Hi gang!

[realthinker]

Hi Gang!

I'm new here and hope to find some intellectual discourse on religion and the social basis for it. My goal is not to prove or disprove God and religion, but to understand why there is religion and why it's been so prominent for so long. For what it's worth, I do believe that all religion is false -- note I do not say "wrong" -- but also that it has served a vital role in human progress. I believe it is now becoming a liability, and I'd love to explain that and debate the thesis.

Along the way I'd like to talk about how we as individuals arrive at "truth" and the nature of spirituality.

I will not debate the truth of scripture or whether a god of any sort is genuine. Those are tired arguments that have gotten us nowhere for a thousand or more years. There have been plenty of smart people who've tried to tackle that. I doubt any of us will shed any light on those questions. I'd invite you all to drop that and start looking at human and social behavior to find some discussion that might lead us somewhere productive.

[otseng]

Welcome to the forum!

[bernee51]

Hi Realthinker, and welcome

Along the way I'd like to talk about how we as individuals arrive at "truth" and the nature of spirituality.

We'd better try to settle on a definition of 'truth' and 'spirit' first.

I'd invite you all to drop that and start looking at human and social behavior to find some discussion that might lead us somewhere productive.

Isn't human and social behaviour the reason we have gods and religion in the first place?

Jump in!!