Thread: religion
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Old 10-09-2014, 01:28 PM
Glenzig Glenzig is offline
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Originally Posted by Patriam1066 [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]
I'm not sure why we're arguing then. I don't disagree with this. I'm just telling you that when you say "we're better off without religion," that you couldn't possibly be more wrong. There are so many assumptions there, like 1) religion hasn't helped us
2) religion doesn't continue to help us
3) that good / bad are solely the domain of people's religious convictions.

There is so much going on in the world that happens completely independent of religion, and if it were abolished, would continue to happen.

If you were to ask me though, from my limited travelings on this planet, I would say that Christians are without a doubt the most moral group. I would say Buddhists are a close second. That's just my opinion. I don't think attacking them accomplishes anything except demonstrate the ignorance of those vilifying people they don't understand.

I said this earlier in this thread. There is a reason that Denmark, Sweden, the Netherlands, NZ, Australia, Canada, UK, US, Finland, Estonia . . . .etc, are all overwhelmingly successful. Even if these places are post-Christian, you cannot separate their common Protestant heritage from why they are successful today.

Religion isn't pointless. It never has been. It's responsible for things that you probably take for granted. The Enlightenment, the secular movement that probably had more to do with Europe's current culture than anything other than the World Wars, doesn't happen without the Protestant Reformation.

Also, the first universities on this planet were Islamic. I could google Islamic polymaths and tell you what they did, but I'll let you do that yourself.

Religion is timeless. It has always been important. It will always remain important. And even if Christianity, Islam, and Buddhism are eliminated, rest assured, people will follow something different. It's my profound hope, that if these things are replaced, they are replaced with something better. I honestly don't think that they would be. Good luck finding better teachers than Jesus or Buddha.

Saadi Shirazi, a devout Persian Sunni:


Adam's sons are body limbs, to say;
For they're created of the same clay.
Should one organ be troubled by pain,
Others would suffer severe strain.
Thou, careless of people's suffering,
Deserve not the name, "human being".

Much better in Persian

http://vimeo.com/53253260

go to 33:00 minutes in and listen to about 37:00
I'm pretty sure it just comes down to people like PaulG not wanting anyone anywhere telling them what is or isn't moral. All the while not realizing that he is doi g the exact same thing.
You're absolutely right though, the removal of organized religion would hardly mean the end of religion itself. And if you think that religion based on centuries old holy books is immoral, you'll be very disappointed in the replacement.