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| | | | | | | | | | | Posted by G to the Race I'm not making light of what you said when I say that what you said sounds insane. |
| | | Posted by Harvestman Just for clarification - do you mean that the idea itself sounds insane, or how I said it sounds crazy? If you meant the former, I completely agree. |
| | | Posted by KublaKhan Premise based on a false assumption. Define 'good' in the context of religion. |
| | | Posted by G to the Race Good as in generally accepted as a healthy pursuit. You could argue, rightfully so, that religion is bad and I would agree. Religion does have merits as an organizing principle and as a way to bring good out of people. My point or rather question is, if it is good in these ways why does so much harm come from it? |
| | | Posted by Soldat I think his point is that what commonly would be called bad is looked at as good in the context of certain religions. In a present day example while we consider the beheading of children and mass persecution of people bad the radicals in ISIS believe they are doing good by ridding the world of those heathens. |
| | | Posted by splumer I think religion on an individual basis might be a positive; on a large scale it is a negative. |
| | | Posted by blitz I would argue the only negative thing religion has brought us is also the only positive thing; it inspires people to think critically about what they value and rely upon in this life and in some cases, have faith in things they don't necessarily understand, whether they are religious or not. If those values are negative, it's not the religion's fault as much so as the people that chose to interpret faith in such a negative manner. Just my 2 cents. |
| | | | Perverse and Often Baffling | | | Posted by G to the Race I know it's a childish question. Sitting here reading about whoever is being killed in Iraq because they are aren't the same religion as the killers and I think WTF? For all the good religion does (charitable works, keeps some people alive for without it they would off themselves, got me good Italian bread on Sundays and Christmas presents too), it sure seems that millions use it for bad stuff as well. But why? If you understand the messages of the great Prophets or Gods, don't they all argue for peace? I simply don't get it happens. |
| | | Posted by DevilC Who said it's good? Those who profit from it? |
| | Vehicular Lord Rick | | | Posted by Samurai religion/faith has never been about good. It has been about control. When the concept of god (or gods the further back you go) was created in the absence of any scientific reality. What was all that stuff in the sky at night? No one thought that they were other stars like the one during the day, so it was blamed on god, or again gods of the sky, of the night, etc. As history went on, there were a few enterprising chaps that realized that hey wait a minute, these saps actually buy into this shit. Well, let's simplify the entire thing... Pantheism gave way to monotheism. Did you realize that the entire christian faith has been ripped off from the ancient egyptian? How's that for a big fat sack of laugh laugh laugh? Anyways, so as time has gone on, faith is about control. Controlling what you think, how you think, what you do, how you reason (or choose not to) all in the name of an invisible friend. Faith and religion are bad because it takes an otherwise rational person and convinces them that the irrational is in the drivers' seat of the world around them. that's it in a nutshell... i could probably do better on my case, but I just woke up and am eating tofu. Sue me. |
| | Vehicular Lord Rick| Posted by blitz Nearly every inter-faith conflict (be it violent, spiritual, or academic) is driven by such a narrative. |
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