The good vs the bad

[SkylarHunter]

I believe in God. However, He didn't create religions, humans did, and religions cause a lot of trouble.
Not all is bad. Some religions do a lot of positive things and I don't see organized religion as something black and white, good or bad. There's both.
However, more and more, based on their actions, I believe religion in general gives a lot more bad than good to the world.
People's beliefs (or lack of them) don't seem to be the problem. The real problem is the actions of so many religions that are so convinced they are right, they have no regard for anyone or anything else, to the point that not even human life is valuable anymore.
I have to admit that I wouldn't mind to see religion gone...

 

[Acintya_Ash]

Hare Krishna!

I have to admit that I wouldn't mind to see religion gone...

Materialism wouldn't do any good either.

I agree with some of your points above. Religions require reform, intrinsically. Sectarianism creates trouble. People should try to understand the Soul of Tradition/sect/religion. By doing so, even if they form a part of a sect, they'll be free from narrow mindedness.

Radhanath Swami says:
Becoming religious is about becoming saragrahi. Saragrahi means one who seeks the essence; that is real religion. When we seek the essence of all religions, then we see what is in common. In my book The Journey Home, I give one analogy. When I was living in Patna, I was 20 years old. I stayed with Ramasevak Swami who was about 85, and there was another man who was over 85; his name was Narayan Prasad. Everyday about 11 ‘O clock in the morning he took me to his best friend. His best friend lived at the Magadha X-ray Clinic and his name was Mohammad. Interestingly, Narayan Prasad would speak to him about Bhagvad Gita, Mohammad would speak to him about the Quran, and I would speak about all the different stuff that I knew. One day I asked Narayan Prasad, “How is it that in a place like India, where there is so much conflict between Hindus and Muslims that you and Mohammad are best friends and you are sharing each other’s scriptures like this?” He said, “If a dog has a master, the dog will recognize the master in whatever way the master dresses. Sometimes he may be in a suit and tie, sometimes he may be in t-shirt and jeans, sometimes he may be wearing a dhoti or a lungi , sometimes he may not be wearing anything, but the dog will recognize. If we cannot recognize our beloved Lord when he comes in different times, in different dresses, with different names, then we have much to learn from the dog.” Saragrahi means to seek the essence. Even though there may be differences, if we seek the essence, we will understand what we really have in common, and then there is no difference between the different religions.

regards
Ash

 

[George-ananda]

There always has and still is good and bad going on simultaneously. In the end with education and the strength of good people the good will prevail. The good have to fight against the bad but in the end good will more and more prevail. Some evil will have its temporary run. The world and religion is better than 100, 200, 500, etc., years ago. That trend will continue; people are getting more educated and thoughtful every year.

Skylar, don't throw the baby out with the bath water!

 

[Quintessence]

Do not mistake the loudness or extremeness of a voice for its frequency. One-true-wayism is not that common, and religion is rarely the sole factor in motivating a person's behavior.

 

[rusra02]

I believe in God. However, He didn't create religions, humans did, and religions cause a lot of trouble.
Not all is bad. Some religions do a lot of positive things and I don't see organized religion as something black and white, good or bad. There's both.
However, more and more, based on their actions, I believe religion in general gives a lot more bad than good to the world.
People's beliefs (or lack of them) don't seem to be the problem. The real problem is the actions of so many religions that are so convinced they are right, they have no regard for anyone or anything else, to the point that not even human life is valuable anymore.
I have to admit that I wouldn't mind to see religion gone...

I agree with you that religion has been a force for great evil. The Bible describes false religions as an immoral woman, and affirms that "her sins have massed together clear up to heaven, and God has called her acts of injustice to mind. Repay her in the way she treated others." (Revelation 18:5,6) I believe that soon, all false religions will be destroyed by God.
One must differentiate the many false religions from the one true religion that is clean and undefined from God's standpoint. (James 1:27)

 

[SkylarHunter]

[QUOTE="rusra02, post: 4046904, member: 17202" I believe that soon, all false religions will be destroyed by God.
[/QUOTE]

Sounds like a great plan.What does "soon" mean? Are we talking about soon enough that I'll be here to see it or soon as in no-idea-when ?

 

[Estro Felino]

I think that most religions, including Christianity, have a twisted vision of reality. In other words, they spread false messages about evil and good. Christianity says that evil is present in human nature and humans can't do but sin (this is a devilish concept). and only God can save them.

