Would we as a world society be better off without religion?

Do you think religion is essential to maintain order and peace in the world?

Do you believe religion is long overdue and should come to an end?

What do you believe to be true and what do you believe needs to be done to bring a better understanding amongst people in general?

Yes
No
Yes
Nothing is true

Sorry ,I know for many people religion is nr 1.reason in life.
I also wish in one day human race will open the eyes and see the reality and not what some people with to much imagination write in that fairytale called Bible .

are we talking ALL religious beliefs?

still working on the coffee..it's brewing lol

It is up to you. If you have the time and effort then shoot away, yet I would think that would require the mind of a professor who studies mythology and theology like Joseph Campbell and that would even take a lifetime dedication to write an opinion on each individual religion, which counts in the thousands today. I am not holding you though. Put in what you deem as a soluble answer to the questions.

If you have a answer in general that people could elaborate on that would be fine, or maybe even additional questions to add.

I mean it is also personal opinion that one shares. There will always be a person that will disagree with it.

That is part of life I figure

Have fun exploring. Who knows you might find out something new through this?

i believe that it used to be life and everyone had thought of it at the beginning and at the end. but now as science and everything is coming out, they are slowly noticing things about how the earth formed more, and slowly people that belive in whatever religion it is they believe in are going to get answers that arnt in whatever great book they follow. it shouldnt be as important as it is. but if it is what makes you have peace by the end of your life time then i guess thats what you have to do.

but i think if the world would pay attention to other things that are going on, instead of trying to get everyone to belive in one religion or another things would get done much quicker and swifter.

IMO if we do away with ALL relious beliefs, then no. for those that have beliefs (christians, buddists, wiccans, etc) it's a part of who we are and what we are. just as much as our childhood, current living, political beliefs, etc....but that's just my opinion

Religion is an order of things.

A basic map how to treat others.

A lasting hope that thier is more than this physical life.

A regeneration of faith that comes knowing no matter what happens or how you your self are treated that you should do the right thing.

Many do not like it because they do not believe and rebell against what the tenets say are right and wrong.

It is comfort in time of sorrow. It is knowing that true peace will come whether in your lifetime or in the one to come..

It is True Shalom...Blessings...Miles

Do away with man made religion......it wouldn't change what is already out there..And that is people with a personal relationship with Jesus Christ....or whoever there "God" is. My "Church/Religion" is for fellowship, prayer, teaching and learning the word. It is also friendships, when someone has a baby all are there, when one is sick all are there.

That depends on which religion your asking about. We'd certainly be better of without the Mediterranean religions that are based on the Torah, Quaran, or Bible. Those doctrines are hateful and violent.



We had to make laws to protect us from religious people!

Exodus 21:17 And he that curseth his father, or his mother, shall surely be put to death.


The bible would have us stoning our unruly children to death! And according to the above verse just cursing your parents in the heat of an emotional argument could be reason to be put to death.


Leviticus 20:13 "If a man also lie with mankind, as he lieth with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination: they shall surely be put to death; their blood shall be upon them."


If religious people had their way they could use the above biblical verse to murder all same-sex couples.


Exodus 31:15 Six days may work be done; but in the seventh is the sabbath of rest, holy to the LORD: whosoever doeth any work in the sabbath day, he shall surely be put to death.


If religious people had their way they could use the Bible to justify anyone who doesn't repsect their "Holy Days", and they could probably find somewhere in the Bible where they could be justified in either killing or shunning anyone who doesn't attend their church services!


Corinthians 14
[34] Let your women keep silence in the churches: for it is not permitted unto them to speak; but they are commanded to be under obedience, as also saith the law.
[35] And if they will learn any thing, let them ask their husbands at home: for it is a shame for women to speak in the church.


There would be no such things as women's rights, or gender equality if the Bible were used as law.


I could quote tones of garbage like this from the Bible. Clearly the Bible is NOT what we want to use for the morals of humanity and society.




