Organized Religion: The Root Of All Evil

[VioletVortex]

Evil isn't a term with a fixed definition, but I think organized religion is bad. It has a tendency to attract the sheep, and then manipulate them into harming people. Look at groups like ISIS, Christian extremists shooting up Planned Parenthood clinics etc. Not every member of an organized religion is like that, there are some great liberal Christians, Muslims, Jews etc. who generally mind their own business.

Organized religion is the absolute antithesis of free thought. Humans think better the way they were designed to think- independently.

Satanism is a universal term for an independent religion, so no, I am not of any organized religion. I have no problem with the organized practice of a religion (organized ritual, prayer, etc.), but I think there are too many people who can't handle it, and start trying to do things outside of the place of worship. I myself wish there were Satanic places of meeting.

Most of the problems in our world are rooted in stupidity and ignorance.

 

[Sunstone]

When it comes to humans and evil, I suspect the adage "Never ascribe to malice what can be adequately explained by stupidity" applies rather well.

 

[David1967]

I am of the belief that organized religion is the root of all evil. Many of the atrocities that have been committed over the course of time have a religious undertone to them. Countless times the phrase "in the name of God" has been tossed around to justify acts of violence.

Most religions have a period of time in which they were the aggressors and carried out heinous, violent acts of barbarism. From the Christian Crusades into the Holy Land all the way up to the radical Islamic terrorists of today. Religion is a cultural issue, and when two different cultures collide, the end result has a tendency to turn violent. Such is the nature of humans.

Quite frankly I am tired of all the holy wars, the suicide bombings, the beheadings, the retaliations, and the Romanesque Coliseum interest in such violence. The radicals on all sides would serve the planet better if they would all just off themselves and leave the rest of us in peace. Live and let live.

I wouldn't go so far as to say "all". But I will concede that it is responsible for a lot of it.
Take a theocracy for example. Anytime you have a gov't theocracy, whether the Catholic church during the inquisition or Islamic theocracies of today, the results are the same. Someone says God said and people die. A persons belief or lack of should be free and personal.

 

[Unveiled Artist]

I am of the belief that organized religion is the root of all evil. Many of the atrocities that have been committed over the course of time have a religious undertone to them. Countless times the phrase "in the name of God" has been tossed around to justify acts of violence.

Most religions have a period of time in which they were the aggressors and carried out heinous, violent acts of barbarism. From the Christian Crusades into the Holy Land all the way up to the radical Islamic terrorists of today. Religion is a cultural issue, and when two different cultures collide, the end result has a tendency to turn violent. Such is the nature of humans.

Quite frankly I am tired of all the holy wars, the suicide bombings, the beheadings, the retaliations, and the Romanesque Coliseum interest in such violence. The radicals on all sides would serve the planet better if they would all just off themselves and leave the rest of us in peace. Live and let live.

I think take organized religion out the situation. People misuse the authority they feel is given or they have in them to overpower others. It's the people not the religion. If we, as people, lived our religions without taking advantage of them, then I am sure we can live better among each other since I haven't read in nay religious book which promotes violence from it's religious. If anything, the religious (and non-religious) read violence into it whether literally or contextually.

Another problem I see, if it is true that they are interpreting their own text correctly and going through with violence is not knowing the difference of morality today as opposed to yesterday. So, what they did years ago in the past, all of the sudden is supposed to be valid today in a sense of suppressing people's moral freedom, killing them for having different religions, and so forth.

It's not organized religion. I've been in organized religion and most of us did not feel or read in the Church nor in scripture a need to kill people. If anything, because of Christ sacrifice, many Catholics feel the opposite. It's taking advantage of authority, not the organization itself.

 

[David1967]

I think take organized religion out the situation. People misuse the authority they feel is given or they have in them to overpower others. It's the people not the religion. If we, as people, lived our religions without taking advantage of them, then I am sure we can live better among each other since I haven't read in nay religious book which promotes violence from it's religious. If anything, the religious (and non-religious) read violence into it whether literally or contextually.

Another problem I see, if it is true that they are interpreting their own text correctly and going through with violence is not knowing the difference of morality today as opposed to yesterday. So, what they did years ago in the past, all of the sudden is supposed to be valid today in a sense of suppressing people's moral freedom, killing them for having different religions, and so forth.

