No, its not. People need to stop blaming others (including god) for what they do. While opposing the mass manipulators, we need to remember that people are responsible for their own actions. Phillip Morris may have spent a lot of money to convince me that cigarettes are sexy, etc. but I am the one who lites the cigarette. Their ad campaign does not releive me of my responsiblity. (Neither does my resposibility make their ad campaign OK.)
people who blame God for their actions and then commit stupid crimes like the idiot who shot John Lennon somehow become the poster child for religion-they give it a bad name and scare others away....and in every "people v religion" arguement athiests are the first to point that out-they never point out people like mother theresa (sp?) God gave us the freedom to do what we want-he may tell us what to do but he doesnt make us do it. so yes, mikeE, your absolutely right. people need to quit playing the blame game. and it is my personal belief that Jesus was the ultimate hippie-think about it! peace
yes, many people die because of religon, but the religious people who kill them just have the wrong message of their religon. there is no religon that requires their followers to kill. religons are usually very peacefull. just sometimes people take their reliogion to the extream. also, with all the technologies you speak of, what good would having a long life be if you had nothing to live for? with religions, people show respect for others and have great morals so that they can have a good afterlife. they help the unfortunate, they treat others as they would like themselves treated, they discourage violence, and they are freindly. if they dont care about others, there would be little chance that they will go to heaven, reach nirvanah, or whatever they belive in. religon is good for all of humanity, no matter what they belive in. if people realize that religons different then theirs is still good for humanity, they will respect that and wouldnt wish for them to be killed. if you think about it, killing is very bad in all major religons. people just need to get thier faiths in order and respect differing religons. p.s. biotechnology isnt as good as it seems. i spent many months researching it. it does more harm than good (which the only good it does is give power-hungry companies more money, which is only good for them)
The belief that there is no religion is still a belief. Christians are equally offended by you, and you both have the right to offend the other (not to harm the other..). The government protects you just as much. But if you must insist on violence take out the 700 club. That's not attacking christians per se... it's more like taking the nazi party out of germany. Yeah they're technically Germans but... :tongue:
Okey... I believe that we are an only civilisation in the universe. I believe also that there is a powerful being, a God or perhaps a loving spirit. We should not burn the churches or destroy the Bible. That is terrible. Let people worship in the way they do. If religion brings out the good in people, I think this should be encouraged rather than persecuted. I don't believe that religion is the cause of wars.
Oh there's no question that religion is if not the direct cause, the justification for wars and some of the most brutal acts in human history. The point is that a very small percentage of people who choose to worship something historically are involved in these things. Especially today. You might here about the occasional nut who burned a church or assaulted a muslim man, but that's obviously due to problems other than religion... The point is that religious wars were almost entirely expressions of the society. Fuedalism was a brutal, unforgiving era in European history where a bunch of land-hungry rich people had armies and nothing to do with them. All it took was a Pope to convince them that muslim control of the holy land was against god's will and they marched off to war. That wouldn't happen in our society. I don't know if any of this makes sense... It's 4 AM and I can't sleep... Maybe I'll have to come back to this and reword it.
It's your right to disagree with religion but what you propose is unconstitutional, religion is protected under the 1st amendment " Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the FREE exercise thereof, or abridging the freedom of speech, or the right of the press, or the right of the people to peaceably assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances." Religion is any specific system of belief and worship involving a code of ethics and a philosophy. Nothing evil about that. The rights we enjoy today as Americans the Founding Fathers believed came from God. They were creationists, They said in the Declaration of Independence "We are endowed with certain inalienable rights from our Creator." I'm stating the historical record that's our legacy as Americans. Simply because you find religion objectionable and offensive is no reason to make it illegal, you don't have to believe in it if you don't want to and you are protected under the 1st amendment "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion" which means by law you don't have to believe in it. Bustramp
Just so you don't want it both ways Bus. Our founding fathers also wanted all us to be able to practice any faith without fear of retribution. And I don't feel personally that anything they wrote emeshed creationism into our constitution. If you are ignorant enough to believe that is your perogative but don't force it on me or my children. Evolution is what I believe makes sense and I wish my children to be taught it. You seem to be proposing that only your view of religion is true to the founding fathers, I am saying right now...even they weren't sure and they were allowing for all viewpoints. It's Christian Nazis that have even brought this issue into debate. You start pushing your Adam and Eve beliefs on me, and force your ten commandments down my throat and I will rise up and fight.