I firmly believe that the Bible has been proven to be ungodly and clearly not of divine origin.

Why anyone would want to believe it on pure FAITH alone is totally beyond me since it is clearly a sick and demented doctrine that has absolutely no evidence of being even remotely true.

The Bible has all of humanity as failures to our creator. It has our creator as being a totally immoral bastard.

I just can't see why anyone would even WANT to have faith in such an ugly demented picture of existence.




Well, I think it's obvious that the Bible was not written by an all-wise all-loving entity. So clearly that picture of false. Of that there can be no doubt.

I think it's a terrible shame that some people are so screwed up that they can't have moral values on their own. We have tons of examples of atheists who clearly hold far higher moral values than many religious people. So it's been proven beyond any shadow of a doubt that at least some humans are capable of being moral without being threatened by eternal damnation or being bribed by an offer of eternal life.

Clearly the Bible contains LIES!


Psalms 14: The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God. They are corrupt, they have done abominable works, there is none that doeth good.


We know beyond any shadow of a doubt that the above biblical verse is false. Thus we have confirmed that the Bible cannot possible be the word of any all-knowing supereme being. It's full of lies and nonsense.


The only thing that I know with absolute certainty is that religious that are based on an egostistical God who lusts to be worshiped and become the King of Kings and Lord of Lords is necessarily false.

If we are the mere pets of such an arrogant jealous egotistical being as this then we'd be far worse off than if atheism were true.


Having said that, I think there are spiritual pictures of existence that are humane and loving. The Pantheistic picture of reality is certainly non-judgmental yet offers a spiritual essence to live without the horrible jealous egotistical godhead threatening to cast eveyone into hell who doesn't conform to his ungodly bigotry.


YES, I see the Mediterranean Religions as being a CANCER on humanity. All they do is pit man against man, and God against man, and man against God.

What's the point to all that negativity and bigotry?

And if any WOMAN replies in favor of supporting the Bible remind her to read Corinthians 14:34-35.

The Bible demands that women be SILENT!

It's truly absurd to have a woman speaking out PUBLICLY on religious matters. That's blaspheme against the very doctrine itself! Clearly any woman who speaks out publicly on religious matters of the Bible doesn't give any respect to the doctrine whatsoever. It's a farce! And lunacy!

no

If these things you indicated above are written in a mediterrenean religion then why do the people that practice the religion agree with it? Stoning children, violent acts, or silencing someone with fear?

Or is it that the believer of a mediterrenean religion only believe some of what is written in their book and not all of it?

Or is it that they don't want to believe the writings to be true in today's society and erase these old laws from their mind?

Or is it that they believe that physical punishment is essential to keep order and agree with what is written in the book they believe in with the passages you indicated above?

As for me if a document (no matter how many pages big) has one sentence in it that says "thou shall throw stones on children if they don't listen to you" or "use violence in any manner" then I will instinctly avoid the practice of the whole book.

Is that asking for perfection and is unreasonable?

For me it just seems that I would rather follow something that is much more peaceful for the mind without having a eerie conscience knowing that something in the practice isn't right.

Perhaps I am just so ignorant to not understand why people would follow a writing that teaches such violent acts if one is disobedient. I can think of other punishments without the resort of violence to create a peaceful solution to have a better understanding with a loved one or someone one cares about. Is this so hard for many people?

In the end one can only imagine how life on this planet would be without the followers of any mediterrenean mythology. Would it be more peaceful or would it be the same as always?

Well what it is worth, we will have to wait and see.

Yes. As a stated in another thread, "Without Religion, you would have good people doing good things, and evil people doing evil things, but for good people to do evil things, it takes religion" (and again, those aren't my words, but I cannot remember who said it)


How can that which is not peaceful maintain peace?(the Witch trails, Spanish Inquisition, the Crusades, today's jihad against all "infidels"...)