It's not organized religion. I've been in organized religion and most of us did not feel or read in the Church nor in scripture a need to kill people. If anything, because of Christ sacrifice, many Catholics feel the opposite. It's taking advantage of authority, not the organization itself.

Well said Carlita.

 

[McBell]

I am of the belief that organized religion is the root of all evil. Many of the atrocities that have been committed over the course of time have a religious undertone to them. Countless times the phrase "in the name of God" has been tossed around to justify acts of violence.

Most religions have a period of time in which they were the aggressors and carried out heinous, violent acts of barbarism. From the Christian Crusades into the Holy Land all the way up to the radical Islamic terrorists of today. Religion is a cultural issue, and when two different cultures collide, the end result has a tendency to turn violent. Such is the nature of humans.

Quite frankly I am tired of all the holy wars, the suicide bombings, the beheadings, the retaliations, and the Romanesque Coliseum interest in such violence. The radicals on all sides would serve the planet better if they would all just off themselves and leave the rest of us in peace. Live and let live.

You will need to define "religion" and "evil".
I say this because in order for your claim "organized religion is the root of all evil" to come close to being true, you will have to have some mighty creative definitions for one or both of them.

 

[Deeje]

I am of the belief that organized religion is the root of all evil. Many of the atrocities that have been committed over the course of time have a religious undertone to them. Countless times the phrase "in the name of God" has been tossed around to justify acts of violence.

Were the things done "in the name of God" really only things done by hiding behind the name?

Using religious belief as an excuse to go against the teachings of your own faith is pure hypocrisy.
If Christ teaches us to love God and neighbor....and even tells us to love our enemies...how can we take up weapons to kill them?

Most religions have a period of time in which they were the aggressors and carried out heinous, violent acts of barbarism. From the Christian Crusades into the Holy Land all the way up to the radical Islamic terrorists of today. Religion is a cultural issue, and when two different cultures collide, the end result has a tendency to turn violent. Such is the nature of humans.

Such is the nature of fallen humanity. We were not designed to kill one another. It takes a lot of perception management to make humans do 'inhuman' things. Just the very term "inhuman" means NOT human. If these heinous actions are NOT human, then what are they? I would say that they are demonically inspired. (1 John 5:19) Children raised in this kind of environment where barbarity is honored will never know God's love.

Religious backing for the military goes back a long way. For Christians, the two are completely incompatible.....you cannot train to kill humans and still call yourself a disciple of Christ. (Roman 12:17-21)

Quite frankly I am tired of all the holy wars, the suicide bombings, the beheadings, the retaliations, and the Romanesque Coliseum interest in such violence. The radicals on all sides would serve the planet better if they would all just off themselves and leave the rest of us in peace. Live and let live.

I think you will find that we are being led to a situation where the whole world will be crying out for peace and security.....we are all tired of the murderous hatred and sheer disrespect for human life expressed by those who profess a 'religion'.....and the powers that be have a solution that will solve all of our problems....or so they will say.

The Bible foretells the implementation of a "single world government" that will promise 'peace and security' but will deliver just the opposite. I see the world getting set up to accept the great counterfeit for God's kingdom. It was once called "the new world order"...then "globalization"...and now I hear the word "federalism"...or the rule by law....all done under the banner of the world's present "peacekeeper"...the UN. It sounds good, but don't be fooled...it will strip away any freedom humans have ever fought for. It will promise the world but deliver only an iron-fisted dictatorship. Religion will be the first to go.This "peacekeeper" will be a ruthless enforcer, not a "peacemaker" as Jesus said we should be.

"Rule by law" will have no loopholes or compassion and it will not be a promoter of peace. Rigid laws will be bound on all the world's inhabitants who will realize that it isn't what they signed up for....but too late.
All you have to do is look at the uniforms that police are wearing these days in all nations.....it is combat gear. These will be the law enforcers with powers greater than they have ever had. The greatest tribulation in mankind's history is foretold and nothing can stop it. (Matthew 24:21) You will only be able to buy or sell if you bear the "mark of the beast". Only those who refuse the "mark" (yet to be clarified) will survive this "great tribulation". Being "no part of this world" will be extremely difficult, but God promises to see his faithful ones through it.

