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The world would be better with no religion at all. Agree/disagree

The world would be better with no religion at all. Agree/disagree

  • Agree. Religion is just legitimized superstition that causes problems.

    Votes: 17 37.0%
  • Disagree. Though it has faults, religion plays an important role.

    Votes: 29 63.0%

  • Total voters
    46
The world would be better with no religion at all. Agree/disagree



Oh good another ignorant atheist poll who thinks religion is the belief itself in a deity not a group of people adhering to a certain set of beliefs and practices.
 
Oh good another ignorant atheist poll who thinks religion is the belief itself in a deity not a group of people adhering to a certain set of beliefs and practices.

Okay, I'm going to go into a Baptist Church and tell the truth that I think the God myth is nonsense, but I believe in their principles and want to join their church. I'm sure they'll sign me up. Thanks for clearing that up.

Faith isn't necessary, but morals are; otherwise society couldn't functions. There's even morality among other higher animals.

I agree with that. And we would have a much better chance at being moral if we weren't mired in superstition.
 
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I think we're better off with it. (and this view, here, reflects a change of my opinion on this over the years since I joined this forum)

Religion goes horribly sour and festers into a negativity when the people involved in it twist it for their own purposes: government, leadership, control, depotism, demagogery, bigotry and so forth.

These things happen - not because of religion or spirtuality itself - but becaues of the people who abuse it - wielding it like a weapon.

I understand your current conclusion. Mine comes from thinking that a religion typically does not start with pure motives that are subverted much later; but, rather from leadership wanting to control their group for both the general benefit and for the leadership personal benefit from the beginning.
But, without religion more people would have to develop a view that has a high level of understanding of how things are and what works for the individual and the group, rather than just doing what the particular book says to.
 
Okay, I'm going to go into a Baptist Church and tell the truth that I think the God myth is nonsense, but I believe in their principles and want to join their church. I'm sure they'll sign me up. Thanks for clearing that up.

Again religion does not have to require the belief in a deity in order for it to be a religion. Specific religions however may require that you actually believe in a deity seeing how religion is a group of people adhering to a certain set of beliefs and practices and the belief of a deity is party of that belief and practices. Some religious do not require the belief in a deity. For example -

Man made global warming fairy tale religion

Religious Belief- Humans caused the climate to change and we must do what ever we can to stop this.

Religious practices- recycling, driving hybrid cars, buying only recycled good or recyclable goods, have rain water collection, solar power, push for carbon credits and anything else done because of your belief in the man made global warming fairy tale.
 
Again religion does not have to require the belief in a deity in order for it to be a religion. Specific religions however may require that you actually believe in a deity seeing how religion is a group of people adhering to a certain set of beliefs and practices and the belief of a deity is party of that belief and practices. Some religious do not require the belief in a deity. For example -

Man made global warming fairy tale religion

Religious Belief- Humans caused the climate to change and we must do what ever we can to stop this.

Religious practices- recycling, driving hybrid cars, buying only recycled good or recyclable goods, have rain water collection, solar power, push for carbon credits and anything else done because of your belief in the man made global warming fairy tale.

Except it's not a fairy tale and this is a load of horse **** :2wave:
 
Again religion does not have to require the belief in a deity in order for it to be a religion. Specific religions however may require that you actually believe in a deity seeing how religion is a group of people adhering to a certain set of beliefs and practices and the belief of a deity is party of that belief and practices. Some religious do not require the belief in a deity. For example -

Man made global warming fairy tale religion

Religious Belief- Humans caused the climate to change and we must do what ever we can to stop this.

Religious practices- recycling, driving hybrid cars, buying only recycled good or recyclable goods, have rain water collection, solar power, push for carbon credits and anything else done because of your belief in the man made global warming fairy tale.

You're confused on what religion is. That can be cleared up by a simple dictionary definition:

Noun: religion
1. A strong belief in a supernatural power or powers that control human destiny
2. An institution to express belief in a divine power

[WordWeb.info]

The fact that you think global warming is a religion also shows that you're confused about science and the scientific method. It would be too long and complex to explain here, but here's a start:

Science - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

However, your reference to global warming does illustrate how we would be better off without religion. It's clear that religious confusion has made it difficult for some to understand the rational and provable science behind global warming and what we can do about it. As a result, we're much more likely to suffer the severe environmental consequences of global warming thanks in part to people's adherence to religious superstition.
 
