I'm reading The Brothers Karamazov. Did peasants of the past really only live because they devoted themselves to religion?

[Ambivalent1]

These people suffered greatly but they continued on because of their faith. I and many today find no comfort in old, unverifiable religious claims, which hurts us because why continue on without the promise of heaven and ultimate meaning?

 

[Forever Sleep]

It wasn't just the promise of heaven though. I think it was more the fear of punishment and hell. I saw a YouTube video once where a lady identified when the concept of suicide as sinful appeared in religion. So supposedly- back in the day, when the peasants had back breaking lives working in the fields- they were told their reward would come in heaven. Naturally- more and more decided to kill themselves to avoid their awful time on earth. According to this lady- it was that point that suicide was connected with the punishment of going to hell. I've looked for that video so many times now but can't find it... But yeah- I think it's the combination of fear and hope that used to work so well.

 

[(¥)]

whejn peiople are afrraid reliance ob religiom increaae. dangerous world. no explsijn for evebts= fear unknowm. superstitionn form. warriors aer afraid and see hipe in religiokn. villiagers see tghis as reason yo resume belief:

if lion uss protect of gods, we ravbbits ussr ortection. we coyld be strong as lion.

workds fir yrars to now. eveb though we realixze free will.

 

[josephk]

Brilliant novel. Yes i think most people (not just peasants) have continued through all sorts of dreadful experiences because of religion. If you believe that all this has a purpose & is all part of Gods plan then it must be very comforting. I cant remember where i read it , but i recall reading about a study done in the 70s of what was considered likely to lead to people surving the Holocaust camps & (all other things being equal) it was having a faith that it was all part of Gods plan. Indeed some people have sought out suffering in order to emulate the suffering of Christ.
Its worth persevering with the novel. It contains one of the best arguments against a loving god that ive ever read. Dostoevsky was a firm believer but must have had moments of doubt to write this sort of stuff.

 

[Orbitc]

Lol specifically so that you and I can console ourselves with the fact that it is better to suffer from a lack of meaning in life than to have such a shitty, miserable and stupid meaning of life as an absurd religious lie that some medieval schizophrenic came up with. Probably now I'm going to be banned here like on Twitter for inciting religious hatred)))

 

[Namensjemand]

I once read that the life of a peasant in medieval England could be alright. They had a strong community, festivities, a connection to nature and overall actually considerable more leasure time than you got with a typical job. So not sure how true that is, in general.
I often thought to myself that it would be nice to have faith, then I had it due to mental problems, I prefer a sober look at life hands-down. Illusions suck.

 

[SexyIncél]

I think religions about imagined metahumans is only one of many solutions

The fundamental problem is "disenchantment": we're stuck in a highly bureaucratized world, where we're divided-and-conquered rather than work together on shared imaginative goals

Nothing to live nor die for

But we can get the benefits of spiritually & nondualism without "woo". By trying to understand each other

 

[Octopixie]

It wasn't just the promise of heaven though. I think it was more the fear of punishment and hell. I saw a YouTube video once where a lady identified when the concept of suicide as sinful appeared in religion. So supposedly- back in the day, when the peasants had back breaking lives working in the fields- they were told their reward would come in heaven. Naturally- more and more decided to kill themselves to avoid their awful time on earth. According to this lady- it was that point that suicide was connected with the punishment of going to hell. I've looked for that video so many times now but can't find it... But yeah- I think it's the combination of fear and hope that used to work so well.

My freshman year English professor in college also taught us this. As well as teaching us that a lot of the writings about Armageddon and a messiah and the rapture were because of people at the time feeling trapped and that promise of a savior/rescue helped to prevent them from trying suicide. I loved that class so much because I already believed that the church and organized religion was the most powerful weapon in the world.

 

[Orbitc]

My freshman year English professor in college also taught us this. As well as teaching us that a lot of the writings about Armageddon and a messiah and the rapture were because of people at the time feeling trapped and that promise of a savior/rescue helped to prevent them from trying suicide. I loved that class so much because I already believed that the church and organized religion was the most powerful weapon in the world.

Yes, this is a powerful weapon of manipulation - how else could exploit practically slave labor? This was possible only by convincing people from childhood that if they were selfish rebels, they would have an even more terrible existence in hell in their next life, but they had the alternative of being meek sheep and then they would be rewarded. But the reward was not really guaranteed by anything))) it's amazing how people can be controlled if you hammer some shit into their heads from childhood, and if everyone around agrees with this shit and perceive this lie as a holy dogma.
Once upon a time, I really liked Paul Holbach's books on this topic - I highly recommend reading them.