These are frightening times, but also exciting for Christians who see the light at the end of the tunnel. God's Kingdom will "come" and put an end to all forms of corrupt human rulership and replace them as man's only government. (Daniel 2:44; Matthew 6:9, 10; Revelation 21:1-5) This is what I look forward to.

 

[DawudTalut]

I am of the belief that organized religion is the root of all evil. Many of the atrocities that have been committed over the course of time have a religious undertone to them. Countless times the phrase "in the name of God" has been tossed around to justify acts of violence.

Most religions have a period of time in which they were the aggressors and carried out heinous, violent acts of barbarism. From the Christian Crusades into the Holy Land all the way up to the radical Islamic terrorists of today. Religion is a cultural issue, and when two different cultures collide, the end result has a tendency to turn violent. Such is the nature of humans.

Quite frankly I am tired of all the holy wars, the suicide bombings, the beheadings, the retaliations, and the Romanesque Coliseum interest in such violence. The radicals on all sides would serve the planet better if they would all just off themselves and leave the rest of us in peace. Live and let live.

Peace be on you.
1= How would one explain atrocities done by non-religious people or forces organized or unorganized throughout the history till now. For example, in modern days' soviet era and its collision with other super powers and their proxy wars over decades, cold wars hot wars, trade wars, etc etc...

2= Same type of minds exist throughout times, it is easy to use religion i.e. to abuse religion and name of God. For examples till 1990 some aggressors were called beloved-mujahideen as they were needed against communist threat and to stop soviets to reach warm waters. .....VERSUS ......Same students / children of those so-called mujahidin are now called terrorists and extremist [which they were in 80's and 90's too]

3= Then there are rotten-clergies who actually use abuse masses and superpowers to gain political control of large areas to implement their kind of religious explanation while deem other infidels [infidel within a faith]

4= IMO, still out there, there are many Hindus, Jews, Christians and Muslims who have righteous attitudes and they worry about world peace.

 

[Augustus]

I am of the belief that organized religion is the root of all evil. Many of the atrocities that have been committed over the course of time have a religious undertone to them. Countless times the phrase "in the name of God" has been tossed around to justify acts of violence.

Less than 10% of the wars throughout history have been connected to religion so it is far from the most significant cause of violence. You also have to take into account that as well as causing wars, religion will have prevented wars by uniting societies of diverse people also. It is possible (but not provable) that religions have actually reduced violence over history.

Also without religions it would likely have been impossible to unite large numbers of unrelated strangers into relatively cohesive social groups over extended periods of time. So without religion we would probably still be living a very primitive lifestyle.

Religion seems to be ubiquitous throughout human society, this is unlikely to be by chance, but by necessity. You should really consider the bigger picture rather than a simplistic

Humans are violent and capable of 'evil'. Most of the time they like to justify to themselves why their violence is acceptable. Religion has been one of these reasons but so have many other things. Religion is just a form of ideology, and if you get rid of religion then you just create a vacuum to be filled with other ideologies. There is no reason to expect these new ideologies, as a whole, to be a significant improvement on what they replace. 20th C Europe demonstrates that pretty clearly. The most secular continent in history was also the most violent. Kind of messes up your thesis a little bit.

 

[Augustus]

Organized religion is the absolute antithesis of free thought. Humans think better the way they were designed to think- independently.

While I can accept arguments that it is better to think independently, I'm not sure we were designed/evolved to think independently.

Scientific studies have frequently demonstrated the need for conformity with most people and how easily we are influenced by the people around us.

 

[Laika]

I am of the belief that organized religion is the root of all evil. Many of the atrocities that have been committed over the course of time have a religious undertone to them. Countless times the phrase "in the name of God" has been tossed around to justify acts of violence.

Most religions have a period of time in which they were the aggressors and carried out heinous, violent acts of barbarism. From the Christian Crusades into the Holy Land all the way up to the radical Islamic terrorists of today. Religion is a cultural issue, and when two different cultures collide, the end result has a tendency to turn violent. Such is the nature of humans.

Quite frankly I am tired of all the holy wars, the suicide bombings, the beheadings, the retaliations, and the Romanesque Coliseum interest in such violence. The radicals on all sides would serve the planet better if they would all just off themselves and leave the rest of us in peace. Live and let live.

Violence is a human problem. Not a religious one. Given that the concept of objective evil is primarily a religious one, it is contradictory to condemn not simply the actions, but also the thoughts and feelings of religious people as a "sin" against nature/God.

