Religion

[SaDeR]

This is a poll just out of curiosity. Basically I am just curious to know how many people think like I do that religion is a burden on humanity. Or do you believe it has a positive effect. Make sure to explain your reasons for your answers. Vote.

[Fight!]

Religion is a burden on humanity, no question about it.

[KingDave]

Burden exposed. Religion is the root of all evil.

[CobraStallone]

Both, perhaps not half and half though. Religion is a burden since it creates ignorance and causes conflicts. It's good since it affects the actions of a lot of people with certain moral and ethic standards.

[KingDave]

Both, perhaps not half and half though. Religion is a burden since it creates ignorance and causes conflicts. It's good since it affects the actions of a lot of people with certain moral and ethic standards.

The creation of ethical standards have NOTHING to do with religion.

Society sets what it sees as appropriate. Whether it chooses to codify those ethics with religion is completely up to it.

AND yes. The entire purpose of organized religion is to codify ethics for the slow minded. Now that we have, you know, written language and formal education systems that are paid for by public money, religion is outdated.

[Monarchist]

I voted for the idea that religion has positive effects on humanity. Even when I was an atheist, I did not believe that faith was truly the root of all evil; I just didn't believe it was true. Today, I am even more assured of its positive effects. Do mind all the hundreds of thousands of homeless people who have been cared for by churches. Don't just discard the sick and dying who were given comfort in their last days when no one but a priest would sit with them. Never forget the religiously-oriented charities that have housed endless numbers of travelers, pilgrims, and poor people. I truly believe that religion, in general, has given more comfort to people than it has been responsible for the deaths of.

When your faith COMMANDS that you respect and honour your parents (you don't necessarily have to like them), it forces you to be better, in terms of manners alone. It isn't the fault of faith if some people don't follow the commandments therein. Faith (along with music) is the greatest, most glorious, and joyful thing we have; for the overwhelming, piercing happiness it brings alone, let it be revered. Let the naysayers be satisfied with black holes, and see how happy they are in the end.

[Fight!]

I voted for the idea that religion has positive effects on humanity. Even when I was an atheist, I did not believe that faith was truly the root of all evil; I just didn't believe it was true. Today, I am even more assured of its positive effects. Do mind all the hundreds of thousands of homeless people who have been cared for by churches. Don't just discard the sick and dying who were given comfort in their last days when no one but a priest would sit with them. Never forget the religiously-oriented charities that have housed endless numbers of travelers, pilgrims, and poor people. I truly believe that religion, in general, has given more comfort to people than it has been responsible for the deaths of.

When your faith COMMANDS that you respect and honour your parents (you don't necessarily have to like them), it forces you to be better, in terms of manners alone. It isn't the fault of faith if some people don't follow the commandments therein. Faith (along with music) is the greatest, most glorious, and joyful thing we have; for the overwhelming, piercing happiness it brings alone, let it be revered. Let the naysayers be satisfied with black holes, and see how happy they are in the end.

Ah but there is also an incredible amount of conflict due to religion. The most apparent of these is just plain war, then terrorism, then prejudice against those who do not share your religion, then ignorance and rejection of scientific ideas outright, etc.

I am a very religious man, having been force-fed Christianity even before I could speak. But I acknowledge the terrible nature of religion.

[CobraStallone]

Even when I was an atheist, I did not believe that faith was truly the root of all evil;

I'm an atheist and have never considered faith the root of all evil, in fact faith may very well be a good thing, atheist just don't belive in it.

Do mind all the hundreds of thousands of homeless people who have been cared for by churches. Don't just discard the sick and dying who were given comfort in their last days when no one but a priest would sit with them. Never forget the religiously-oriented charities that have housed endless numbers of travelers, pilgrims, and poor people.

Of course, and that's great. But if the goverment were to go and do that as well, it wouldn't mean the goverment is good, or bad.

I truly believe that religion, in general, has given more comfort to people than it has been responsible for the deaths of.

