Thread: Religion is one of the most destructive forces man has ever devised.

This is my opinion, of course. You are free to disagree. But based on my observations and study of the historical record, I don't think any one thing has caused as much misery, suffering, and animosity as organized religion. YMMV.

I completely disagree. What has caused the most misery, suffering and animosity is ourselves. We have never needed religion to find reasons to hurt, exploit, or kill each other, we do that just fine on our own. Sure religion makes a convenient excuse, but it is not the main cause. So what is? Well, it kind of depends on what we are talking about. If we are talking about war, then the answer is that most wars are about resources. Do you really believe that the war in Iran was just a war between Christians and Muslims? No, it was a war between an energy hungry nation and a nation that produces over 2000 barrels of oil a day.

Even 9/11 was about oil in a roundabout way. Needing money due to a prolonged war with Iran, Iraq invades its oil rich neighbor Kuwait. Not wanting Iraq to have that much power over middle east oil and afraid for the safety of the Saudi oil fields, the U.S. launches an attack against Iraq until they leave Kuwait. Still nervous about the safety of the Saudi oil fields, the U.S. leaves troops in Saudi Arabia. A Civil Engineering student named Osama bin Laden sees these troops as examples of American imperialism and we know what happens after that.

Would lack of religion stop prejudice? Hell no. We hate those that are different us whether it is religion, skin color, sex, language, family background, sexual orientaton or social status just to name a few. Even if we all looked exactly alike, we would find other things to fuel our prejudice.

No I'm not saying that religion is completely innocent of didn't have a hand in wars and prejudice, but the lack of religion wouldn't have made that big of a difference and it can even be argued that religion has done some good too.

I'll have to agree with DD to some extent. Religion very rarely causes problems. However, it is a common tool to justify, agitate and escalate situations.

We lack substantive human experience without religion to measure against.

I disagree. It's not religion alone. It goes deeper.

It is man's thirst for power. In which religion is occasionally and often wrongly used in the pursuit of said power/control/greed.

The primary teachings of religion - by this I mean the 3 Abrahimic faiths - are not something meant to wreak havoc and bring chaos and death and misery on this planet.

You (in the general sense) say religion is man made, but then blame religion for many problems today and in the past. Instead, man should be to blame, no?

Greed is responsible for a large portion of the suffering around the world today, and if you look at the past you would see it pokes its ugly head out there too. And greed has adopted religion in some cases to... Justify atrocities.

That is my honest opinion.

Originally Posted by Bow To The Robots

This is my opinion, of course. You are free to disagree. But based on my observations and study of the historical record, I don't think any one thing has caused as much misery, suffering, and animosity as organized religion. YMMV.

Well, I guess you are blind to the misery that is has been going on at the hands of the U.S trying to dominate other Nations around the world. The countless innocent men woman and children that have been killed from U.S solders bombing their Country....the many people that have been killed by the U.S via the CIA over throwing even democratically elected governments. What about the almost genocide that Native Americans went throw by the hands of the white man? What about the enslavement of the African by whites?

You fail to understand that the problem is not religion (though religion is manmade) but man themselves……the desire for people to want to rule, control or dominate other human beings is the problem.

Originally Posted by Bow To The Robots

This is my opinion, of course. You are free to disagree. But based on my observations and study of the historical record, I don't think any one thing has caused as much misery, suffering, and animosity as organized religion. YMMV.

Sex and money. Heck, they brought about half the religious structures you're talking about.

Originally Posted by Bow To The Robots

This is my opinion, of course. You are free to disagree. But based on my observations and study of the historical record, I don't think any one thing has caused as much misery, suffering, and animosity as organized religion. YMMV.

Atheism is an organized (or semi-organized) religion.

re·li·gion
   [ri-lij-uhn] Show IPA
noun

a specific fundamental set of beliefs and practices generally agreed upon by a number of persons or sects

Originally Posted by SpaceCricket79

Atheism is an organized (or semi-organized) religion.

re·li·gion
   [ri-lij-uhn] Show IPA
noun

a specific fundamental set of beliefs and practices generally agreed upon by a number of persons or sects

See my emphasis. Atheism describes a single belief, not a set and it implies no practices.

If atheism were defined as a religion than so would theism as they are direct opposites. That isn't to say that there aren't religious atheists (just as there are religious theists) but their religion is not atheism itself.

Every society has had religion. The reason is that it helps society be more united and provides a form of social control (conscience is far more effective than law enforcement.) I'm not sure society could even exist peacefully without religion. I'm not a religious person but I have enough common sense to see the value in religion to society. Think it through.