To quote a few:
"Religion is a system of wishful illusions together with a disavowal of reality, such as we find nowhere else but in a state of blissful hallucinatory confusion. Religion's eleventh commandment is 'Thou shalt not question'". -Sigmund Freud, The Future of an Illusion
"Religion, simply a system of beliefs" -(indirect simplification) Gordon Allport
There are also a few other quotes about religion that I find interest me;
“I believe in God, but not as one thing, not as an old man in the sky. I believe that what people call God is something in all of us. I believe that what Jesus and Mohammed and Buddha and all the rest said was right. It's just that the translations have gone wrong.” -John Lennon
"Religion is regarded by the common people as true, by the wise as false, and by rulers as useful." -Seneca
"Half the people in the world think that the metaphors of their religious traditions, for example, are facts. And the other half contends that they are not facts at all. As a result we have people who consider themselves believers because they accept metaphors as facts, and we have others who classify themselves as atheists because they think religious metaphors are lies." -Joseph Campbell
"Religion is still useful among the herd - that it helps their orderly conduct as nothing else could. The crude human animal is in-eradicably superstitious, and there is every biological reason why they should be.
Take away his Christian god and saints, and he will worship something else...” -H.P. Lovecraft
"The story goes that a public sinner was excommunicated and forbidden entry to the church. He took his woes to God. 'They won't let me in, Lord, because I am a sinner.'
'What are you complaining about?' said God. 'They won't let Me in either.” -Brennan Manning (moreso a quote about a specific religion, but interesting to me nonetheless).
Personality, I see religion as a humanistic social construction, created and tempered to bring meaning to our lives, something we all seek; we all seek something to follow, and things such as religion are often easier to model ourselves by than the alternative of altering our lives to our own accord, as it is easier for some to find meaning in these social structures (not just religion, there is philosophy as well, some even structure their lives blindly by the laws of their land).
So onto the discussion, what do you think religion is? What are your thoughts on religion in general? Do you follow a religion, and if so, leave a generalization of it and discuss why you have chosen it over alternatives; you could discuss things you enjoy about your religion, and things you don't agree with within it. If you think religion is good, bad, etc, tell us why?
Most importantly though, keep the discussion civil, thought provoking, and on topic; thank you