I would have to disagree, Crusades, Spanish Inquisition, islamic terrorism, romans killing in the name of Mars, Moors killing in the name of Allah, Jews and Christians killing in the name of God, witches and heretics burned, nordic pagans forced into conversion, egyptians killing in the name of Atum or Amun, you see where I'm going with this?

When your faith COMMANDS that you respect and honour your parents (you don't necessarily have to like them), it forces you to be better, in terms of manners alone.

I agree, as stated above.

Let the naysayers be satisfied with black holes.

let you be satisfied with flames of eternal damnation friend!

[Monarchist]

Ah but there is also an incredible amount of conflict due to religion. The most apparent of these is just plain war, then terrorism, then prejudice against those who do not share your religion, then ignorance and rejection of scientific ideas outright, etc.

I am a very religious man, having been force-fed Christianity even before I could speak. But I acknowledge the terrible nature of religion.

You sure don't seem very religious, if you don't mind my saying. Anyway, terrorism, war, "prejudice", and ignorance are all human things. Faith does not magnify or diminish any of them.

I would have to disagree, Crusades, Spanish Inquisition, islamic terrorism, romans killing in the name of Mars, Moors killing in the name of Allah, Jews and Christians killing in the name of God, witches and heretics burned, nordic pagans forced into conversion, egyptians killing in the name of Atum or Amun, you see where I'm going with this?

let you be satisfied with flames of eternal damnation friend!

Eternal damnation? Isn't that a little strong? All I did was say that atheists believe in black holes, and not the black pit, as it were. There was no sarcasm in that statement.

Regarding the wars and inquisitions, I seriously doubt atheists will be able to stop themselves from doing any of that when atheism rules the world. If every single leader on Earth was secular, all that stuff would still exist, and would continue existing. Our species is very brutal and terrible as a whole. Religion tends to soften some of those aspects, in my opinion. With religion, there is surely an immense amount of war and hatred, but without religion those few pacifists that were made such by their faith would have been killing with the rest of us. That's just a few more people kept peaceful by religion. Just ask yourself who is more likely to be a conscientious objector: an atheist, or a Christian?

[Fight!]

You are so lost you have no idea where you are.

If religion did not exist, people wouldn't have to abide by anything. Guess what. Laws were created by God (if you believe in him) and religious people. Hammurabi created his laws based on religion. Society was started by religion. Everything focus's around religion. You may not think so because you have no religion, which is pathetic to say the lest. Perhaps it makes you feel better that you believe there is no higher being other than yourself, but that is simply my way of thinking. Good day.

Laws, by nature, were created to establish order and help the human race, this is undeniably true regardless of whether you are religious or not. Now that we have this established, let us delve further into the development of laws.

1. The first laws were unspoken, and were created by tribal communities. Needless to say, murder and theft were big no-no's even in these basic and primitive societies. Of course, these probably weren't the only laws, and morals were likely present in tribal communities as well.
   
   1. If one belongs to one of the major religions, they probably believe in the story of Adam and Eve. In this case, they were both kicked out of the garden of Eden before any real laws were created. Following this event, tribal communities were created by the sons and daughters of Adam. Knowing this, we therefore know the above statement to be true.
   2. It would be some time before any laws were established by God, after Noah's time in fact (though I could be wrong, the tablets containing the ten commandments would've been destroyed if I was)

You sure don't seem very religious, if you don't mind my saying.

It's understandable

I don't want to say I hate God, because it's more complicated than that; but it is something similar to it. Having had such a relationship with God I ended up, as I perceive it at least, seeing things as they were. Thus, I came to see the bad side of religion.

Anyway, terrorism, war, "prejudice", and ignorance are all human things. Faith does not magnify or diminish any of them.

But it does justify and condone them.

[Hilarion]

But it does justify and condone them.

It's not faith at fault but people who manipulate it as a means of reaching their own ends.

