bil

Sorry Matt, but IMO that is a bit bogus.

Religions have destroyed millions of people. Hitlerism, Stalinism, Maoism, Xtianity.

Hell, the only difference between the Nazis and the xtian Inquisition was scale.

No, that's not quite true. The difference is that the followers of Hitler were honest. Hitler said that all non Aryans were fit only as slaves or should be killed, and in his name his followers killed, enslaved and tortured all the non aryans they could lay their hands on.

Jesus said that you should love your neighbour as yourself, and that everyone was your neighbour, even the damn Samaritans. In his name his followers went out and killed, enslaved and tortured all that they could....

HBG

Most people in the world have always believed in a God, or a set of Gods, it helped them to survive. The odd non-believers can put forward as much common sense or science as they like, it will not shake thousands of years of ‘religion’.

Either side can quote millions of short quips to state their views, many of them understandable over the short term; and wars will continue to be fought on religious grounds.

I was brought up in a strongly and equally divided community and have the scars to prove that when you’re back is truly to the wall, you only have two choices to survive, and non-believing isn’t one of them.

I tried, very briefly, to protest that I didn’t care if someone wore a green or a blue scarf, and then had to fight with both of them. The choice of wearing a grey scarf didn’t exist, not there and not then.

rugbymatt

Now there is a surprise....

jojojojojojojojojojojojo

Religion - Best Policing strategy ever devised by man!

Its a load of superstitious mumbo jumbo invented my man and can be destroyed by man - and should be by now, its obsolete and causes more trouble in the world than anything else.

Beliefs in God or not are nowt to do with religion at all

Jo xxx

Madridboy

rugbymatt

Its funny, even when religion heals and does good, even when millions of people get solace and comfort from religion, even when religion unites and provides love and support it is still blamed for the worlds evils. I wonder what we will blame if we managed to get rid of religion because surely it won't be mans fault, no it never could be.

jojojojojojojojojojojojo

Its always mans fault - they just use religion as an excuse, just like football hooligans. They'll blame summat else! We're a tribal lot, us humans

Jo xxx

MrEmjoy

There is no other logical answer it will always be mans fault.

Take religion out of the picture and people might start taking the blame/credit for their actions.

Works for me. But it isn't going to just disappear over night, its been force fed to the masses for 1000's of years and those who decide they aren't going to find their own faith in themselves rather than a fictional book and 'god' will continue to carry the myth on.

And to be honest, if it did just vanish, if there was some mass awakening to the fact that the general populous of the world may have been duped into coughing up the readies to gods representatives (who don't pay tax on allot, funny that) and devoting time and lives in the name of religion there would be massive upheaval and panic.

You're also right, Matt, that its what gets some folk by. Without it they wouldn't have the inner strength to believe that they themselves could make it day to day, but that, is sad, very sad.

Which is why when I see something amazing happen, I hope deep down that the people involved realize that they were to thank, they had the will, it wasn't vested in them by a higher being, it was their strength of body and mind.

rugbymatt

Sad really.

bil

Bogus again.

I get sick of hearing about the good religion does. How much good does it take to counterbalance the harm it does?

The implication is that people don't do good, religion does. Loads of people get solace and comfort from hard drugs. I'm not sure which is worse.

Some religions are a lot better than others, but the xtian one is about as bad as it gets. The Nazis just had more opportunity to carry out evil.

rugbymatt

Bogus?

I have experienced it first hand Bill, if I have seen a family member saved by their finding god, saved from a life of alcoholism, from violence and unhappiness, from the misery of living alone and very possibly dying alone then how can you call it bogus Bill?

Are you so sanctimonious? Really?

fionamw

I believe religion can be good for one person (or a thousand, or a million people) and the good it does that person can not be called bogus for the person at that time. However it doesn't prove (or disprove) anything of the belief system that has led to that person taking good from it. And indeed we all (or not) take from any religion just what we choose. The fact that person or those people may have been weak, or fallible, or in such a bad state or whatever at that time doesn't mean that their taking solace in a religion at a moment is wrong per se. It just doesn't prove that what they believe is fact or right full stop.

rugbymatt

That was always my point Fi... Why should the billions world wide who get so much from religion be forced to have to stop believing by a near fascist body of non believers?

jimenato

Why do you say that? I am not a believer but I am also not a fascist nor even a near fascist. Justify that remark if you can.

Madridboy

God cannot by definition, have been designed or planned by another being.
Since God by definition has no designer, he cannot exist.