Is organised religion a general enemy of humanity?

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shrouding in controversy hardly minimises any valid disgust

he was moved from diocese to diocese for 3 decades, as the church basically condoned his offending
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tt9D7DrT93s[/youtube]

also Father Oliver Ogrady from California was the subject of a full movie
Protect us from Evil, same thing, protected and moved and essentially condoned

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WcRzvCQWN6c[/youtube]

That is Steven Wienberg's quote.

You should've added a "not sure" option to that poll. But I guess the yes votes reflect the usual atheists that think in extreme-terms and act like they know everything.

After reading religions supportive comments I would say yes, but more of a main enemy rather rather than a general one

It depends on the religion and it's followers whether or not it's a danger to humanity.

religions are like gangs


[as he goes to join the geese]

The Abrahamic monotheistic religions do not have a good track record.

ruveyn

the question is, what if God exists? why would he have created us in the 1st place for? if God just created us as ignorant species without a purpose, then that's hell. God would obviously give us a purpose and tell us the truth about this universe, our purpose, etc. humans alone lack the tools to answer these questions. I believe God exists, then it would only mean God created me for a purpose. As a Muslim I believe my purpose is to worship God and believe in him. you can never make me believe this world was created by mere accident, for it's illogical on many scientific and mathematical levels. Proof by contradiction proves that God exists. now if God exists he created me for a purpose. in Islam that purpose is to worship him alone. either there is no God or there is a god and our purpose is to follow him, and that is where the concept of religion comes from; each religion believes so and so laws are gods laws.

Why obviously? Why must there be an ultimate purpose? And why must humans know everything about the universe anyway?



Not necessarily. It is also logically possible that God may have created the universe randomly.



Now THAT'S what I call hell.



You are free to be so stubborn as to not open your mind to other logical possibilities, but it doesn't mean there aren't more logical and rational alternatives that explain the existence of the universe.



That's a non sequitur. It does not follow that if God exists, there must be an ultimate purpose. And it also does not follow that if there is no ultimate purpose, then this universe (and mankind) couldn't have existed.

In general I say yes; organised religion holds mankind back in many ways and its dogma is often used to repress various groups of people and especially those who don't share exactly the same flavour of each religion. I think Islam is the worst religion of them all in this regard, it suppresses free thought the most; followed by Christianity. Those two religions have been responsible for so much bloodshed over the centuries, so much suffering. The world and humanity would be far better off without the curse of organised religion.

High five!

According to Charles Darwin's theory of evolution, the qualities and abilities evident in every species only evolve to fulfill an existing need.
Why then do human beings possess the determination and ability to perceive the mysteries of science and the universe, if there were not a proper and essential reason for us to do so?

Yet our astronomers will tell you that our galaxy is not random, it is incredibly and inexplicably ordered.

There was no need for that.

It is you who appear to be overly simplistic.

Notice your tendency to resort to a an allegation of logical fallacy, simply to avoid addressing a valid point.
Captain James Cook, discoverer of the continent of Australia, traveled widely throughout the unconnected 18th century world.
In his travels he encountered many many countries, islands and isolated tribes people. One of his more enduring comments was along the lines of:
"No matter where you go in this world, and no matter which people you meet, they will have a God."

Without further argument in this post, I will present it as a given that there does exist a God.
Accepting that there is a God, and humanities inexhaustible search to know Him, I cannot be true to logic and deny that this has an essential purpose.
As the proponent of an illogical conclusion, the burden of this argument is upon you.
How do you propose God created us or indeed anything for no purpose whatsoever?

Last edited by ripped on 05 Feb 2013, 8:37 pm, edited 1 time in total.

And what if you are wrong?

There is not the slightest objective evidence that a creator deity exists. The existence is -believed- to be sure, but it is not known by any living human.

ruveyn

Irrational thinking is a danger to humanity. I believe an argument could be made that religion is inherently irrational, but I am exhausted by the idea of trying to make that argument.

I do think 100% of people who like religion will say it can be a global force for good, while most people who don't have religion will probably disagree.

And I ask you to prove the existence of love.
Or that a rainbow appears identical to all people.
Or that a personality exists, I could uselessly demand scientific proof of that as well.

Can god make a rock so heavy that he hjimself cannot lift? If yes then he cannot lift it and therefor is not omnipotent. If he cannot create it, he is not omnipotent.

Now even if god would exist, I would rather tell him to go f*** himself than to worship such a sadistic creature. Have the believers ever considered that there may be a god who is just a selfish idiot like many people are? And that with such powers he could have created the world for his own sadistic enjoyment?