If I were to give examples of people committing acts of violence and someone says "but that was justified"- that's another way of saying "our cause is so good, so just, that it cannot and should not be measured by its consequences"- which underlines the hypocrisy of condemning one group for saying "God is on our side so we can kill as many people as we like". Good intentions are pretty much meaningless as "intentions" have no physical existence or consequences- whereas our actions do.

The other thing is "that's not secular/atheist" which is another argument of moral exemption- the belief that the apparent rationality of secularism and atheism means that it is intrinsically impossible for someone who has those beliefs to commit atrocities.

If it's "the nature of humans" that means ALL humans. It doesn't matter whether someone has actually killed or tortured someone, they have the physical capacity to do so, even if they protest that individual conscience exempts them from accepting collective responsibility of the human race for their power to do "evil"- if indeed we accept evil as a valid concept.

As this is a "human" problem and neither exclusively a secular or a religious one, it is difficult to distinguish between the two. Communism is the most obvious as state atheist- but is controversial because it is accused of being a dogma/faith by many secularists and therefore suffering from the same irrationality as religion. However, below are some relatively secular atrocities (excluding communists). You could debate each example, but so can every religious person in ascribing responsibility for individual events or atrocities to a given idea. Respectfully, it is necessary to give religious people that same consideration we secularist would give ourselves if our moral standards are to have any practical value;

The reign of terror in France;

The Mexican Revolution;

World War I;

Concentration camps in the boer war;

 

[Triscuit]

Love of money is the root of all evil. You will never find a war where greed and covetousness was not the cause.

Organized religion has produced great societies and astounding art. It bootstrapped civilization and culture.

 

[VioletVortex]

While I can accept arguments that it is better to think independently, I'm not sure we were designed/evolved to think independently.

Scientific studies have frequently demonstrated the need for conformity with most people and how easily we are influenced by the people around us.

People have a need to conform because they were raised in a conformist environment, and they never knew anything different. I understand the need to socialize and relate to others, but humans don't have an inherent need to follow like sheep.

People use their intelligence more efficiently when they think for themselves. Also, human psychology isn't universal. Everyone's thoughts and psychological needs are different, so a study can't speak for all.

 

[McBell]

Love of money is the root of all evil. You will never find a war where greed and covetousness was not the cause.

Organized religion has produced great societies and astounding art. It bootstrapped civilization and culture.

please explain how the love of money applies to adam and eve.

thank you in advance.

 

[Triscuit]

Money is a symbolic means of the intentional conveyance of property and privilege. Adam and Eve took the apple due to greed and covetousness and usurped God's property and privilege.

 

[McBell]

Money is a symbolic means of the intentional conveyance of property and privilege. Adam and Eve took the apple due to greed and covetousness and usurped God's property and privilege.

A rather interesting modern twist.
Especially given the proclaimed innocence of adam and eve.

 

[Quintessence]

Wars wouldn't happen if there were no organized religions?

Never said that.

Perhaps you are unaware, but when someone says something like this:

I am of the belief that organized religion is the root of all evil.

The phrase "root of all evil" implies that if we were to get rid of that factor, all evil would disappear. When you destroy the root of a plant, the entire plant dies, as it were. Thus, it stands to reason that if you mean what you said there, you would believe war wouldn't happen if there were no organized religions. If this is not what you mean to convey, perhaps rethink your choice of the phrase "root of all evil?"

 

[Triscuit]

A rather interesting modern twist.
Especially given the proclaimed innocence of adam and eve.

Do you ever contribute anything original to the conversation, or do you just troll and nitpick others?

Thank you in advance.

 

[Triscuit]

Perhaps you are unaware, but when someone says something like this:



The phrase "root of all evil" implies that if we were to get rid of that factor, all evil would disappear. When you destroy the root of a plant, the entire plant dies, as it were. Thus, it stands to reason that if you mean what you said there, you would believe war wouldn't happen if there were no organized religions. If this is not what you mean to convey, perhaps rethink your choice of the phrase "root of all evil?"

Aristotelian logic cannot be applied to concepts. Only to physical noumenon.

 

[Quintessence]

Aristotelian logic cannot be applied to concepts. Only to physical noumenon.

What makes you think that's what I was doing (because it wasn't)?