Yes, I believe religion's end is long overdue. I really have a hard time understanding how things that have been continually tested to the point of being able to call them facts, are ignored and even flat-out denied, simply because a book written before our time states otherwise.



I believe to be true things that can either a.) be tested. or b.) things that have been documented throughout time by multiple sources.
Religion doesn't have a. or b.

VERY GOOD ANSWERS Inkracer!

I appauld your comments.





I totally agree with that quote with respect to the Mediterranean religions.

All they ulimatley do is accuse innocent people of being guilty of being evil!

It's truly DISGUSTING!

And as an innocent person I'm sick of it. The religion just demands that eveyone is evil. It's truly sick!





Again, you speak the TRUTH!

The Bible, Torah, and Quran are nothign but EVIL! All their ways are violence! They represent the most ungodly 'religions' ever invented by the sick demented minds of male-chaunvist pigs.

There's nothing even humane about these religious much less Godly!

The quote I think comes from Steven Weinberg a physicst

http://mingle2.com/topic/show/207316

Yes.

And to think that Christian Fundamentalists have actually used Steven Weinberg to support creationism as "Intelligent Design" is truly absurd.

Yes, it's true that Steven Weinberg (like Albert Einstein) has suggested that there does seem to be an intelligence behind the workings of the universe.

However, that doesn't automatically point to the Mediterranean picture of God or the Bible. On the contrary if we're going to accredit the creator of this universe as having intelligence, then we must rule out the Bible as having any been inspired by that creator because the Bible is far from intelligent!

As far as that quote is concerned, It is on one of the many documentaries/movies I have on Atheism/Religion/Science. I just couldn't remember which one it was on but you are probably right that came from Steven Weinberg.

ok lets take abra's scriptures and put the real meaning to them...not the abra version of what he thinks they mean....Now this doesn't mean that some things that were done in that time were not to us cruel...But you can take a lot of times in history and say the same thing.....canibals, vickings, etc...so ok let's get started.



First we have Exodus 21:17



Exodus 21:17 And he that curseth his father, or his mother, shall surely be put to death.

Again abra you take one small scripture and run with it....so let's look at the scripture that you talking about as a whole like it should be...

First off if you go back to Exodus 20 these are the crucial Ten Commandments of God...then you go into Exodus 21 and you have the laws for Hebrew slaves and then what you are talking about which is
personal injuries

12 "Anyone who strikes a man and kills him shall surely be put to death. 13 However, if he does not do it intentionally, but God lets it happen, he is to flee to a place I will designate. 14 But if a man schemes and kills another man deliberately, take him away from my altar and put him to death.

15 "Anyone who attacks [c] his father or his mother must be put to death.

16 "Anyone who kidnaps another and either sells him or still has him when he is caught must be put to death.

17 "Anyone who curses his father or mother must be put to death.

18 "If men quarrel and one hits the other with a stone or with his fist [d] and he does not die but is confined to bed, 19 the one who struck the blow will not be held responsible if the other gets up and walks around outside with his staff; however, he must pay the injured man for the loss of his time and see that he is completely healed.

20 "If a man beats his male or female slave with a rod and the slave dies as a direct result, he must be punished, 21 but he is not to be punished if the slave gets up after a day or two, since the slave is his property.

22 "If men who are fighting hit a pregnant woman and she gives birth prematurely [e] but there is no serious injury, the offender must be fined whatever the woman's husband demands and the court allows. 23 But if there is serious injury, you are to take life for life, 24 eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, 25 burn for burn, wound for wound, bruise for bruise.

26 "If a man hits a manservant or maidservant in the eye and destroys it, he must let the servant go free to compensate for the eye. 27 And if he knocks out the tooth of a manservant or maidservant, he must let the servant go free to compensate for the tooth.

