Religion is an opium (page 5)

alecholmesthedetective

Also, the atheism does not bring morality trope is not only insulting, it's also outdated. Try harder. Read Zuckerman's book. A god who supported slavery, rape, and genocide, is the worst example to take one's morality from. Thankfully we've moved away from that.

NotNew

A god who supported slavery, rape, and genocide, is the worst example to take one's morality from.

This one sentence has a lot of power...when u read the hebrew scriptures it's hard to dispute the actions of god-Jehovah. He is responsible for all of them, either directly or indirectly.

So was / is religion a force for good or evil?

History shows Religion is used by those in posisitions of power to control the masses.

Without religion would Hitler have been as powerful?

SW

sammielee24

The bigotry of the nonbeliever is for me nearly as funny as the bigotry of the believer.
— Albert Einstein

While I personally am neither atheist nor do I belong to any religion - the notion that religion is the cause of all evil in the world seems ridiculous to me. While it is easily recognizable that religion can be detrimental to civilization - man not religion both created and dropped the atomic bomb, frying people to death; man dropped deadly poison in Vietnam and slaughtered 3 million people over all; man systematically starved, mutilated, tortured, raped and slaughtered 13 million Russians; religion did not cause WW1; religion did not cause the last great depression nor the 2007 depression - greed and man caused and are still causing the suffering of millions around the world....religion did not take kids from orphanages, or go into prisons and experiment on children and men in the name of science.

We should be careful not to turn so far the other way that we choose to ignore the benefits of religion for the majority of the globe - a great many who find their own sense of community, security and hope within religion.

Not one of us know all there is to know - sammieswife

alecholmesthedetective

Strawman argument sammie, try again.

Lying to children is not a respectable way to make a living, let alone indoctrinating them into servility.

sammielee24

Lying to children is not a respectable way to make a living

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How about you contact Disney and have a few words with them. While you are at it, Hollywood is calling - and while you are working on that could you wrap up about 100 million parents who promise their kids that all deserve a mcmansion and five cars and that it doesn't matter how you get it...oh - and lets not forget the politicians..and burn all those teen magazines that tell the kids that if they are skinny enough they will be beautiful.

My goodness - sammieswife

jgnat

How about inculcating a respect for authority? Has that no merit?

I'm not saying this cannot be done to excess....but NO instruction on respect for authority and heirarchy?

alecholmesthedetective

jgnat, as I've said before, democratic authority yes, theocracy, no. As for the methods the religious employ with their children--beneath contempt. Teach them to think for themselves.

jgnat

...you know I am a veteran Sunday School teacher, right?

Domi

Paul,

Why do you believe the people of the past were primitive?

never a jw

JGNAT

“The very ritual practices that the New Atheists dismiss as costly, inefficient and irrational turn out to be a solution to one of the hardest problems humans face: cooperation without kinship”

So the implication is that religious people wouldn't cooperate unless there's a God. I find the statement arrogant and particularly insulting to religious people, and insulting to humanity in general. Not surprised, however, because religious people want to take all the credit (or give it to God) for whatever goodness we find in the world. Everyone else is not capable of goodness, or cooperation or self sacrifice. So arrogant and delusional.

Religion is an opium

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