No, I was only stating the historical record, "We are endowed with certain inalienable rights from our Creator." Creationism along with Evolution are theories. In the US you can believe anything you want to. The Founding Fathers believed in a Creator. Bustramp
Well promise some struggling poor people that they can only achieve Nirvana through violence, and since their lives are hell they will follow the road towards Nirvana. That is how the poor and ignorant have been manipulated since the beginning of time. How to render that manipulation powerless is the $100,000.00 question.
Religion? Religion is merely a form of mental control brought into existance to control the human race. Faith is completely different you can have faith in God, Buddha etc without religion. Religion is and always has been an excuse to hate others.
We should not be rushing to ban anything. Those religious people would love to ban the stuff you like as well. We need to realize that all wars are fought for control, money and power. If it wasn't religions it would be someone else. All I hope for is a free flow of information so that everyone can make up their own mind. The only problem I have with religion is in the countries where it is taught as fact and all outside information is banned. That is just a sad situation all together. I don't mind at all if someone chooses to believe in something that I don't. As long as I am not required to believe it to work or live then I am content.
i think that religion is something private... something individual and non descript. I think that everything is everything. just like religion. One way can never be the right way, and this god you speak of, he or she is more of an idea than anything. Its different to everyone, but at the same time, something that is universal. I think people who saythey dont believe in a form of a higher power are going against human nature. Not that i find the opinion wrong, i just find it unnatural for some reason. I have read the koran, the bible, parts of the budhist teaching, axial age thought, and i find them all the same. I find that there is a distinct human need to believe. I believe in people. I believe in the human spirit and the struggle for change. How anyone could tell someone else that their beliefs are wrong is beyond me. And to those of you who say that people who are willing to die for their religion are evil, well perhaps you should not practice so much judgement. It is not your place to judge. I would be willing to die for a revolution. I would not be willing to kill. that is the difference. Destruction of life is not loving. Death is simply another cycle of life taking place. however, killing is a much different and sordid matter which i can neither justify or understand. I hope that i never will have to, but religion? Well, religion is not your problem. Ignorance is the problem. Non tolerance for fellow living, breathing entities is the problem. Religion...well religion is just another idea... peace and love
Gardener hit the Nail right on the head. Most wars are the result of greed which Jesus himself condemed. "You cannot serve both God and Money". Unfortuantely many religeons have greatly deviated from their original teachings and intent and have become part of the problem instead of part of the solution to the problem.
I dont think that its the religion thats the problem, its the fact that some people think there better than others. It can have to do w/ religion, such as along time ago during the crusades. But also, a couple of decades ago whites were violent against blacks because they thought they were better than them, and nowadays, the genocide in africa is tribes vs. tribes. In schools, kids are violent against kids in different "groups" or whatever. Some people just cant accept differences.
AMEN lol In truth I am not against people having a religion that helps them, but I personally hate it
“Religion is an insult to human dignity. With or without it you would have good people doing good things and evil people doing evil things. But for good people to do evil things, that takes religion.” Steven Weinberg Our language is based on conceptual paradigms. Conceptual paradigms are the lenses through which we perceive reality and the very foundation of our language is based on separation and denial. Monotheistic religions define hierarchal bureaucracy and our government is one. The idea that there is a separation between religion and government is a joke. Jews, Moslems, Christians…all from the same mold. Monotheism is NOT passive! Monotheism gives God a bad name!
all religion gives humans a bad name - did you ever consider that ? - humans cannot hope to live up to anything a religion places beyond them. Its the overbearing selfrighteous books of religion that cause people to loathe what it teaches because what it teaches is that humans are evil and can never be anything but imperfect in the eyes of a god- whatever the religion - monotheistic or not
