What could religion even offer?

The world has this nasty habit of forgetting about things a week after they happen. Please, if you can, donate to the relief effort in Japan.
http://msf.org
Doctors Without Borders

Tide comes in, tide goes out, you can't explain that.

I recently had a discussion with a friend, brought up by my last video.
He argued that "I want to learn as much as I can about the universe but I accept there are some things humans are not capable of learning. That is where religion comes in for me."

The funny thing is, I do too. I want to learn as much as I can about the splendour of the interactions between predator prey systems, and the delicate balance held in nature(Reimchen, 1983). I want to learn as much as I can about the nature of our Universe. How it's expanding at a positive rate of acceleration. How in a few billion years, it may become impossible based off of light-based observation, to determine that the universe even exists beyond our galaxy (Krauss 2009). I want to learn as much as I can about the nature of the reaction of Fe3+Oxide and aluminium, when you give it a little push (Thermite). But the funny thing is, if I turned to religion, I would never be able to.

Religion is a non-answer. It is a construct of the mind. A holy book belies it's ethereal qualities through the edits and insertions of political and societal ideologies. They offer no knowledge not previously attainable, and often far more accurately described, outside of their religion (Dawkins 2010).



So when I hear the phrase:

"I accept there are some things humans are not capable of learning. That is where religion comes in for me."

All I can think of is; "How does a product of man give you insight on something man isn't capable of giving insight on?"

What would have happened had we simply stated:

"Tide comes in, tide goes out, you can't explain that."

Where would be today if we hadn't inferred that the gravitational pull of the moon, associated with the rotation of the earth, drives the cyclical variations in shoreline water level observed throughout the world? If we instead decided the question was unknowable, or that Lorthos the Tidemaker drove the tides in and out with his tentacles of fury?

Where would be today if we hadn't investigated the structure of the cell, hadn't determined that the reason people started coughing up blood every now and then wasn't because Avies, of the Sky and the Wind was seizing our right to breath, but instead was an infection of tubercles bacillus, and that given the right biochemical arrangement of our treatment molecule, the infected areas and only the infected areas could be destroyed.

I choose not to turn to religion, not because I disagree with it's objective morality, not because I disagree with it's factual inaccuracies, not because I disagree with it's use of threats to persuade others to your cause, but because I don't need to distract myself with non-answers. I don't need to resort to the bible to know that I should treat others with the same respect I wish to be treated with. These things people claim you need religion for are fundamental to our social society. We didn't learn from religion, religion learned from us. It just dropped out of class thousands of years ago.

Thanks for watching.

Music = Kevin Macleod, Open Those Bright Eyes

Reimchen, T. E. 1983. Structural relationships between spines and lateral plates in threespine stickleback (Gasterosteus aculeatus ). Evolution 37:931-946.

A Universe From NothingL Lawrence Krauss.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ImvlS8PLIo

Thermite vs. Car
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rdCsbZf1_Ng

Richard Dawkins: Faith School Menace?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ulX8nZjeCXE

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[vegasOasis]

1:36 cool outfit

[ThinkAbout1t]

@vegasOasis Islamic batman

[fakeham]

"We didn't learn from religion, religion learned from us, it just dropped out of class thousands of years ago"

Great quote my man.

[moyga]

@RWJonesAIC

Also religion =/= philosophy, it has some poor philosophy in it, but it is more than simply philosophy. For example it makes testable scientific and historical claims. Philosophy requires the use of reason and logic, Religion is dogmatic and appeals to faith. Being religious does not make you a philosopher and for the most part religion has no place in academic philosophy. If in one of my philosophy degrees I made an argument which appealed to faith, I would fail.

[Anglican08]

I suppose to a person of religious sensibilities, asking the question "How does a product of man give you insight on something man isn't capable of giving insight on?" Wouldn't really work because they believe their holly book is in a some sense more than the product of man alone.

[Zwemer100]

You are like a child who gets raised by his parents and then rejects them later on and says, we don't need you anymore.

But one day, you will meet your maker!

[dkthg]

Great video! Godless and FREE!!

[studioROT]

@jumb0mumb0 , get well soon!

[jumb0mumb0]

@studioROT

You arrive at your own asinine conclusions, so no time to answer fools, sorry :(

[studioROT]

@MrLowercaseA , here in Ireland we say 'aluminium'. And my New Oxford American Dictionary spells 'aluminim' as follows: a-lu-mi-num. Say it with me, MrLowercaseA: a-lu-mi-num. Don't let the lum-in propagandists sway you!

[studioROT]

@jumb0mumb0 , why is it important to you that you can belittle Thinkabout1t's idea? How would that add anything of value to our lives?

These are only two questions; surely you have time to answer those?

[studioROT]

Fantastically clear statement..!

Thanks, you made my day...