28 "If a bull gores a man or a woman to death, the bull must be stoned to death, and its meat must not be eaten. But the owner of the bull will not be held responsible. 29 If, however, the bull has had the habit of goring and the owner has been warned but has not kept it penned up and it kills a man or woman, the bull must be stoned and the owner also must be put to death. 30 However, if payment is demanded of him, he may redeem his life by paying whatever is demanded. 31 This law also applies if the bull gores a son or daughter. 32 If the bull gores a male or female slave, the owner must pay thirty shekels [f] of silver to the master of the slave, and the bull must be stoned.

33 "If a man uncovers a pit or digs one and fails to cover it and an ox or a donkey falls into it, 34 the owner of the pit must pay for the loss; he must pay its owner, and the dead animal will be his.

35 "If a man's bull injures the bull of another and it dies, they are to sell the live one and divide both the money and the dead animal equally. 36 However, if it was known that the bull had the habit of goring, yet the owner did not keep it penned up, the owner must pay, animal for animal, and the dead animal will be his.

Now again if you take them in the context in which they were intended then you don't say oh the injustice of it all. God had laws for a reason. Does this mean that all were always fair, nope....but it will never change what was. And if your going to base you relationship with Jesus Christ on OT law.....well you delusional because Christ dying for us took the pomp and circumstance out...or tradition.

Now abra again with Leviticus it's laws for sin.....It is what it is and just because you want to live your life your way. Which of course you can.....freewill and all that.....

Leviticus 20:13 "If a man also lie with mankind, as he lieth with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination: they shall surely be put to death; their blood shall be upon them."

Now also remember important important...Because Jesus Christ died for our sins....all the below is just nonsense. Does that mean that same sex couple's won't pay for their sin.......nope they will...and again it is what it is.

If religious people had their way they could use the above biblical verse to murder all same-sex couples.


Exodus 31:15 Six days may work be done; but in the seventh is the sabbath of rest, holy to the LORD: whosoever doeth any work in the sabbath day, he shall surely be put to death.

Again old testament law...you are not going to die if you work on Sunday. NOT

If religious people had their way they could use the Bible to justify anyone who doesn't repsect their "Holy Days", and they could probably find somewhere in the Bible where they could be justified in either killing or shunning anyone who doesn't attend their church services!


Corinthians 14
[34] Let your women keep silence in the churches: for it is not permitted unto them to speak; but they are commanded to be under obedience, as also saith the law.
[35] And if they will learn any thing, let them ask their husbands at home: for it is a shame for women to speak in the church.


There would be no such things as women's rights, or gender equality if the Bible were used as law.


OLD LAW DOESN'T APPLY TO NOW...

I could quote tones of garbage like this from the Bible. Clearly the Bible is NOT what we want to use for the morals of humanity and society.




I firmly believe that the Bible has been proven to be ungodly and clearly not of divine origin.

Abra again to and for people that want to live life there way that is what it would seem. But for me and millions of others just not the case...and again you can have "Your" opinion that it is not of a divine origin...but I for one totally disagree....

Why anyone would want to believe it on pure FAITH alone is totally beyond me since it is clearly a sick and demented doctrine that has absolutely no evidence of being even remotely true.

Easy for some to say with no FAITH....But when you are blessed and have...and you know beyond all reason you do...No greater joy ever.


I think it's a terrible shame that some people are so screwed up that they can't have moral values on their own. We have tons of examples of atheists who clearly hold far higher moral values than many religious people. So it's been proven beyond any shadow of a doubt that at least some humans are capable of being moral without being threatened by eternal damnation or being bribed by an offer of eternal life.

Clearly the Bible contains LIES!

Abra abra abra......all knowing what ever person on this planet has as far as morals...Of course you can have morals on your own...I did. But again you have to have the Holy Spirit actually come and change your heart to truly understand it all. And just because you have not and for your own personal reasons have a beef against God...just doesn't make it not so.

Psalms 14: The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God. They are corrupt, they have done abominable works, there is none that doeth good.

Lost in your sins....abra and again no understand of Psalms 14.