A world without any sort of spiritual belief would be imaginary only. If people didn't have religion, they would have faith in other things, whether they be political ideology, science, something else.

As usual stillballin is the voice of reason....without religion entirely, you would have people blindly following someone or something else which could be far more inheritently evil. Most humans are the flock there are only a few shepherds....
 
Religion helps us understand the world around us and impacts our very being with questions larger than ourselves. It can also make us better people.

Any highly publicized downfall of religion is dwarfed by the beauty it has given man.
 
You're confused on what religion is. That can be cleared up by a simple dictionary definition:

Funny how my definitions can be found in real dictionaries.

Religion | Define Religion at Dictionary.com
–noun
1.
a set of beliefs concerning the cause, nature, and purpose of the universe, especially when considered as the creation of a superhuman agency or agencies, usually involving devotional and ritual observances, and often containing a moral code governing the conduct of human affairs.
2.
a specific fundamental set of beliefs and practices generally agreed upon by a number of persons or sects
: the Christian religion; the Buddhist religion.
3.
the body of persons adhering to a particular set of beliefs and practices: a world council of religions.





The proper poll question should have been "would the world be better off without the belief of a deity?" Because I know due to anti-religious bigotry of some atheist this is what they really mean.

This is a good illustration of a non-deity religious conflict.
http://www.southparkstudios.com/clips/155423/atheist-war





However, your reference to global warming does illustrate how we would be better off without religion.

My reference to the Man made global warming movement as a religion shows that religion does not have to involve the belief in a deity. The fact that you choose to believe that climate change is not natural is irrelevant to the fact that man made global warming is a fairy tale.
 
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Except it's not a fairy tale and this is a load of horse **** :2wave:

You keep telling yourself that. Most people happen to believe that climate change regardless of how minute or severe is something that occurs naturally.
 
No.

Altering the environment to try and defeat human weakness is a waste of time; you'll never be able to order things so that people don't become malcontent troublemakers, because that tendency arises primarily from the inside. Religion is like any of life's experiences; you need to be wary of your motives and their role in the formation of your beliefs and opinions, and actively diminish the influence of selfish and hypocritical impulses in the formation of those opinions.

As long as you do that, religion isn't a threat to the soul.
 
I'm not going to answer the poll because you added a lot more than "agree" or "disagree", which substantially changes the meaning of the vote. I think the world would be better off without organized religion as it is currently practiced. However, the world would not be better off without basic human spirituality.
 
I understand your current conclusion. Mine comes from thinking that a religion typically does not start with pure motives that are subverted much later; but, rather from leadership wanting to control their group for both the general benefit and for the leadership personal benefit from the beginning.
But, without religion more people would have to develop a view that has a high level of understanding of how things are and what works for the individual and the group, rather than just doing what the particular book says to.

It depends on who we're talking about - and how they feel about their faith - I know many people who represent one example or the other - good or bad.

But all in all - I do, now, honestly believe that for *some* people (how many exactly - I have no clue) but for a portion of religious people -their beliefs are the only thing keeping them from going savage on everyone.

Unfortunately - there's also a heavy dose of people whose religion or faith is the reason they go savage.

Good and bad - but without religion those control seeking individuals would just find another means of control - religion is just one vice.
 
Funny how my definitions can be found in real dictionaries.

Religion | Define Religion at Dictionary.com
–noun
1.
a set of beliefs concerning the cause, nature, and purpose of the universe, especially when considered as the creation of a superhuman agency or agencies, usually involving devotional and ritual observances, and often containing a moral code governing the conduct of human affairs.
2.
a specific fundamental set of beliefs and practices generally agreed upon by a number of persons or sects
: the Christian religion; the Buddhist religion.
3.
the body of persons adhering to a particular set of beliefs and practices: a world council of religions.

....

Thanks for proving my point. Global warming is a scientific theory, not a belief system. No scientist believes in global warming. Nearly all scientists accept it as fact based on empirical evidence. Global warming doesn't meet the WordWeb definition of religion that I quoted nor the dictionary.com one that you quoted. It's a scientific theory backed up by evidence and is supported by near unanimous agreement in the scientific community. It has nothing to do with religion. To find a scientist who doesn't support it, you have to scrape the crackpot barrel, which is exactly what right-wing radio extremists do. Even if somehow 99.99% of scientists somehow got it wrong, they still erred while using the scientific method with observation and experimentation, not the belief in magic. Buddhists still believe in unprovable faith-based items like karma and nirvana.

