Humans are pack animals by nature. There is pre-existing circuitry that causes us to get along and find our place. Population is generally controlled by certain things that we have mastered (food shortages, potable water, sickness). Even natural selection is no longer natural (genetic superiority has taken a back seat to wealth, beautifully decorated narcissists are preferred to plainer motherly types). Our numbers have grown to the point where our population is impractical and unsustainable. Technically we don’t need eachother, so the sense of community is lost. Being individuals, undervalued and easily replaced, causes competition to escalate. Carnal instincts for survival and reproduction, subconsciously drive motivation while the need to “fit in” falls short. Where population increases, community decreases, crime increases.

I have studied religions, faith, the body and the mind for decades. The way I see it, if there is a God and we have only one chance, and it effects our soul (assuming one has a soul) for eternity then it would be the most important thing to get right. When I say I studied, I mean obsessively, not out of fear, out of curiosity. There has been no stone unturned. The problem that people have with religion have less to do with theology and more to do with its members/followers. The Bible isn’t wrong, it’s poorly translated based on preconceptions. The word elohim, translated as God actually means gods (or heavenly beings) The word Jehovah is translated as Lord, in the Old Testament. If you actually read what Genesis says is that everything was created/engineered by heavenly beings. Jehovah is the Leader. Humans were designed to be workers, made in their image, humanoid. They are all physical. That’s why they walked and talked with Him on several occasions. This is also why they can make hybrids as in Genesis 6, “sons of gods/Elohim, mated with the daughters of men and had children, the men of renown.” The stories of Greek gods and heroes are also in the Bible. They just couldn’t expand on it because when you are trying to sell monotheism, you can’t muddy it up with other superior beings. However, that’s exactly what it states happened preflood. What people mix up is that there is also the Spirit of God. This is the lifeforce, the frequency, or music that Michio Kaku is describing in his string theory equation. This is as describable as a red blood cell would describe our soul. We are all part of a big “machine/body”. Jehovah is the brain and hypothalamus physically dispatching impulses and hormones, to achieve balance/homeostasis. Because humans were tampered with, like a cell may be tampered with, we no longer obey the proper protocol for that we were created. Like cancerous cells we just multiply and consume, apart from any higher purpose. Like cancer the imbalance effects surrounding tissue/Earth. This is the curse/fall that we were born into. Jehovah sent Yeshua/Jesus to direct us back on track and to reconnect us with Jehovah/Brain and ultimately join the “song/frequency/Spirit of God”. The apocalypse coming is going to be like radiation and chemotherapy. It’s not a heartless God who destroys us for being naughty. He’s a doctor delivering medicine. He provided a way to be cured. The reconnecting is also known as born again, spiritual birth and enlightenment. It just means you become receptive to the music of the universe.

We exist as part of a bigger whole. We were created like our cells were created. Everything is created for a function. Like cells that no longer serve their purpose, and multiply uncontrollably, humans have become the cancer of this planet. That is why life seems pointless; because it is.

From my observations, people in general, are less interested in truth and more interested in popularizing their delusions.

Dare I point out, this is a philosophy forum, not a place for evangelisation of the Gospel. One is free to argue for or against religion, but evangelisation is not a philosophical argument, it’s a statement of creed. — Wayfarer

The original question was inquiring why faith was required by Christians for salvation. Why allow the question if those who answer it are railroaded into being banned. That was obviously the intent of Noble Dust. Nice

Now, why is this so? Couldn't we do better than obeying the 'eye for an eye' maxim? After all, "An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind." according to Gandhi who supposedly said it. The there's Martin Luther King who said, "The old law of an eye for an eye leaves everyone blind," "It is immoral because it seeks to humiliate the opponent rather than win his understanding; it seeks to annihilate rather than to convert." — Posty McPostface

An eye for an eye was part of the Mosaic Law, intended to maintain order to a growing nomadic nation stuck in the wilderness. The Golden Rule was instructed to perpetuate the forgiveness of God and spread love.