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"Religion: The Secret Enemy of Humanity?"

Since the dawn of Human civilisation people have formed religions as a way of explaining the world around them, controlling fears and maintaining stable societies.

But it was and is still used to supress peoples, delay scientific, mathematical and artisic progress and is also one of the most commen causes of warfare and political upheaval.

Is religion bad for mankind in general or good?
Obvious contempory examples are the World Trade Center attacks and war in Israel. There are many other conflicts of course from the past, like the Crusades. The British Civil Wars were also largely the product of religion and caused around a quarter of a million deaths (no mean number, especially in the 17th century).
Of course it also brought about the end of absolute monarchy in Britain forever, thus causing progress in an indirect way.

It is also used for persecution, such as the Spanish Inquisition. So you see every religion has caused tradegy. I am not a religious person myself, and I don't claim to be an expert but has the positive effects of religion been larger than the negative ones.

Frankly I'm not sure.

wars are started because-

someone thinks someone else is the wrong colour/shape/religion

someone wants more land

someone is jealous of someone else

someone is a nutcase who wants to rule the world.

zaphod beeblebrox wrote:
> one thing i can say is that ive never heard of an evil athiest

Well there was the small matter of a guy called Joseph Stalin...

My words are always wise...
(or at least thought provoking)

Tequila Sunset wrote:
> And remember kids: To believe is Human, but to be controlled by that
> believe is as good as being dead...

Wise words.

Tequila Sunset wrote:
The thing is it isn't the actual religion which causes all the
troubles and strifes in the world, it's the religious
leaders/figureheads which twist a religion's words to fit their
purposes. In this way religions can be converted into a brainwashing
technique.



Exactly my point.... and most of these leaders/figureheads are motivated by political goals not religious goals.

The thing is it isn't the actual religion which causes all the troubles and strifes in the world, it's the religious leaders/figureheads which twist a religion's words to fit their purposes. In this way religions can be converted into a brainwashing technique.

For example; Alot of people (that live in the allied countries) say that the Qu'ran tells people that if they suicide bomb alot of people in say a restaurant, they will go to the afterlife and be showered with greatness and have seventy virgins to do with as they please.
The Qu'ran does sort of say this, but what it actually that scripture is for Martyrs who die for Islam when they have the choice of converting or dying. Dictators of the Arab countries manipulate this so that the followers believe that killing innocent people by commiting suicide is right, and is to their eventual, personal gain.

I don't have a 'religion' only the belief that their is some creative force that we cannot begin to imagine in our 'tiny' minds.

And remember kids: To believe is Human, but to be controlled by that believe is as good as being dead...

Religion itself has not caused any wars, people who are hell bent on destruction anyway will use their "religious beliefs" as an excuse to cause misery and suffering to others.

This is today evident in Ireland, the terrorists do not care about their "religion" they are mostly cowards who hide behind masks and use terror tactics to cause disruption and hatred against each other.

Protestants and Catholics are both Christians and at the end of the day all they are doing is worshiping the same God but in a different way. Christ taught us to love one another no matter what. If they were acting according to their religion then none of these acts would occur at all.

The events of 9.11 were politically motivated by Bin Laden not religiously, He used religious fervour as a way of inciting the men who carried out the dreadful acts with promises of untold riches etc awaiting them after their martydom. He has a problem with the American people due to what he believes to be their capitalist lifestyle and the consequential oppression of his people, not their Christian beliefs.

one thing i can say is that ive never heard of an evil athiest

Well, everyone seems to be saying that it's not religion, but people twisting religion as an excuse for their activities.

But nobody has yet acknowledged the similarities with a certain meka dragon's post, 'take something from every day'.

See where i'm headed? : )

I don't think we should be too quick to dismiss religion as the cause of many of the world's problems. Maybe it's not religion's fault, but rather the fault of the fundamentalists who preach the religion, but aren't perhaps entirely representative of the group as a whole. But nevertheless, it is religion as a concept that spawns fundamentalism, and it provides a forum for like-minded people to bounce radical views off each other, and very quickly it provides a vehicle for extremism. By the way, I cannot believe no-one has yet mentioned the troubles in Northern Ireland, which are entirely religion-based. Look, when a young girl can't walk to school without being intimidated and harrassed, by people that know nothing about her other than her religion, I think that is the pit of society.