AND SO THE REST OF WHAT YOU SPEW THE SAME.....YOU HAVE NO UNDERSTAND AND WILL NEVER BECAUSE YOU ARE READING A FOREIGN LANGUAGE AND READING WHAT YOU WANT NOT WHAT IS SAID.

So again



Blah blah blah

ok lets take abra's scriptures and put the real meaning to them...not the abra version of what he thinks they mean....Now this doesn't mean that some things that were done in that time were not to us cruel...But you can take a lot of times in history and say the same thing.....canibals, vickings, etc...so ok let's get started.



First we have Exodus 21:17



Exodus 21:17 And he that curseth his father, or his mother, shall surely be put to death.

Again abra you take one small scripture and run with it....so let's look at the scripture that you talking about as a whole like it should be...

First off if you go back to Exodus 20 these are the crucial Ten Commandments of God...then you go into Exodus 21 and you have the laws for Hebrew slaves and then what you are talking about which is
personal injuries

12 "Anyone who strikes a man and kills him shall surely be put to death. 13 However, if he does not do it intentionally, but God lets it happen, he is to flee to a place I will designate. 14 But if a man schemes and kills another man deliberately, take him away from my altar and put him to death.

15 "Anyone who attacks [c] his father or his mother must be put to death.

16 "Anyone who kidnaps another and either sells him or still has him when he is caught must be put to death.

17 "Anyone who curses his father or mother must be put to death.

18 "If men quarrel and one hits the other with a stone or with his fist [d] and he does not die but is confined to bed, 19 the one who struck the blow will not be held responsible if the other gets up and walks around outside with his staff; however, he must pay the injured man for the loss of his time and see that he is completely healed.

20 "If a man beats his male or female slave with a rod and the slave dies as a direct result, he must be punished, 21 but he is not to be punished if the slave gets up after a day or two, since the slave is his property.

22 "If men who are fighting hit a pregnant woman and she gives birth prematurely [e] but there is no serious injury, the offender must be fined whatever the woman's husband demands and the court allows. 23 But if there is serious injury, you are to take life for life, 24 eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, 25 burn for burn, wound for wound, bruise for bruise.

26 "If a man hits a manservant or maidservant in the eye and destroys it, he must let the servant go free to compensate for the eye. 27 And if he knocks out the tooth of a manservant or maidservant, he must let the servant go free to compensate for the tooth.

28 "If a bull gores a man or a woman to death, the bull must be stoned to death, and its meat must not be eaten. But the owner of the bull will not be held responsible. 29 If, however, the bull has had the habit of goring and the owner has been warned but has not kept it penned up and it kills a man or woman, the bull must be stoned and the owner also must be put to death. 30 However, if payment is demanded of him, he may redeem his life by paying whatever is demanded. 31 This law also applies if the bull gores a son or daughter. 32 If the bull gores a male or female slave, the owner must pay thirty shekels [f] of silver to the master of the slave, and the bull must be stoned.

33 "If a man uncovers a pit or digs one and fails to cover it and an ox or a donkey falls into it, 34 the owner of the pit must pay for the loss; he must pay its owner, and the dead animal will be his.

35 "If a man's bull injures the bull of another and it dies, they are to sell the live one and divide both the money and the dead animal equally. 36 However, if it was known that the bull had the habit of goring, yet the owner did not keep it penned up, the owner must pay, animal for animal, and the dead animal will be his.

Now again if you take them in the context in which they were intended then you don't say oh the injustice of it all. God had laws for a reason. Does this mean that all were always fair, nope....but it will never change what was. And if your going to base you relationship with Jesus Christ on OT law.....well you delusional because Christ dying for us took the pomp and circumstance out...or tradition.

Now abra again with Leviticus it's laws for sin.....It is what it is and just because you want to live your life your way. Which of course you can.....freewill and all that.....

Leviticus 20:13 "If a man also lie with mankind, as he lieth with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination: they shall surely be put to death; their blood shall be upon them."

