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[Grimlocke]

The OP seems lost in ethnocentrism and a general lack of understanding how societies and culteres work.

Of course we are all brought up with doctrines. 'dont kill people, dont steal things, women are equal, freedom for all, pigs are not for eating, alcohol isnt for drinking, God is allmighty, etc'. The one may be less reasonable than the other, but societies are built on these things. If you want to consider them slavery, then you might as well call every single person a slave.

That said, I dont believe its impossible to criticize certain doctrines. Its just that you should judge them by their consequences rather then just by 'doctrine' being a bad word.

Religious doctrines are indeed quite easy to criticize. They generally do seem to behave as a catalyst for conflict of varying scales.

[Aqizzar]

Am I the only one that finds it both odd and scary that we will happily allow people to be slaves to a lack of religion, doctrine or culture?

Perhaps.  I don't think the inverse really works, because there's nothing fundamentally stopping you from picking up a religion, "doctrine", or culture if you don't already subscribe to one.  Living with a hardcore atheist family maybe, but outside of a totalitarian government, you can worship any idea you want to.  Heck, we as a society place a massively greater stigma on demanding people reject religion than we do on allowing family (mainly) to insist someone follow a particular religion.

But as for culture and doctrine... Having read the thread, I don't really know what "doctrine" is supposed to mean.  I don't think it's mentally possible to lack a culture without living in a cave.  Lacking one that appears developed and fulfilling from an outside perspective maybe, but once again, without insurmountable control, legal or social, over a person's life, it's just not possible to keep a person from liking what they want to.  Which does happen in our corner of the world I suppose, but you're not ruled by your household forever.

[Criptfeind]

Hey! I like my cave culture very much.

But yeah, even if you feel that there is no god and whorshiping anything other then pure logic is stupid religons still offer concrete benefits to society.

[MetalSlimeHunt]

But yeah, even if you feel that there is no god and whorshiping anything other then pure logic is stupid religons still offer concrete benefits to society.

I dissagree on that point. (I also don't worship logic or anything else for that matter, but that's an internet argument for another day.)
I cannot think of a single benefit religion brings to society that could just as easily exist without religious backing. Of course, feel free to dispute that.

[Criptfeind]

Sure, it can exist without religious backing. We can also all hold hands and make a utopian communist society. But nether is going happen.

Edit: Without lots of drugs.

Edit 2: Except for the giving people a point thing, that is not going to happing without the religion no matter how many controlled substances you consume.

[fqllve]

I cannot think of a single benefit religion brings to society that could just as easily exist without religious backing. Of course, feel free to dispute that.

I can't think of a single benefit atheism brings to society that couldn't exist just as easily without atheism.

It's not fair to say that the good things that religion does have to be exclusive to religion, there are many ways to bring about a particular benefit, but we shouldn't go around lopping off cultural ideas just because they aren't the only things that bring those benefits. We should be happy that we have institutions that benefit society at all.

[Criptfeind]

I cannot think of a single benefit religion brings to society that could just as easily exist without religious backing. Of course, feel free to dispute that.

I can't think of a single benefit atheism brings to society that couldn't exist just as easily without atheism.

What... I don't think atheism brings anything to society... It is not so much something as a lack of something.

It's not fair to say that the good things that religion does have to be exclusive to religion, there are many ways to bring about a particular benefit

Although true, religion is the easiest way for many things.

[fqllve]

It was kind of a joke. I can't either, I just wanted to be clever like everyone else.

[Criptfeind]

Don't worry. Your joke failed and you are as clever as us already (at least as me!)

Edit: And by failed I mean I did not get it/like it. Others most likely get it/like it better then me.

[MetalSlimeHunt]

But nether is going happen.

We'll see just yet. There are less and less people following religion now then there have been, well...ever. All trends end eventually, but the anti-religious trend has been going on in some form over the past four hundred years or so now. I guess we'll see, won't we?

[Criptfeind]

People are more religious now then they were twenty years ago. I think we are a looong time before religion runs it’s course, if it ever does.

On the other hand the future is unknowable, perhaps the internet and the increased connectivity of the world will supplant the major social needs that religion fulfils.

[lemon10]

People are more religious now then they were twenty years ago. I think we are a looong time before religion runs it’s course, if it ever does.

On the other hand the future is unknowable, perhaps the internet and the increased connectivity of the world will supplant the major social needs that religion fulfils.

Nah, ten years max before we create a singluarity AI that wipes out all human life on the planet. 

On a more serious note, are people mroe religious then they are 20 years ago? Could you please provide a link/statistic (because personally i think that aetheism/agnosticism has grown over the past twenty years?
On a unrelated note, i found this on Wikipedia:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

The median net worth of people believing in the Jewish religion is calculated at 150,890 USD, while the median net worth of conservative Protestants (including Baptists, Jehovah's Witnesses, Seventh-day Adventists, Christian Scientists) was found at 26,200 USD

I find this a rather interesting random fact.

[Criptfeind]

It appears both are sort of right. Although non religion has been growing at eight time the catholic church has (to give a example) fundamentalism in the US has grown quicker as well.

I honestly don’t have numbers for outside the US, but I suspect it is quite a bit lower.

You are most likely right. I have looked at a brief surge of fundamentalism in one county and stretched that as a blanket statement.

[CoughDrop]

I personally think that the underlying problem is that the majority of people do not think for themselves; they would rather listen to either the majority or someone who has power over them. Sadly, I am unsure of how to change that.

My life has never been the same since I realized just how wrong the majority is. 

[Criptfeind]

How can the majority be wrong on what people want to do.

I belive that people have a much to high opinion of themselves.

Here is something funny.

A survey was attached to the SAT exams (taken by approximately one million students per year) asking the students to rate themselves relative to the median of the sample (rather than the average peer) on a number of vague positive characteristics. In ratings of leadership ability 70% of the students put themselves above the median and in ability to get on well with others 85% put themselves above the median and 25% rated themselves in the top 1%.