You need to learn the difference between belief and knowledge. Belief systems are unprovable and faith-based. Knowledge systems are based on observation and making a reasonable explanation based on provable data.

Many people, yourself included, can't distinguish between knowledge and belief, and, hence, irrationally dismiss scientific evidence in favor of irrational belief. As a result, governments get paralyzed from taking action that has the chance to prevent catastrophe. Thank you for stepping in and proving my point about how religion causes more harm than good.
 
The world would be substantially better off if we could shrug off these primitive superstitions.

Yes. I'm particularly dedicated to stamping out the primitive belief that all men are created equal.
 
I think we would be much better off without religion.. There is absolutely nothing that religion has done that is good for mankind.. Noithing that is that could have also been done without it..

We don't need religion to give us morals... We all have morals.. Personally I think the morals of those that are religious are a bit off.. I see nothing wrong with gay marriage, I have no desire to stone my daughter to death for something.. I don't want to burn witches at the stake either.. Nor do I see the point in the worshiping a bloody dead guy nailed to a cross.. I also don't think the torturous execution of Christ to be fit for teaching to a child..

No more burkkas

No more debates on abortion

No more liberals and conservatives..

No more idiots that don't believe in global warming.. I don't know how this has anything to do with religion, but christians seem to not believe it..

No more huge debates about gun control.. More common sense when it comes to controlling fire arms..

No more raising kids to believe a specific religion with the threat of death..

No more polluting schools with religion and the constant questioning of evolution..

No more hatred toward other people of different religions..

No more burning Korans or Bibles..

No more churches to rob people of billions of dollars and giving nothing in return to the community..

No more terrorists

No more religious fanatics and extremists..

No more descrimination toward people of different color or race, or sexual orientation..

Finally the people of this country or this planet could work together as a people.. We don't need the boundries and walls that religion creates.. There is no such thing as a loving religion. There is no such thing as a forgiving religion..

Religion is the single largest problem that we as a people have.. It has started wars, it has been used as a basis for the murder of countless people..

Religion was merely mans attempt to explain what man could not explain.. Well.. Science can now for the most part explain it.. Time to grow up and dump religion.. We don't need it.. It provides nothing that we can't get outside religion..
 
Thanks for proving my point. Global warming is a scientific theory, not a belief system. No scientist believes in global warming.
Nearly all scientists accept it as fact based on empirical evidence.
Global warming doesn't meet the WordWeb definition of religion that I quoted nor the dictionary.com one that you quoted
.

They believe man made global warming is real. That is a belief. And they do all sorts practices based on that belief. It is a religion.I do not know what part of the definition you were looking at but dictionary.com confirms that believing in the man made global warming fairy tale is a religion.


Religion | Define Religion at Dictionary.com
a specific fundamental set of beliefs......agreed upon by a number of persons or sects



Man made global warming fairy tale religion

Religious Belief- Humans caused the climate to change and we must do what ever we can to stop this.

Religion | Define Religion at Dictionary.com
and practices generally agreed upon by a number of persons

Religious practices- recycling, driving hybrid cars, buying only recycled good or recyclable goods, have rain water collection, solar power, push for carbon credits and anything else done because of your belief in the man made global warming fairy tale.

Religion | Define Religion at Dictionary.com
the body of persons adhering to a particular set of beliefs and practices

It's a scientific theory backed up by evidence and is supported by near unanimous agreement in the scientific community.
It does not no have unanimous agreement in the scientific community.

It has nothing to do with religion.

Again you are making the assumption religion has to involve the belief in a deity. It does not and I have proven to you more than once that it does not have to involve the belief in a deity. It is a certain set of beliefs and practices agreed up a certain number of people of sect. This is why belief in the man made global warming fairy tale is a religion . It doesn't matter if every eco-tard believes that the man made global warming fairy tale is real.



To find a scientist who doesn't support it, you have to scrape the crackpot barrel, which is exactly what right-wing radio extremists do.

No you don't. Screaming big oil paid for the study does not in any shape or form discredit them. The fact is climate change is something tha has been occurring naturally for billions of years on this planet. Scientists have not proved this to be any different in the last hundred years

Even if somehow 99.99% of scientists somehow got it wrong,
If 99% of the scientist actually looked into it instead of just looking at someone else's study and nodding their head then yes they are wrong.

they still erred while using the scientific method with observation and experimentation, not the belief in magic. Buddhists still believe in unprovable faith-based items like karma and nirvana.

