When people ask me what my problem with religion is, one answer is not enough

[Stick]

Religion is only really a problem because there is a lack of tolerance and a mentality that 'our religion is the right one'. The issue is that a lot of religions encourage 'spreading the message' and abiding followers tend to shove their beliefs onto others, or make others fit their religious norm. I come from a Roman Catholic background, where we are always taught 'to share the Good News, the Word of God' and while it somewhat seems OK in theory, it just doesn't work in our modern society because people really need to make up their own minds on the matter. It doesn't bother me what others think of my religion (heck, I might be in the wrong for all I know, really) and I don't really judge others on their faith either.

If we truly allowed others to live their lives as they wish and did not force our beliefs onto others, religion would not have a negative effect on society.

[shinny]

If we truly allowed others to live their lives as they wish and did not force our beliefs onto others, religion would not have a negative effect on society.

But having a society inevitably will involve some forcing their beliefs upon others. Look at politics and such, and this is where religion mainly concerns me. Think of things like the gay marriage debate which is littered with religious justification as opposed to logic-based ones. Like you said, at a personal level, as long as people keep it to themselves it's generally fine and that's been my experience with religion personally so far.

[iffets12345]

Most of this judgement on religion seems to come from what the individual has experienced of religion. I've  seen a few of these on VN although I am rarely on, and the passion in the anti-religion posts is almost as bad as the religious extremists. If any of you have read Hunger Games, it's like how Alma Coin's extremes are just as bad as President Snow's. Out of curiosity, do you take instant dislike to people with religion? (Enwiabe and Ninwa, since Shinny already said he has some lovely religious friends).

[Stick]

If we truly allowed others to live their lives as they wish and did not force our beliefs onto others, religion would not have a negative effect on society.

But having a society inevitably will involve some forcing their beliefs upon others. Look at politics and such, and this is where religion mainly concerns me. Think of things like the gay marriage debate which is littered with religious justification as opposed to logic-based ones. Like you said, at a personal level, as long as people keep it to themselves it's generally fine and that's been my experience with religion personally so far.

Religion should not be part of politics. People should be able to live their religious lives however they wish and should not be bound to live a life influenced by a majority faith.

[Camo]

To me religion is something that was intended as a guide to those that were afraid to find answers in fact (science) millennia and even centuries ago and originally had a good intention. However it is taken out of context way to much these days. For the time religion was needed it is no longer necessary for our current societies.

[Camo]

If we truly allowed others to live their lives as they wish and did not force our beliefs onto others, religion would not have a negative effect on society.

But having a society inevitably will involve some forcing their beliefs upon others. Look at politics and such, and this is where religion mainly concerns me. Think of things like the gay marriage debate which is littered with religious justification as opposed to logic-based ones. Like you said, at a personal level, as long as people keep it to themselves it's generally fine and that's been my experience with religion personally so far.

Religion should not be part of politics. People should be able to live their religious lives however they wish and should not be bound to live a life influenced by a majority faith.

Just as long as it abides by the law then its ok by me.

[chocolatedaddy]

“That which can be asserted without evidence, can be dismissed without evidence.”
― Christopher Hitchens

[chocolatedaddy]

Lol another one.
“The governor of Texas, who, when asked if the Bible should also be taught in Spanish, replied that 'if English was good enough for Jesus, then it's good enough for me.”
― Christopher Hitchens

[Russ]

People should be able to live their religious lives however they wish and should not be bound to live a life influenced by a majority faith.

Oh come on. I don't mind religion, but that's rubbish. Are you really saying people should be able to justify anything they do by saying "it's part of my religion". Eugh.

[Stick]

I highly doubt true religious followers would do that unless it was more serious. I bet most people that use that excuse lightly are not even religious at all.

And this is where understanding comes in - we need to respect that others can live their lives differently and while you might see some sort of religious practice as 'total rubbish', it actually has some sort of meaning to them.

[shinny]

do you take instant dislike to people with religion? (Enwiabe and Ninwa, since Shinny already said he has some lovely religious friends).

Just to clarify, my position, I'm actually not strictly against religion. Or not the entirety of it anyway. I've never really had any particularly bad experience with religion as a whole to be honest. All of what I've typed so far is really more in a conceptual and hypothetical sense as to the reasoning behind why religion seems to lead to the problems it does, from as far as I can see it anyway. On the other hand, I am also well aware of the benefits of it. Coming from a medical background, I'm well aware of the clear and proven medical benefits of it. But beyond that, on a personal level, I've seen several friends through their path of spirituality who have definitely become better people through it. I think what the quote I provided before is missing is the fact that religion can also make bad (or not as good) people do good things at the end of the day. Before I was talking about religion 'replacing' logic. Now to think about it further, I don't think it does...generally not anyway. I think it's just that essentially, religion when paired with a firm grounding in reasoning and logic is perfectly fine and rarely leads to problems. However, religion by itself without a sense of reasoning and education can be extremely dangerous as we've seen from the examples provided in the initial post.

Religion should not be part of politics. People should be able to live their religious lives however they wish and should not be bound to live a life influenced by a majority faith.

But like I said, it inevitably will be. You can tell politicians all you want that you shouldn't consider religion when making a decision, but it's inevitably going to bias their decisions.

Just as long as it abides by the law then its ok by me.

Slight error in reasoning there given that politics involves writing the laws to begin with. Don't really see how that makes sense.

[Stick]

Religion should not be part of politics. People should be able to live their religious lives however they wish and should not be bound to live a life influenced by a majority faith.

But like I said, it inevitably will be. You can tell politicians all you want that you shouldn't consider religion when making a decision, but it's inevitably going to bias their decisions.

It is unfortunate that this is true and there is little that can be done about it. :/

[Camo]

Good point Shinny. Well I meant shalt not murder, shall not steal, as long as a religion is abiding by socially acceptable behaviours then really there is no harm other than them believing something that cannot be scientifically proven,

[enwiabe]

Most of this judgement on religion seems to come from what the individual has experienced of religion.

The number of atrocities committed by man in the name of religion is literally uncountable throughout history, because it would be impossible to document them all. This is not "oh it's just a handful of extremists"

Without fail, whenever you have a religious community. Bad shit happens. If it isn't beheadings and lashes like in the middle east, then it's pedophilia being covered up, or organs being trafficked like in the 1st world. This isn't anecdotal, this is a constant throughout, that religion begets moral failing.

[JellyDonut]

Good point Shinny. Well I meant shalt not murder, shall not steal, as long as a religion is abiding by socially acceptable behaviours then really there is no harm other than them believing something that cannot be scientifically proven,

Food for thought: do you think religious texts should be updated to accommodate current behaviour (sorta like the hippopotamus oaf)? For example, on the claim that heathens will suffer under the wrath of god or something. If religious/secular moderates want to push the 'live and let live' point, wouldn't this be in direct contradiction to the text?