I'm curious. Why is it a "problem" for you if other people believe that, though? Maybe you don't realized that you're making the same mistake a lot of religious people do: you judge, mock, and condemn the beliefs of other people if they happen to oppose your own.

I think they call that intolerance, no?

So again I ask: why is it a "problem" for you personally?

Iran has been islamic for 1400 years, and for most of that time, it was a world or at least regional power. Now, it is a retrograde shit hole, but not because of Islam. It's because the elites believe that their philosophy is superior to all others, and others should submit to the correct thinking. It's the exact argument that you make. You keep saying how your positions are superior, and you'll be damned to see any other position. You are intolerant.

Oh and by the way. Iran banned slavery back in the Achaemenid era, because of Zoroastrianism. Most of the world had slavery at the time, but the Persians stopped due to religious teaching. Riddle me this Batman, what was evil about that edict?

Religion is millennia of culture, art, philosophy, and literature. I honestly don't understand why you guys don't get that. I am not 100% sure that God exists, how the fuck could I be. I don't believe in spirits, the soul, and while Id like to believe in an afterlife, I'm certainly not convinced that there is anything beyond this. What I am 100% certain of is that there are good christians, bad atheists, and vice versa. I am also 100% certain that different cultures and their religious beliefs have practical values to give modern humanity. The Upanishads, Quran, Bible, and the Avesta all have something useful within their pages.

im done again. There's no point arguing

You're convinced that the world started in the post Christian period, and that the modern culture you enjoy has no connection to Christianity. Those are both unequivocally false precepts, but I couldn't xonvince you otherwise even if I wasted my whole life trying.

Keep hating everyone around you. I'll have a smile on my face with all the other idiots at the shrine praying to the sky God. We'll all do charity and try to feed the hungry, and you'll be in your basement expounding on your supreme morality on Internet forums.

Sounds like you're the guy with the problem hating other people dude.

Yeah thats pretty much my point. These guys don't see how close they are to religious fundamentalists...as someone who grew up in Iran, I see it immediately.

I have maybe 10-15 posts in this thread, 3/4s of them are positives about religion, the remainder is attacking those who attack my beliefs. In contrast, this thread is 200 pages of "religion is and always has been evil and those who practice it are evil." Somehow, that makes me the hater? Get a grip

You need better reading comprehension skills.

It becomes a problem because it's the basis for a lot of horrible shit that goes down in the world.

True. Scientism has also been responsible for a lot of terrible atrocities. I don't see anyone rallying against science though.

Stalin, Mao, pol pot, the Young Turks, Hitler (probably an occultist so not sure he belongs)

All secular / atheist. All are the greatest mass murderers of the 20th century.

I'd love to see the Mormon homicide / violent crime rate compared to other groups in the US.

I'm pretty sure this has already been discussed at great length in the previous pages but, in short, it's not a problem for me. Even if it was, it wouldn't matter. The world is a very big place, and humanity as a whole has better things to do than concern itself with any one person's petty grievances over another's beliefs. I don't care what anyone believes - I don't care if you believe in one god or twenty gods; it neither picks my pocket nor breaks my leg. However, when beliefs become indoctrinated into scripture and methodically and mandatorily doled out as education, it then becomes not only my problem but everyone else's as well. Fortunately, here in the States we now live in a post-secularist society and these kind of teachings are no longer mandatory. Religious studies are still very much a required part of many European societies, and I hope I don't need to point out the horrific state of affairs in many of the middle-eastern and Asian countries that have to put up with violent, militarized groups that take literal interpretations of religious scripture to the extreme.

These things happen because of ideas. The idea of vicarious redemption through Christ is extremely immoral. Modern day Christianity is literally a cult predicated on human sacrifice which assures its followers they can do away with every wrongdoing of their past by simply accepting Christ as their lord and savior. Solipsistic worldviews are hugely, unequivocally immoral. I don't see what's so difficult to grasp about this. Vicarious redemption is inherent in Christianity. This is not in any way a good thing. It teaches that if you simply give yourself over to Christ you can rid yourself of every sin you've ever committed or ever will commit. And it doesn't end there - in doing so, you'll not only survive your own death, but you can take pleasure in the condemnation of the unworthy - those who've blasphemed - who will, rest assured, spend an eternity in hellfire for their sins. This is absolute poison. Here's an idea, how about you take responsibility for your actions in this life, in this world.

Once again trying to make it look like religion has a monopoly or some sort of hidden access to kindness and charity, but no one's buying it. There are just as many secular, non-religious charitable organizations as there are of the religious, except the non-religious charities don't attempt to proselytize and win converts to a sadistic cult. Non-religious groups don't carry out charity in hopes for good karma to carry them into the next life - they do it for the betterment of this life, for the betterment of this world. Culture, charity, and yes, even kindness will be perfectly fine without religion, I can assure you. Neither spirituality nor art requires bullshit superstitious immoral beliefs, and humanity as a whole will be much better off without them as well. Good riddance.