Why do religions try to make it seem as though sin or our "dark side" aren't critical to our continued evolution and survival as a species?

Question

Why can't the religous see that if things like hate, fear, and anger are "evil" then so are human beings regardless of being created by a perfect deity?

Religion seems to want to be segregated with certain aspects of human behavior by calling them good while denouncing others by calling them bad.

The reality, however, is that all human behavior is "natural" regardless of whether it positively or negatively affects others. This of course includes everything from rape, incest, murder, and racism to homosexuality and philanthropy.

All of these actions/behaviors are because of our biological and physiological make up. We merely "perceive" these behaviours differently based on the state of our present social evolution. More precisely, we make personal judgments based on the outcome of events and how it affects us.

Whether the Christian god is an actual entity or just a cleverly constructed myth it is clear that human social consciousness has evolved over time.

In the days of the caveman, for example, there was no such idea as the age of consent or consentual sex, period. Sex as an "act of love" came much later in history.

Human reproduction usually occured as an act of violence - - yet no one will argue that these behaviors were simply a manifestation of nature.

So why do religions expend so much effort trying to make it seems as though our dark side hasn't played a critical role in the survival of our as a species?

Answer 1

That is how religions work.

Answer 2

your idiot if you think rape, murder. and stealing are natural parts of being human.

Answer 3

Well, slick, actually, I think you're exactly wrong.



While fear and aggression are, indeed, aspects of human nature, they are aspects that are anti-social, for the most part, and are advised against in all cultures. There are, of course, socially acceptable outlets for those emotions (sports, for example), but those emotions, and the behaviors they spawn, are corrosive of our ability to work and live in adequate harmony with each other, and are, actually, measurably "bad."



Behaviors which hurt innocent folks are "bad," because they damage the fabric of society (whether it is a tribe, a band, or a nation), and it isn't religion that disapproves. Or rather, religion is simply a way of codifying that disapproval. It's society itself.

Answer 4

God you are the most stupid moron on here. A babe in the woods.

Answer 5

Mammals for the most part never jeopardize 4 things: Obtaining food, shelter, safety of their young and future provision (Like squirrels storing up nuts) Yet humans with their vices and foolishness can jeopardize those things all to time. Why would evolution cause the loss of wisdom to be so great in humans that it is less that instinctual animals?

I can't believe evolution would do that. It has been wisely said that "the depravity of man is the most empirically verifiable fact but the most intellectually difficult to accept. Why then should such a species be preserved?



If we are the product of primordial slime . . . Time, plus matter, plus chance . . . The accidental collocation of atoms and are nothing but a blip on the radar screen of time. We are cosmic accidents . . . Our worth is reduced to nothing but material. We couldn’t even trust the formation of our intelligence due to being only chance cosmic accidents. Our thoughts would only be atoms interacting. We would be hardwired to respond certain ways to things according to those interacting atoms. How limiting and blocking of free will since we would be so hardwired with limited interactions of those atoms.



Mass death and suffering would be nothing to even care about because evolution and natural processes could just be making some readjustments or doing some major cleansing work through mass suffering and death. If it all supposedly started by chance, who knows what direction it would take in an existence and universe void of meaning or purpose



I just can't buy any of it.

Answer 6

Don't know

Answer 7

What you describe is amorality ... which is the proper conclusion if we are the product of Evolution.



Yes, there is hate, anger and various evils prominent in human behavior - and the are objective realities, not "neutral observations".



But there is also objective good.

You seem to be looking at this question as if God does not exist ... which is not that surprising these days.



As atheism becomes the predominant worldview we spiral into meaninglessness and amorality - as most people over 50 can attest to seeing.

Yet, real meaning and Truth are the very things most young people want today ... and are not getting.



Objective good and evil do exist. Many people deny this ... until they are faced with it themselves.

And since good and evil are realities, so is a moral law.

Which means there is a moral law giver ... the very thing many are trying to deny.

Answer 8

Really. Well then, how do you explain the 'claim' evilutionists make that FEAR is the instinct that 'developed' to survive: fight or flight; but to be 'fearless' is considered better?



I am getting tired of dumbing down spiritual realities for you people. You reject everything I say anyway to your own destruction. So be it. It's only your eternal destiny at stake.... why should you care? Lol... Oh... the proverb is true: you can pound on a fool as much as you like; you can't pound out the foolishness.

Answer 9

Yes it is natural to feel fear (that our survival is threatened) and the related greed, anger, etc. Buddhism and Hinduism recognize that these feelings do arise in us. But we have to work hard and practice constantly so that we do not react destructively to these emotions.



It takes a lot of meditation, mindfulness, yoga and other practices and studies to get to the point where we respond constructively to fear, anger, greed etc.





"Kusala and akusala are conditions which arise in the mind, producing results initially in the mind, and from there to external actions and physical features. The meanings of kusala and akusala therefore stress the state, the contents and the events of mind as their basis.

Kusala can be rendered generally as "intelligent, skillful, contented, beneficial, good," or "that which removes affliction." Akusala is defined in the opposite way, as in "unintelligent," "unskillful" and so on.

The meaning of akusala should be understood in just the opposite way from above: as the mind that is unhealthy, harmful, based on ignorance, and resulting in suffering. In brief, it refers to those conditions which cause the mind to degenerate both in quality and efficiency, unlike kusala, which promotes the quality and efficiency of the mind."

https://www.urbandharma.org/udharma5/goodevil.html







Do you really not understand the concept of actions and consequences? Do you really believe that you do as you please without the consent of others? You are not the only one with power. If you rape, kill, steal, cheat, harm or hurt people - then they can also do the same to you. Do you really believe that prehistoric humans and apes of today have no rules in their society? You really need to study and see the research which shows social experiments done on apes and chimps - and how much innate sense of fairness, justice and empathy they have.