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Got Status Anxiety? Get religious?!
Former Member
Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
"If you feel inferior to some other people and what they've got that you haven't then why not turn to religion? Like doing the alpha course."
I've seen it happen to people around me and status anxiety seems to be the cause.
Discuss!
I've seen it happen to people around me and status anxiety seems to be the cause.
Discuss!
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Comments
Same here.
And I would disagree, but there doesn't seem much to discuss to be fair.
Each to his own I guess.
for exaple, if someone must do something hard, for example pass some big exam in school or whatever, and he say some little pray just few minutes before, and if he feels better and safer becouse of that, why should religion be bad.
or, if someone feels bad, and goes to church to prey, and if he feels better after that, why is that wrong.
it is all personal. some people go to shrink, some to pubs, some to prostitutes... it doesn't matter.
That said, if you're happy, fair enough.
i saw the report in the papers last week ...nothing to do with promises of a nice afterlife or obedience.
more and more people it seems are suffering from so called status anxiety.
those who have all the latest material goodies and labels are finding there is little or no comfort in them.
the have nots are feeling inferior and helpless cos these things are beyond their reach.
the turning to religion was all about learning to think of other people and problems ...doing things for others ...setting different goals than purely materialistic ones.
the report showed that many people are turning away from material things and more to the spiritual in a way to beat a feeling of pointlessnes.
it seems to be working for many.
how do you challenge what for many is meaningless materialism?
work work consume consume ...work some more consume some more ...work work ...
not all people who turn to religion have blind faith.
some actualy take the bibles advice which is ...blind faith is no faith at all so make sure of all things ...look deeply into what you are being taught.
advice and warnings abound in the bible about false teachers ...especialy religous ones.
christians are out in the field now raising money and feeding the hungry in many places ...they aint waiting for their god to do it.
all faith is blind in your eyes but not in mine or millions of others.
just cos thats what you believe doesn't make it true.
many inteligent educated and informed people look around them and see the hand of a creator. they search ...they examine ...and they come to the conclusion there is a god, including doctors engineers scientists. not just the brainwashed morons you like to believe.
do you believe in any kind of existence after death or is it all just a meaningless accident where we arrive ...multiply ...work ...work some more and then drop dead?
? "Religion is the opium of the masses"(Marx). . We need to challenge the causes of these feelings, not just turn to blind faith to argue them!
I completely agree. I believe that religion is the easy way out of people's problems. Religion is a drug for a lot of people because otherwise they would have to face the truth which is painful. Freethinking is something few can achieve since the majority of people turn to religion, their political party, or others to form their opinion. I admit that I have been influenced by different people in society but influence is a truly horrible thing. Anyone who has read the Picture of Dorian Gray will understand.
religous people are working with the homeless the hopeless the battered and the needy the world over ...while your politicians are fighting illegal wars ...whats all this free thinking YOU have that these people don.t?
so please tell me how these people haven't got freedom of thought and action ...how is your faithless position better?
...and what are you doing with your freedoms and political beliefs to save people ...mend people ...feed people ...protect people ...comfort people ...apart from maybe righting the worlds wrongs from your armchairs?
http://www.christian-aid.org.uk/
though i never heard of them before ...
http://www.thecsm.org.uk/index.html
Hey guys and gals thanks for your posts.
I just found it curious, slightly amusing when people turn to religion and although they don't admit it, some examples indicate that the reason is status anxiety.
This is where someone craves high social status, more attractive partner and friends, access to higher quality venues, destinations and events for entertainment and leisure, clothes, cars, gadgets, better living place and location etc...
If they are happy to immerse themselves in religion to blot out the feelings of inferiority then good for them.
As the saying goes: "I'd rather be happy than clever".
Religion can be used as a form of escape and like other forms it is far from perfect.
And that's really my point - religion isn't perfect, it is not a panacea. The wars past and present and terrorism tells us that much.
A further point is that some people who go into religion get so brainwashed and they exclude people who are not part of their club. They look after their own. That's not "loving thy neighbour is it?". Oh they'll help you alright - if you join their club, which leads me to...
They also go on missions around the world to convert people to their religion and then they say that they "saved" those people. That is outrageous. That is brainwashing. People can live quite happily without religion or one that's different from other people.
Religion is a man made thing, with all the problems that brings with it.
One can be spiritual and believe in a higher power, even if it just simply believing in the laws of physics or whatever one likes, without having to take in all the man made accessories to it.
the status anxiety is something of a realisation to many people that a life of working and consuming simply isn't enough.
the term brainwashed is highly misleading and often inacurate.
i see posts in here all the time aboout suicide bombers who were brainwashed with a promise of virgins in the next life ...western propaganda bollox ...many suicide bombers are high;y trained and proffesional people who are extrememly angry.
of course people try to convert others ...ask the labour spin machine or the tories etc.
as for religion being a man made thing ...highly debatable.
every race and creed in every corner of the globe ...seem to have a built in mechanism for a belief in a higher power. not one race or tribe have ever been found who didn't show this built in need.
as for wars ...i think you'll find that most wars are started by kings and princes ...dukes earls and generals ...prime ministers and presidents.
I certainly agree that there should be more to life than working and consuming, such a valid point.
However I see everything as having a limited shelf life, being transient, evolving into something else, that goes for religion too. It may not die out but perhaps sometimes it needs to change. It is however unsettling for some to not have a stable tradition or evergreen way of life to fall back on...
I remember seeing an article in a recent Arena or GQ that said that suicide bombers were much happier when they were in a relationship.
I think it really is a woman's world. Everyone loves the company of a woman alone or women in a social setting.
I never said they weren't any of those esteemed things. But very misguided and their actions don't make them better than those they are angry against.
They end up killing some of their innocent own, as in 911 and 7/7, much to the glee of their opponents' propaganda machine admittedly but still unavoidable plain facts all the same.
It is a man made perception of the high being, whatever that is. One doesn't have to be religious to believe. The bible was written (man made) by several monks over the years and worship places are built by people.
the bible wasn't written by monks.
the bible is made up of 66 individual books written over a 1,500 year period by ...kings doctors fishermen farmers generals and judges.
man made temples are meaningless. nothing more than a house for like minded people to meet in.
totaly unessesary.
the belief in the spirit world ...the world of angels and demons etc ...has as i said been found to exist in every tribe that ever walked the earth ...as if man has a spiritual need or knowledge ...a yearning for something greater than himself ...it's almost as if the brain has a special compartment for it ...a built in thirst ...which seems to have diminished greatly in the western mind.
the materialistic world we have created doesn't cater for this area ...hence the anxiety that needs satisfying.
...and it appears to be working for many people.
Well said, although I don't think religion is the key, I think we do need something to make us happier in this consumer driven world. We're more depressed than ever yet we have more of the things that are suppossed to make us happier and more relaxed! Something has definately gone wrong somewhere along the line. :shocking:
It seems you are asking me the meaning of life. The meaning of life is completely relative to an individual, so I could not answer you I'm afraid but I am interested in what you believe the meaning of life is? An all-knowing God already knows everything we are going to do. Romans tells us(assuming you are Christian here) that everything we do is pre-destined by God. Therefore life remains meaningless, as we have no say over it.
Capitalism is a breeding ground for consumerism. To be better than anyone else, that is the basis of the system. Socialism is about being equal to one another and not craving to be better than others. I am aware that this is an ideology and not always practical but there is nothing wrong with striving for an ideal.