Now also remember important important...Because Jesus Christ died for our sins....all the below is just nonsense. Does that mean that same sex couple's won't pay for their sin.......nope they will...and again it is what it is.

If religious people had their way they could use the above biblical verse to murder all same-sex couples.


Exodus 31:15 Six days may work be done; but in the seventh is the sabbath of rest, holy to the LORD: whosoever doeth any work in the sabbath day, he shall surely be put to death.

Again old testament law...you are not going to die if you work on Sunday. NOT

If religious people had their way they could use the Bible to justify anyone who doesn't repsect their "Holy Days", and they could probably find somewhere in the Bible where they could be justified in either killing or shunning anyone who doesn't attend their church services!


Corinthians 14
[34] Let your women keep silence in the churches: for it is not permitted unto them to speak; but they are commanded to be under obedience, as also saith the law.
[35] And if they will learn any thing, let them ask their husbands at home: for it is a shame for women to speak in the church.


There would be no such things as women's rights, or gender equality if the Bible were used as law.


OLD LAW DOESN'T APPLY TO NOW...

I could quote tones of garbage like this from the Bible. Clearly the Bible is NOT what we want to use for the morals of humanity and society.




I firmly believe that the Bible has been proven to be ungodly and clearly not of divine origin.

Abra again to and for people that want to live life there way that is what it would seem. But for me and millions of others just not the case...and again you can have "Your" opinion that it is not of a divine origin...but I for one totally disagree....

Why anyone would want to believe it on pure FAITH alone is totally beyond me since it is clearly a sick and demented doctrine that has absolutely no evidence of being even remotely true.

Easy for some to say with no FAITH....But when you are blessed and have...and you know beyond all reason you do...No greater joy ever.


I think it's a terrible shame that some people are so screwed up that they can't have moral values on their own. We have tons of examples of atheists who clearly hold far higher moral values than many religious people. So it's been proven beyond any shadow of a doubt that at least some humans are capable of being moral without being threatened by eternal damnation or being bribed by an offer of eternal life.

Clearly the Bible contains LIES!

Abra abra abra......all knowing what ever person on this planet has as far as morals...Of course you can have morals on your own...I did. But again you have to have the Holy Spirit actually come and change your heart to truly understand it all. And just because you have not and for your own personal reasons have a beef against God...just doesn't make it not so.

Psalms 14: The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God. They are corrupt, they have done abominable works, there is none that doeth good.

Lost in your sins....abra and again no understand of Psalms 14.


AND SO THE REST OF WHAT YOU SPEW THE SAME.....YOU HAVE NO UNDERSTAND AND WILL NEVER BECAUSE YOU ARE READING A FOREIGN LANGUAGE AND READING WHAT YOU WANT NOT WHAT IS SAID.

So again



Blah blah blah

Well you don't have to convince me! I believe you

but there are still over 3 billion people in the world that either checked the box on one of the mediterrenean mythologies.

No matter what they believe they call themselves one of the three religions today.

In the long run this would be a huge effort to show different alternatives of a more peaceful belief system, yet I am sure in every sense many are showing different alternatives of belief systems everyday.

One thing I do know is that many of the younger generations in my country don't believe in any of the mediterrenean mythologies and are honest claiming they don't know being agnostic.

and to tell you the truth I agree with them. We just don't know, no matter how many stories we come up with that sounds fantastic. That is if we are honest to ourselves and others.

Yet I will always take a more peaceful idealogy any day.

I don’t believe society would be better off without religion. I think we need religion to keep our actions under control. Humans are essentially bad and our “Higher Power” keeps us from acting on these things. I do believe people need to meet in groups and learn from the book, but I think the church is the reason why we are all constantly fighting. The church is the fall of man kind. Pastors are making money, lots of money off of its followers. They are also feeling up young boys and girls, and are just causing havoc on humanity. All religion is right, they are all saying the same thing, and people seem to take the words of there book to literally. That is what I believe.