religion...boon or bust?

[jimmygun]

In my opinion religion has done more harm than good in this world. Agree? Disagree? I am willing to defend my position if called upon.

[MLynn]

Originally posted by jimmygun
In my opinion religion has done more harm than good in this world. Agree? Disagree? I am willing to defend my position if called upon.
Oh, jimmygun - I agree and I'm a dreaded Xtian (misfit Jesus freak). I'm so sad, can I cry on your shoulder? :(

[frisian]

I am a theist as well and I agree.

[Yahweh]

Originally posted by jimmygun
In my opinion religion has done more harm than good in this world. Agree? Disagree? I am willing to defend my position if called upon.
I cant really make a judgment at the moment.

There are some religions which discourage intellectual developement and encourage war, I dont see it as something which ought never to have existed in the first place.

Some religions can be good: Buddhism for example, Taoism is another one.

[neutrino_cannon]

Originally posted by jimmygun
In my opinion religion has done more harm than good in this world. Agree? Disagree? I am willing to defend my position if called upon.

I probably agree, but will call upon you to defend that position anyway since my knowlege of it is relatively poor.

Show that the violence, prejudice and general lack of thought that religion is criticized for has outwieghed the sense of community and personal comfort it has provided.

[Bjorn]

Originally posted by Yahweh

I cant really make a judgment at the moment.

There are some religions which discourage intellectual developement and encourage war, I dont see it as something which ought never to have existed in the first place.

Some religions can be good: Buddhism for example, Taoism is another one. Is Taoism a religion? Isn't it more of a philosophy? I know the lines can be difficult to draw, but wouldn't it require some kind of God to define it as a religion?

However, I agree that it probably never hurt anyone .... :)

[neutrino_cannon]

There is violence in the history of Buddhism, on the part of the buddhists that is. I just can't remember where when or why.

Nobody expects the Buddhist inquisition!

As for war, there is no better catylist of human inginuity and resourcefulness, which often outwieghs it's costs later on. Or some would say it does.

We can thank insane despots bent on world domination indirectly or directly for the development of the following:

Canned juice concentrate
Radar
Aerosol spray cans
Jet engines
Nuclear power
Pressurized, multi engined aircraft (modern airliners)
Liquid fuel rockets
Computers

Obviously these things have good and bad uses. Nuclear power can be used as a clean and efficient means of powering cities, or it can be tied to those liquid fuel rockets for destroying people by the touch of a button.

Not sure what that has to do with religion though, most of the use of that kind of expensive millitary equipment is not by *stricktly* religious or theological powers. That and World War Two was a result of fascism in three increasingly powerful countries, not religion (unless you count that wierd stuff the nazis were into, which served as a support for vigorous nationalism rather than a cause of war).

I cannot honestly think of any technological innovation that has resulted from religious warfare, except perhaps the distribution of gunpowder (blackpowder), and I'm not even sure on that. Furthermore, modern gunpowder has nothing to do with black powder (even most muzzle loading weapons today use more stable substitutes) and the only civilian applications are fireworks, model rockets, and if you really stretch it, airbags.

[Atlas]

Originally posted by jimmygun
In my opinion religion has done more harm than good in this world. Agree? Disagree? I am willing to defend my position if called upon. I think religions are alot like corporations in that they are about surviving and thriving. Often God is merely one tool in bringing success to that endeavor. They are not about harm it's just that their most fanatical adherents are capable of sublimating ghastly action for the glory the respected deity. They claim high goals but I don't think their head is on straight. Their avowed goals are actually secondary to their true mission.

What are the general goals of religion:

(Ulterior Goals)
* Growth, wealth, power and control by manipulating human thought and behavior relying on its description of reality for authority.

Avowed Goals)
* Alleviate the human condition: feed poor and starving people, care for the ill, educate the ignorant, and comfort the dying and grieving -- Often through acts of selfless devotion and love by faithful adherents.
* Save Souls ( preaching about God and rituals for spiritual awareness, enlightenment and communion )

None of the goals above are inherently bad or evil. But religions often fail to disclose their ulterior goals even to themselves. That is, they remain blissfully unaware of what they are truly about, And favor, in public, the avowed goals they draw their warm fuzzy feelings from.

[T'ai Chi]

Originally posted by jimmygun
In my opinion religion has done more harm than good in this world. Agree? Disagree? I am willing to defend my position if called upon.

Define good. Define bad.

[T'ai Chi]

Originally posted by Bjorn
Is Taoism a religion? Isn't it more of a philosophy? I know the lines can be difficult to draw, but wouldn't it require some kind of God to define it as a religion?

However, I agree that it probably never hurt anyone .... :)

There is a huge worldwide Daoist conspiracy!!! All your base our mine!

[ceo_esq]

For an in-depth discussion of this topic (especially with respect to scientific advancement), also see this thread:

Is religion slowing us down? (http://host.randi.org/vbulletin/showthread.php?s=&threadid=24015)

[Gestahl]

Originally posted by jimmygun
In my opinion religion has done more harm than good in this world. Agree? Disagree? I am willing to defend my position if called upon.

I am not sure... I think religion is akin to your parents when you were younger... an absolute source for morality and ethics. So religion is for societies. Then later, you come into conflict with your parents as an adolescent as you start thinking for yourself and your ideals come into conflict with religion. See birth of United States. Finally, you have your own system, and are completely independent of your parents... still waiting on most people for that one ;-).

I don't think religion has done any more harm or good than anything else. We cannot see all ends, and even with the best intentions we can unknowingly do great evil. Just look at the diseases we brought to the Natives here in NA, and we just wanted to explore (the deliberate use of small pox blankets came later). On the whole I think religion is a good thing: it keeps those who obviously can't think for themselves from ending us all. It is just sad that it takes the fear of an omnipotent father-figure (in our culture at least) to do it.

Seriously enough, with all the retarded arguments you have heard from self-absorbed xians, would you trust them to come up with their own moral code? Absolutely not!

[RandFan]

I disagree. I think such a claim is very difficult to prove. I had a many page debate on this forum 2 years ago and it was never resolved. Weighing good and bad becomes problamatic.

The individual who I was debating said he and friends were doing research (IIRC) on the subject and promised hard data but it never came to be.

By all means go for it.

[Wrath of the Swarm]

Originally posted by Gestahl
Seriously enough, with all the retarded arguments you have heard from self-absorbed xians, would you trust them to come up with their own moral code? Absolutely not! By what standards would this invented moral code be judged?