[Banana Jelly]

let you be satisfied with flames of eternal damnation friend!

LOL i would +rep you because its funny, but i feel a liitle awkward doing it

[Monarchist]

Well, writing is outmoded and outdated too, so should all knowledge be switched to digital format?

[KingDave]

Well, writing is outmoded and outdated too, so should all knowledge be switched to digital format?

Eventually, yes. However, writing is still necessary for the moment. Maybe in say 50 years we will move to digital entirely.

[Celsius]

The creation of ethical standards have NOTHING to do with religion.

You are so lost you have no idea where you are.

If religion did not exist, people wouldn't have to abide by anything. Guess what. Laws were created by God (if you believe in him) and religious people. Hammurabi created his laws based on religion. Society was started by religion. Everything focus's around religion. You may not think so because you have no religion, which is pathetic to say the lest. Perhaps it makes you feel better that you believe there is no higher being other than yourself, but that is simply my way of thinking. Good day.

[SaDeR]

You are so lost you have no idea where you are.

If religion did not exist, people wouldn't have to abide by anything. Guess what. Laws were created by God (if you believe in him) and religious people. Hammurabi created his laws based on religion. Society was started by religion. Everything focus's around religion. You may not think so because you have no religion, which is pathetic to say the lest. Perhaps it makes you feel better that you believe there is no higher being other than yourself, but that is simply my way of thinking. Good day.

Religion was first made to have a better understanding of the world and the universe and ourselves. It has been corrupted and turned inside out. Laws would have still been created even with out religion because people would've came up with another system of doing things. Besides even with these laws that are supposedly based on religion, are any really justice? And I am talking about the ones from way back. The reasons nations like the United States function correctly is because they don't involve religion in their law making. When nations do their laws are no longer justice.

[Tiberius Tosi]

Religion was first made to have a better understanding of the world and the universe and ourselves. It has been corrupted and turned inside out. Laws would have still been created even with out religion because people would've came up with another system of doing things. Besides even with these laws that are supposedly based on religion, are any really justice? And I am talking about the ones from way back. The reasons nations like the United States function correctly is because they don't involve religion in their law making. When nations do their laws are no longer justice.

Ever heard of the US law system being based on Judeo-Christian beliefs? That means that they are based around the principles established by the religion. Certainly you cannot believe that our views on rape, suicide, mercy killing, or even murder and post-death treatment (of bodies, in that we respect the dead) would not be the same without religion...

[SaDeR]

Ever heard of the US law system being based on Judeo-Christian beliefs? That means that they are based around the principles established by the religion. Certainly you cannot believe that our views on rape, suicide, mercy killing, or even murder and post-death treatment (of bodies, in that we respect the dead) would not be the same without religion...

Of course they would not be exactly same, but they would still be there.

The Middle East is different. Religion specifically isnt the problem. The middle east is a boiling pot that is overflowing. It has over 5 religions, and even more ethnicity. It is just waiting to explode.

This is true, but if religion wasn't so screwed up then it wouldn't be on the list.

Edit: By the way I stated that I believe in God.

[Tiberius Tosi]

This is true, but if religion wasn't so screwed up then it wouldn't be on the list.

It is a cultural thing as well. Many states that are muslim ruled are very liberal and open to western ideals and free, but religion still plays a huge role in their politics and government too.

Do you honestly think it is religion that is the underlying problem?

[manofarms89]

You are so lost you have no idea where you are.

If religion did not exist, people wouldn't have to abide by anything. Guess what. Laws were created by God (if you believe in him) and religious people. Hammurabi created his laws based on religion. Society was started by religion. Everything focus's around religion. You may not think so because you have no religion, which is pathetic to say the lest. Perhaps it makes you feel better that you believe there is no higher being other than yourself, but that is simply my way of thinking. Good day.

if humanity never developed the concept of religion, I think we would still have said lets not steal each others crap and lets not kill each other. everything else could have came after,