Other theistic religions say that evil and good can exist together inside each of us. (that is false). One thing exclude the other.

I think that we have to educate our children, so they understand that in this planet, there is a persistent fight between evil and good. and that they are supposed to choose good.

 

[rusra02]

[QUOTE="rusra02, post: 4046904, member: 17202" I believe that soon, all false religions will be destroyed by God.

Sounds like a great plan.What does "soon" mean? Are we talking about soon enough that I'll be here to see it or soon as in no-idea-when ?[/QUOTE]
I believe the Bible clearly identifies our time as the last days of this evil system of things. ( 2 Timothy 3:1-5, for example) so, we are talking about soon, as in any day now. People have always made the mistake of thinking God's judgements will only happen in a distant future day. (Ezekiel 12:27, 2 Peter 3:3,4) You can find more evidence we are in the last days here.

 

[Thief]

Already doing without religion.
Got faith.
Got belief.
Got reason for both.
Have strong suspicion of what lays ahead.

 

[Shad]

I believe in God. However, He didn't create religions, humans did, and religions cause a lot of trouble.
Not all is bad. Some religions do a lot of positive things and I don't see organized religion as something black and white, good or bad. There's both.
However, more and more, based on their actions, I believe religion in general gives a lot more bad than good to the world.
People's beliefs (or lack of them) don't seem to be the problem. The real problem is the actions of so many religions that are so convinced they are right, they have no regard for anyone or anything else, to the point that not even human life is valuable anymore.
I have to admit that I wouldn't mind to see religion gone...

When religion seeks to impose it's views on others it has become an ideology which can lead to issue just as other ideologies such as communist views of the USSR and it's one party system. The "it's my way or the highway" mentality. There are a number of religions which are pluralistic in which there are many ways to God. Unfortunately Abrahamic religions can easily become ideologies since core concepts follow such a mentality. Be it false gods, the concept of demons or Satan being behind competing religions. These concepts dismiss other religions from the start and seem to have no room for alternative paths.

 

[Sir Doom]

I believe in God. However, He didn't create religions, humans did, and religions cause a lot of trouble.

You can't take the trouble out of humans. Certainly not by removing religion.

Not all is bad. Some religions do a lot of positive things and I don't see organized religion as something black and white, good or bad. There's both.

Do you have a list?

However, more and more, based on their actions, I believe religion in general gives a lot more bad than good to the world.

I think you are wrong. Religion is a product of humans, as you said. Religion is expression. People that are bad do bad things. Sometimes those people are part of a religion.

People's beliefs (or lack of them) don't seem to be the problem. The real problem is the actions of so many religions that are so convinced they are right, they have no regard for anyone or anything else, to the point that not even human life is valuable anymore.

The same happens with political and economic ideologies. People will faction. People will take a stand. People will consider their stance of paramount importance, and people will kill or die (or many other things) to further the cause they believe in. It doesn't have to be religious for any of that. If you remove religion you just transfer that same zealotry to another type of cause.

I have to admit that I wouldn't mind to see religion gone...

You should just change how you view it, in my opinion. Religion is not going anywhere.

 

[icehorse]

Do not mistake the loudness or extremeness of a voice for its frequency. One-true-wayism is not that common, and religion is rarely the sole factor in motivating a person's behavior.

Person for person, one-true-wayism causes lots more trouble than average. And while I'd agree that religion is seldom the sole factor motivating behavior, it's often a significant factor. I wonder if you're guilty of soft bigotry if you choose to disbelieve all those millions of religious people over the centuries who have claimed they were behaving in the name of their religion?

 

[Nakosis]

How do you judge good and bad?
I judge it according to my own set of values. Fortunately I am a compassionate person. I have a concern for the benefit of others.

Obviously not everyone share my values. Religion can perhaps provide a guide for those not as compassionate. I kind of see Christianity as the religion for the people from the bottom of the apple barrel. The worst of the worst.

We may see some of the Christian values as barbaric, but it's a step up for many people. Personally I don't feel a need for a religion. Others do feel that need. If a religion is not provided for them they will create their own. Depending on who is doing the creating, it may not be in the best interests of everyone.

 

[Quintessence]

Person for person, one-true-wayism causes lots more trouble than average. And while I'd agree that religion is seldom the sole factor motivating behavior, it's often a significant factor.