Again religion does not have to require the belief in a deity or the supernatural or magic.
You need to learn the difference between belief and knowledge. Belief systems are unprovable and faith-based. Knowledge systems are based on observation and making a reasonable explanation based on provable data.

You need to look at a dictionary. Again religion does not have to involve the belief in a deity, magic, supernatural or any other related stuff.


Many people, yourself included, can't distinguish between knowledge and belief, and, hence, irrationally dismiss scientific evidence in favor of irrational belief. As a result, governments get paralyzed from taking action that has the chance to prevent catastrophe. Thank you for stepping in and proving my point about how religion causes more harm than good.



You are just another atheist who has no idea what the hell you are talking about.

Believe | Define Believe at Dictionary.com
— vb (foll by in )
1. ( tr; may take a clause as object ) to accept (a statement, supposition, or opinion) as true: I believe God exists
2. ( tr ) to accept the statement or opinion of (a person) as true
3. to be convinced of the truth or existence (of): to believe in fairies
4. ( intr ) to have religious faith
5. ( when tr, takes a clause as object ) to think, assume, or suppose: I believe that he has left already
6. ( tr; foll by of; used with can, could, would, etc ) to think that someone is able to do (a particular action): I wouldn't have believed it of him

Belief | Define Belief at Dictionary.com
: a degree of conviction of the truth of something esp. based on a consideration or examination of the evidence —compare KNOWLEDGE, SUSPICION
 
No more burkkas

This would be true until a religion springs up demanding women were burkkas. A lot of your ignorance is based on the fact you believe religion=belief in deity,supernatural and other related stuff.


No more debates on abortion

Wrong. Belief in a deity has nothing to do with the fact that most people against abortion view the child in the womb as a child that deserves the same right to right and legal protections as anyone outside the womb.

No more liberals and conservatives..

This wrong because a lot of conservatives are not religious.
No more idiots that don't believe in global warming.. I don't know how this has anything to do with religion, but christians seem to not believe it..

Wrong. Many people do believe global warming is real. I believe global warming is real. What I do not believe is that out of the billions of years of climate change occurring on this planet regardless of how minute or severe those changes are that humans are somehow responsible for the last 50-10 years of climate change.

No more huge debates about gun control.. More common sense when it comes to controlling fire arms..

Wrong because that has nothing to do with religion. It is has everything to do with the fact that being ruled by some inbreeding little dictator from a tiny island country half way across the world has left a serious mistrust of governments in the eyes of founding forefathers and people today.

No more raising kids to believe a specific religion with the threat of death..
Again this is simply wrong. If you removed the belief in deities it would be replaced with idea that do not involve the belief in a deity.
No more polluting schools with religion and the constant questioning of evolution..

Maybe.But there might be debates on other theories and ideas in the classroom/

No more hatred toward other people of different religions..

This is simply a false statement. Religion does not have to involve the belief in a deity,magic, supernatural or other related stuff.

No more burning Korans or Bibles..
These would be replaced by other books.


No more churches to rob people of billions of dollars and giving nothing in return to the community..

This is false. Con-artists come in all forms.

No more terrorists

This is false.

No more religious fanatics and extremists..

This is false. Fanaticism can occur regardless if that religion is centered around the belief in something supernatural or not.

No more discrimination toward people of different color or race, or sexual orientation..

This is simply an absurd statement. People will use what ever the want to justify racism. I could be wrong but there is no thou shalt hate and or discriminate against those who are not of your race, nor are there any punishments for being a different race. Behavior one chooses to engage in? Yes there is punishments and rules against that.
 
...- but without religion those control seeking individuals would just find another means of control - religion is just one vice.
I’ve seen religion revised and reissued for no real reason other than better control of the flock. I go to a town that has the highest number of churches per person in the US. They are essentially all christian, and it seems everyone has a different name. They are all christian churches but each one is better than all the rest. Can you see where that is going? I would change my mind if there was only one Christian religion/church since Christ. So I observed that religion has proven to be the best methodology for the control of people and it is used often.
 
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Most religions yes. But regardless, people will find something to worship whether that be the intellect of man, science, themselves, or their jobs/things in life.
 
Most religions yes. But regardless, people will find something to worship whether that be the intellect of man, science, themselves, or their jobs/things in life.

Worshiping the “the intellect of man´, e.g. Jesus, is the root of the problem we have. Worshiping is a requirement of religion. If you believe you are worshiping science you are not, it can’t be done for many reasons. The people that ‘warship’ themselves are not significantly dangerous and are generally suffering from a personality disorder.
 
