Compose: I guess thats not really a downfall depending on how you think of it... The religions aren't necessarily telling you what you should do. It's a matter of poor wording and/or interpretation. You don't go to hell for disobeying the 10 commandments, they are simply a guideline. However, it is in your own interest to follow "rules" like this.

Pen pusher: Yeah, I agree. Pretty huge downfall that one.

My opinion is that people get hooked, attached, stuck, whatever you want to call it to the religions themselves. This is both the fault of the members of the religion and the way the religion is conveyed. I'm sorry to christians for always using christianity as an example, but I'm going to use it again to explain why this is so major.

Christianity... What is its main teaching? Believe in jesus and you are saved. That is all. Your sins are forgiven. You have done wrong, but don't worry about it, because it doesn't matter, you are saved. For some odd reason, people don't seem to understand this. They think that they have to beat themselves up because they are a sinner, try to become a "better person", go to church every sunday etc. Obviously it seems they aren't too confident in their religion. If they are suckling on the teet of religious dependance for too long, they never want to leave. This is often a result of being raised in a christian family or converting to christianity. They become accustomed to it.

Why is this wrong? Because of the nature of the teachings. But the way they are taught, people can't see that, they don't know that they don't need religion to be religious. They see religion as a diet, something they need to partake in regularly, constantly and if they stop then they feel that they are a bad person. However religion is a medicine, a cure to the problem that is our existence. The why... It is an asnwer to the why. Sometimes people take one dose of a medicine and they are cured, sometimes they need years and years of treatment, but once they are cured... You tell me... Do they need to continue taking the medicine?

If a christian has realized christ, he is apparently saved. What more can christianity do for this person? All thats left is for life to be lived. If a Buddhist attains Nirvana, he need no longer be a buddhist, for the teachings are useless to him.

If these people had truly attained the goal of their religion, they would naturally end up doing what their religion states they ought to do, roughly at least. A realized christian would convey the message of christ brilliantly, because he understands. A Buddha would convey well the teachings, maybe too well, because lay people stuck in their spiral of misunderstanding mistake the pure message. Same with christianity.

Another way to put it is religion is like a raft you use to cross a river. After you have utilized the raft for its function, would you carry it on your back while continuing your travels onto the land? It would be foolish to do so.

The downfall of religion is not telling this to people. Its not their fault though, they don't know what they're doing.

By the way, I don't mean they HAVE to stop doing the religious things once they realize the goal, they can continue them if they want to, but it should not be because they feel they should or have to.

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