It is not exactly surprising that those who disagree with one-true-waysim would perceive it as causing more trouble than average, as they view it as a problem already from the gate and it tends to directly or indirectly threaten them. One might imagine that the one-trye-wayists see us non-one-true-wayists as causing more trouble than average.

As for how religion plays into motivation, I don't know if I would say "often." I can't attach any vague quantifier to it without seeing data. I would go with "sometimes" in the absence of any evidence.

I wonder if you're guilty of soft bigotry if you choose to disbelieve all those millions of religious people over the centuries who have claimed they were behaving in the name of their religion?

I truly have no idea what you're trying to get at here given it has nothing to do with anything I said.

Regardless, basically what I'm saying to the OP is that because of how our minds process information, we frequently get erroneous impressions about the world around us because we weight certain things more heavily than others. We don't understand the matter-of-fact of the world, we understand the world as shaped by subjective personal experiences and what we pay attention to. I've met people who think the human world is some terrible awful place. These same people watch the news and pay attention to all the bad news. In spite of the fact that things like violent crime are a statistical rarity, they have a dim view of human reality because they fixate on the bad. If you fixate on the bad of anything, whether it's religion, politics, or an individual person, that's what you're going to see.

 

[icehorse]

quint: As for how religion plays into motivation, I don't know if I would say "often." I can't attach any vague quantifier to it without seeing data. I would go with "sometimes" in the absence of any evidence.

ice: I wonder if you're guilty of soft bigotry if you choose to disbelieve all those millions of religious people over the centuries who have claimed they were behaving in the name of their religion?

quint: I truly have no idea what you're trying to get at here given it has nothing to do with anything I said.

What I'm saying is that even if you include only those who declared their behaviors to be "in the name of...", you'd still have a lot data for how "often" religion plays into motivation.

 

[Quintessence]

You would have data, but not that could be used for empirical methods. Which basically means it is a stack of anecdotes without statistical power, thus statements about frequency cannot objectively be made. What you would need to do is set up a study that monitors a representative sample for several days and asks them to record all activities throughout the day. Then, for each activity, have that person rate how much that activity was in the name of whatever deities they worship (along with some other parameters to reduce salience bias). Self-reports have limitations and don't really establish causation, but it's really the only tool we'd have to study it. I have a hunch that if we did this study, the frequency would be quite low overall, and perhaps somewhat higher in certain regions like the deep south and for people who are career clergy and such.

 

[Twilight Hue]

I believe in God. However, He didn't create religions, humans did, and religions cause a lot of trouble.
Not all is bad. Some religions do a lot of positive things and I don't see organized religion as something black and white, good or bad. There's both.
However, more and more, based on their actions, I believe religion in general gives a lot more bad than good to the world.
People's beliefs (or lack of them) don't seem to be the problem. The real problem is the actions of so many religions that are so convinced they are right, they have no regard for anyone or anything else, to the point that not even human life is valuable anymore.
I have to admit that I wouldn't mind to see religion gone...

It's a sobering experience to realise religion has little or no effect on the overall human experience.

I think it's more important to avoid contrasts by reason there will always be those qualities by which through association of any particular faith or practice, you will find that human nature pervades above religious and spiritual idealism.

As it goes you take the good with the bad, yet it's still you that defines the person and what you wish to represent.

Sometimes religions get tipsy. ;0)

 

[Ingledsva]

I believe in God. However, He didn't create religions, humans did, and religions cause a lot of trouble.
Not all is bad. Some religions do a lot of positive things and I don't see organized religion as something black and white, good or bad. There's both.
However, more and more, based on their actions, I believe religion in general gives a lot more bad than good to the world.
People's beliefs (or lack of them) don't seem to be the problem. The real problem is the actions of so many religions that are so convinced they are right, they have no regard for anyone or anything else, to the point that not even human life is valuable anymore.
I have to admit that I wouldn't mind to see religion gone...

I agree with you. There can be Spirituality, without religions. Religions divide.


*

 

[Riverwolf]

The real problem is the actions of so many religions that are so convinced they are right, they have no regard for anyone or anything else, to the point that not even human life is valuable anymore.

I've seen other things do that far, far more quickly and efficiently than religion could ever hope to.

 

[Revoltingest]

A bad side of religion...
Tanzania's Albinos 'Killed like Animals' for Body Parts Used in Potions