i read that there was a muslim man who killed a Hindu man for being an infidel. was it the religion that drove him to the desire to kill, or was it harbored in him the entire time?
i suppose we need to understand the early life conditions, but it stems to: is it the person that killed or the religion that killed. was the person fulfilling their desires or the religion's desires. if the religion does not condone this, but the person was told it does, then religion isn't to blame but those who teach it.
so perhaps religion is negative for falling into the wrong hands. is it religion's fault it fell into the wrong hands? (i would say no) if there were no religion would there be something else to fall into the wrong hands? (i can't think of what there would be at the moment though)
the issue with religion is that it only promotes unification through accepting its belief. i think early judaism did not promote intermingling with non-Jews, but through Christianity (which is supposedly a continuation of the same religion) we are told to accept all, "bless your enemies".
so once again, is it religion's fault for falling into the wrong hands?
well the Jews weren't really doing any harm when they were avoiding other people (which didn't last long, the Babylonian takeover really spread them throughout the world), they were really just keeping to themselves. the boy who sits in the corner of the classroom may not be doing the right thing, but hey he's not bothering anyone.
i just meant in my previous post that the supposed continuation of the same religion says to accept everyone, so religion seems to be nice. but there are still people who use it for bad. i mean the KKK is technically religious. would the KKK be around without religion? i think so, when you have a reason to hate something those who hate it the most will inevitably group together (ie Nazis).
Then again, the Nazis were carrying out a historical ideal written down by Martin Luther in his book On The Jews And Their Lies.
I'll say as sort of my bottom line, that religion is bad in the sense of a structure not an idea. Everyone loves getting health care but the American Medical Association is a mess. The idea of religion isn't bad but it should be more decentralized.
i only know about the western religions, but maybe the same issues arise in some of the eastern traditions? (buddhism, taoism, hinduism) like would any of these religions need to be more decentralized?
this is more of a broad question looking out to anyone with information.
Intresting thread.
I think religion is good for certain aspects of society because it prevents alot of people from killing, stealing, ect. because they believe in the long run there is a consequence at death.
I once heard a pastor say:
"If you could do anything illegal and get away with it, what would you do?"
Then I thought about it.... and while everyone was thinking, he said:
"Whatever you'll do, thats what you are."
Crazy. But yeah, religion has good and bad sides. But its the nature of man to believe in something greater.
Taoism is already decentralized. Buddhism and Hinduism have both produced horrible corruption, though no holy wars that I know of. The Dalai Lama owned slaves and many Buddhist temples were built at the expense of the common people. Hinduism's caste system has excused oppressing the poor for thousands of years. To this day, members of the bottom castes are sometimes murdered just for fun.
I firmly believe that decentralization is the answer to the problem in both East and West. Religious structures run by the people for the people at the grassroots level cannot oppress.
On a humorous side note...
You mentioned the KKK considers itself religious. This is true. Do you know what the official Klan verse is? It's a verse in Romans that says you should love people of all nations. (Unfortunately I can't find it.) WTF?
i love it how buddhism has some kind of soft edge image, and some percieved special spirituality about it. but when you look at it, some of its teachings are as ludicrous and archaic as "western religions".
the dalai lama says some reidiculous shit./
religion is destroying humankind, it seperates people, people think they are better than others cause of their religion, religion equels hate to others if they dont fit the profile
ex. always you hear the church is for everybody so also the poor, but when they go to church on sundays and they cant donate anything, they will be banned from the community cause they cant afford it, i mean wtf is that about? look at the buildings how much does that cost, in the past the church was fucking rich and poor stayed poor
people dying on all kinds of things, but that the will of god they say, yea that why 1000s of people are starving to dead in africa, cause god wants to destroy his own creation
most wars are about religion and the only thing it does is destroying lives and does no good
people should think for theirselfs and accept others for who they are not what they are
I say it's good, because people are motivated when they catch the spirit. No matter how long it may last, people are saved and feel uplifted. After that though is where all the bad shit comes in..
I think it creates too much negativity. Like has been said, look at how much of the wars and bloodshed in the world have been caused because of religion.
And I think it's messed up when parents force their own religion on their children. They should have the freedom to choose whatever religion, or non religion that they want. Parents shouldn't be forcing their kids to go to church or Sunday school. And I hate how non-religious people are looked down sometimes by the ultra religious people, like they are beneath them or crazy.
I also think it's a joke how so many murderers and hardcore criminals turn to religion, while in jail. I know that some of them are legit with it, but others seem like they are just trying to 'look good', so they can try and get out of jail.
Shout outs to the people who know that it's the people that follow the doctrines that make it bad, rather than the doctrines themselves. As to those of you who think religion in itself is the "cause", as long as mankind walks the planet, there will always be war, murder and robbery. In case you forgot, there are things called greed, lust, and a host of other problems that I could name that are more popular now, than ever before. So stop taking the easy route just because your local news station told you so.
Bitches.
"Die before you die."-Prophet Muhammad (Pbuh)
Bullshit. It's people like you that think your religions better than everyone elses, or the one true religion. That's one of the main causews of war and fighting over the years. If everyone just respected each other's religion, people wouldn't be killing each other.
The "there will aways be war, murder, and robbery" shit is just a cop out. An exscuse for you to think it's okay to disrespect other peoples religion.
Peace to Islam, Christianity, Hindu, Taoists, or whatever kind of religion you follow have a nice day.
wow, do you realize what claim you're making? you are saying the only reason a human being decides to end another's life is over religious beliefs. did Chris Benoit go on some kind of Holy war in his own house? i don't think so.
the general consensus today is that people are too stupid to make their own decisions, and only perform actions based on what influenced them.
for example, after the Virginia Tech massacre certain media outlets focused on why violent forms of media made him kill. they refused to believe that he consciously decided to kill and was only forced by external sources.
as such, certain people also believe that it is the religion that makes a person who they are. if that is true, then every single Christian should be the same. if they are not then this claim is not valid.
EVERY war has not been started over religion. the most infamous of those wars were the crusades. otherwise, World War 1/2 were not about religion. interesting in how religion and war are always criticized as if they go hand in hand but the two largest wars in history were not about religion.
Bookmarks