not the end.
 
water said:
I don't see these two as clashing.


This:
"A fixed body of teaching and rituals pertaining to spiritual existence and moral codes." is the theory,
and this:
"The art of discovering our spiritual selves and uncovering our true nature." is the practice.
Click to expand...

I think what I was getting at is that religion tends to have a fixed doctrine which prohibits new information and further exploration, when it should be more a flexible journey of discovery which welcomes new insights and information.

One example of this type of behaviour; Hindus wont listen to new message from buddha
jews wont listen to new message from jesus, and chrisatians in turn wont listen to message from muhammed.
Further teachings were brought by Guru Nank to hindu and muslim
and Paramahansa Yoganada to hindu and christain.. But none of the above would except new information.

In fact there only should be one religion.
 
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if we had only one religion what would its principles be? anyone?
might make a good thread!
 
Cris, you said above

cris said:
But that isn’t religion since as an atheist I share the same ideals as do humanists etc
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but i hadnt said anything was religion. what did you mean was not religion?
 
Ellion,

but i hadnt said anything was religion. what did you mean was not religion?
Click to expand...
You said: “i think the common essence of religions is to spread a message of a greater life and better way of living." My point is that this isn’t unique to religions. Many philosophies and lifestyles share these aims, and I want the same thing but I don’t see that religion is the best path.

What I hope “water” is seeking is what is it that makes religions different to other philosophies and my proposal is that they in particular are rooted in the desire of an afterlife. That concept is not shared by other philosophies.
 
cris said:
My point is that this isn’t unique to religions. Many philosophies and lifestyles share these aims, and I want the same thing but I don’t see that religion is the best path.
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this makes more sense to me than your previous reply. and i would agree there are many paths, an religion may not be the best path for everyone. this is another problem with western relgions in particualr christianity, they hold thast there path is the right path, in fact they believe it is the only path. i am generalizing not all christians will fall under the umberella of narrow mindedness.

i also agree that afterlife promises play a big part in the nature of religion, but this promise is just another aspect of the message.
 
Ellion,

if we had only one religion what would its principles be? anyone?
Click to expand...
What do I have to do to live forever? That is the common underlying theme of every significant religion. Whatever imaginative ideas are proposed if it doesn’t include the rules needed to achieve an afterlife then it is questionable whether it is a religion.

Mainstream religions are all about death. However, the very heavy packaging tends to hide this underlying truth. I.e. God is love etc (you want to be with God when you die because it will be nice with him), Love your neighbor (doing this makes you a good person so you will qualify for heaven when you die), Pray 5 times each day (God likes people who pray so he will let them into heaven when they die). Don’t murder anyone (doing this makes you bad so you won’t qualify for heaven when you die).

Get the idea – what happens after death is the key underlying nature of all major religions.
 
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