[bonnie43uk]

Its all kicking off in Jerusalem again..
Is religion the root of all evil.

.. Saw this programme last year, and found some clips on youtube .. well worth watching
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v3p51MBKMLk

Religion has been the cause of most of the worlds ills over the last few thousand years, and its as bad now as its ever been.
When will we wake up and smell the coffee?

[Ruth]

No, I don't think it's the root of all evil. But the people who use religion as an excuse to commit whatever despicable acts they feel like are the root of all evil. Most religions are peaceful - most religious fanatics are not.

[GiRTh]

I grew up in a very religous christian house. I went to Sunday school till I was 16 but have since lost the faith. I believe in God but not in religion.

[Lauren]

Sometimes fundamental values can root from religion, but if religion wasn't "around" then these people who take religion too far will just take fundamental ideas from elsewhere.

[zachary]

I don't think religion is the root of all evil but it is the cause of most wars and conflict.

[Sticks]

This is true religion

[James]

^^^^^ I don't remember writing that.

[zachary]

Originally posted by Sticks
This is true religion

Well, I guess everyone is entitled to their own opinion.

[Tanser_Man]

Originally posted by Lauren
Sometimes fundamental values can root from religion, but if religion wasn't "around" then these people who take religion too far will just take fundamental ideas from elsewhere.

Spot on.

Although I do think religion is a waste of time and pointless, evil is always going to be a part of society, religion gives people that foothold into extremism.

[easypeasy]

jesus stole my hot rod.......

[GiRTh]

I've just watched the link. I've seen Richard Hawkins before and he's great at going at it with deeply religious people. He makes them look like idiots.

Religion is about beliefs. As I stated in an earlier post, I went to Sunday school till I was sixteen but have lost the faith; the rest of my family are still religious and for them their religion helps them live their life with some sort of order. I've got no problems with that. My objections is with the fundamentalist - and they exist in every single religion - who basically believe their religion is everything and anything else is wrong or, worse still, ungodly. These people are the dangerous ones and it's surprising how many of them there are in the world.

[Emilee]

I don't think Religion is the root of all evil. But i do think that it is the main thing that causes wars and conflict. If there was no such thing as religion we would be one step closer to world peace.

[Scrunchy]

I believe that religion is a substitute for morality. It's undoubtedly an effective way of instating traditional kindness towards fellow people and coercing people into leading a better life. In its dilute forms it discourages hatred and cruelty.

I am not religious, but moral, and my life bears reasonable resemblance to that of a relious follower. I don't hate people irrationally, or judge them for who they appear to be. I wouldn't consider killing somebody, or stealing from others. Helping people is something I'm not averse to doing.

However, despite the parallels that can be drawn between religion and morals, there are distinct differences. Extreme religion can lead to hatred and cruelty, as demonstrated by suicide bombers, etc. Religion preaches that "thy shalt not covet thy neighbours wife", suggesting that jealousy should be completely shied away from. But is jealousy not the root of compliments and appreciation? I would be paying a compliment to my neighbour, were I to say to them that their wife was an attractive lady. Jealousy is a natural inclination, and why should people disown it, just because it is suggested to them that they shouldn't experience it? Religion appears to hasten to encourage people to cast off their natural feelings and replace them with a mask because they "shouldn't be experiencing them"...

I, for one, find it a little odd that religion invades such personal aspects of life. Personally I find that life is far more fulfilling when I don't have a 'higher power' to answer to for my actions and have a little more freedom to act without fear of going against the wishes of a mysterious being that I have no proof of.


Well done if you've actually read this.

I welcome responses of all natures


Scrunchy

[MizhinessBusiness]

Again I say... CLEVER CLOGS!

Religious people scare me on account that one deeply religious family told me I was the devils child and also they told me off for not calling the father 'King' Charles

[The_Hitman]

Power is the route of all evil.

Religion has created power in the past but that no longer holds credibility in this day and age, least of all in Western society. You could argue that societies such as in the Middle East are still controlled by religion, but it would have to be argued that they are not as civilised or evolved as other societies if they maintain their stance against things such as Darwin's theory of evolution and many other scientific theories which prove many of their beliefs to be 'dated' at best.

As it stands, the worlds power is reliant on artillery and economy, which is where we come to the Western capitalist societies. In case it has been forgotten, this country is currently involved in an unjust war in the Middle East, for no better reason than to support the USA, who in turn, have no good reason to speak of for their occupation of certain territories, leaving many to speculate on how sinister their intentions could really be.

The modern power is money. The modern evil is capitalism. Unfortunately, on September 11th 2001, capitalism was victimised on a horrific worldwide scale, leaving the world dumb-founded and sympathetic to the cause.

If anything, religion could well be a source of salvation. Again.

[Ruth]

Originally posted by MizhinessBusiness
Again I say... CLEVER CLOGS!

Religious people scare me on account that one deeply religious family told me I was the devils child and also they told me off for not calling the father 'King' Charles

That famikly is not representative of a truly Christian family (assuming that they are 'Christian'). To be honest, they sound like a bunch of nutjobs.

[Siouxsie]

Im not religious at all

[MarkWaldorf]

Hmm, I wouldn't say it's the root to all evil, but I do think it's cause of many indifferences between different nationalities/cultures. Which then starts all these wars. Which unfortunately, are about religion.

[Siouxsie]

Its reallly a topic that dosent interest me at all /I think it is so depressing this religion thing

[MarkWaldorf]

You have a point Sue. There's the whole thing where everyone should be equal, but then there's certain religions that feel the need to be independant. Which causes it all.

[easypeasy]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3efv4oIdRY4

[Sticks]

Sometimes people want things, like money, wealth or sexual gratification. They then try and use religion as an excuse to do what they want.

There are a number of people who did just that.

[Tom]

I've been brought up in a religious background, I lost it at about 13 but I've started to regain it. I don't think its the root of all evil at all. Religion is based on beliefs which is all fair enough but some laws have been created which directly oppose religion (e.g. gay laws in a Christian country) which is obviously going to cause some conflicts. Also, some religions conflict with eachother in ideas such as who the real God is and other explanations which again is going to cause conflicts. I don't think religion is primarily the root of all evil but moreso the world surrounding particular religions.

[bananarama]

Originally posted by GiRTh
I grew up in a very religous christian house. I went to Sunday school till I was 16 but have since lost the faith. I believe in God but not in religion.

Spot on. The belief in a God can give peace of mind. Belief in a religion however will inevitably give others the ability to control you.......Religion is about control freakism and nothing what so ever to do with a belief in a God. The religious use the name of god to inflict there control.

Just because a religion is so called peacfull
does not make it harmless. On the contrary a peacful religion lulls people into a false sense of security. Take the catholic religion which does not believe in birth control and the poor suckers who follow that belief end up dead from over population and or diseases like aids which could be reduced if birth control was not rejected.

From the above logic it is clear that the catholic faith is a deadly religion....Just like most control freak institutions....

The islamic faith can turn ugly with fanatics turning to murder but even in its so called moderate form it is still a major control freak institution and as such as dangerous as the catholic faith.

The fact is faith without evidence to prove beliefs leads people into being nothing more than mental clones of each other with all the negative and sheep like following instead of free minds that question question question and question until something is actually learned.