Most religions yes. But regardless, people will find something to worship whether that be the intellect of man, science, themselves, or their jobs/things in life.

That depends on how one defines worship. Since humans are a social animal, we do tend to flock under the leadership of the charismatic or powerful. We also tend to look for saviors to solve our problems. But this is the downside of being human-something that needs to change as we evolve. Not something to accept as an inevitability. Clearly, this tendency causes us great harm as a species.
 
This would be true until a religion springs up demanding women were burkkas. A lot of your ignorance is based on the fact you believe religion=belief in deity,supernatural and other related stuff.

James.. My post is 100% accurate and correct.. What you are forgetting is that without a religion, there is no religious influence.. There is no bible.. No 10 commandments..

over 90% of conservatives are religious.. Most conservative values come from the bible..

The arguement about abortion starts with 'Thou shalt not kill.' Which is why pro-lifers love to call it murder and killing.. When in reality they haven't dealt with the issue in a logical and objective manner.. Abortion is the only safe solution.. Or?? Again religion doesn't help here.. Teach kids to use birth control.. Since many religious folks don't believe in birth control.. It is no wonder that over 50% of all abortions are done by people of religion..

Religion propigates hatred which is why fanaticism is an issue.. I never said fanaticism would disappear.. I said religious fanatics.. So my statement was correct..

Descrimintation again gets it's roots from religion.. Feel free to go read what the bible says about slavery.. How you should treat your slaves.. How you are allowed to punish your slaves..

No religion.. No slavery.. It is no coincedent that the South, the religious part of our nation, fought to keep slavery..

My statements were correct.. In every way.. With the influence of religion, everyone will be left with the influence of science.. We will all be liberal so to speak.. We all will be operating on the same moral values.. No condemnation of a persons sexuality.. No fear of teaching our children about homosexuals, or hermaphrodites.. No fear of educating our children in science.. No fear in them being smarter than we are..

Religion has honestly done nothing for mankind.. Countless people murdered in the name of the lord.. Countless people descriminated against because of a book written during the bronze age.. No holy wars.. No Christians Vs. the Muslims..

You can think and believe whatever you want.. But make no mistakes.. My post is accurate..

To respond to a few other folks.. Yes.. People will always find something to worship.. I worship my wife and she worships me.. But that doesn't classify as a religion.. Religion is about control.. Pay the church money so they can tell you what to eat, how to have sex, how to think, how to raise your kids, how to pray, how to worship, and how to live your lives.. Sadly so many people don't see it that way.. But that is how it is.. According to the religious, god gave us freedom of choice.. Well?? When was the last time someone of religion actually used it??
 
Most religions yes. But regardless, people will find something to worship whether that be the intellect of man, science, themselves, or their jobs/things in life.

Really. There is nothing wrong with that.. Worship is one thing.. Organized religion to control others is something else.. Other than religion, there is no arguement to not allow SSM.. The only reason people look down upon it is religion.. The same was true for interacial marriage.. The same is true for racism against black people.. Remember, blacks were formally the slaves of Christians in this nation.. The KKK is a christians organization.. Founded and run by church going christians..

I don't care if people want to worship something.. I care when it becomes a means to condemn or an attempt to control others.. No bible or book is going to tell me how I can or can't have sex with my wife.. We will express our love for eachother in any way that we see fit.. Yet, up until just a few years ago, anal sex was banned by a number of states.. the SCOTUS finally struck it down.. Why on earth would we have such a law in the first place?? Why do we have any laws regulating how two consenting adults wish to have sex?? Why do we have laws preventing 2 consenting adults from just getting married??

These and others are the things I have issues with.. People can live and worship whatever they want.. I don't care.. As long as they don't care about how I or others choose to live their lives..

Until religion can butt out of the lives of others.. Religion will never have a place in our society.. It isn't an issue of people not respecting those of religion.. It is the religious not respecting the lives of the nonreligious or of another religion..
 
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Religion isn't the problem - it's attachment to religion. It's when people refuse to look at anything else or fight with other humans that we have issues. Religion can be instrumental on the path to spiritual development and helping a person understand what life means to them. It's when one person feels that their experience must be the message and that everyone must hear, understand, and even obey the message that we get into dangerous territory.

You could replace "religion" in the poll question with anything... like government, laws, the education system, etc. A tool in of itself is not dangerous. It's how that tool is used that matters.
 
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