Young Writers Society

HaydenSmith wrote:Alfred! Thank you. I totally agree.

By the way, only 7% of all the wars in history have actually been caused by religion. Religion is often used to mask the real issues.

I'll be your best friend forever if you can give me citations for those claims.

Sandvich wrote:Religion USED to cause more problems than it solved, back in the days where witch burnings, crusades and inquisitions were common. Back then, the problems it solved basically extended to how the rulers could control their people (divine right of kings and stuff).

Wrong.

Modern witch hunts, justified by literal interpretations of the Bible, happen all the time with the same, if not more, severity and frequency.

BBC article that describes some of this: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/575178.stm

But, just for the record, religion is not the reason we have laws. Please don't say it is.

I'm not sure what you meant by this, but certain laws, in America and around the world, are in fact theocratic.

Inkwell - That link is honestly news to me. O_O
And I mean, some laws did stem from religion yes. But it irritates me when people say society would be unable to function without their specific religious code.

1763 historical wars are documented overall in The Encyclopedia of Wars (I forget which volumes...). It says roughly 120 of those wars resulted from religious origins and clashes. This is about 7%.

Yes, I realize that this is still a lot of wars, but think about all of the secular wars... clearly religion is not the biggest problem when it comes to war. Might I also remind us that some awful events in history were caused by people trying to remove a particular religious group or religion in total?

Look at World War II, when Hitler was targeting Jews, and later Catholics. What about Soviet Russia? Stalin wanted to eradicate religion in his society and went to devastating lengths to do so.

Jack Eller (an atheist, might I remind you, if you have read any of his works) says in his book Cruel Creeds, Virtuous Violence; "[...] religion is not inherently and irredeemably violent; it certainly is not the essence and source of all violence."

As I say this, though, I don't disregard the fact that horrible events have been caused in the name of religion. But why attack religion when there are bigger secular concerns? I think it just reveals intolerance and closed-mindedness towards religion in general.

I'm going to leave this discussion, since I've said before it needs to die anyway. Discuss away, but you're not going to get anywhere.

Just as a butt-in (for help)

Lumi wrote:

HaydenSmith wrote:Alfred! Thank you. I totally agree.

By the way, only 7% of all the wars in history have actually been caused by religion. Religion is often used to mask the real issues.

I'll be your best friend forever if you can give me citations for those claims.

I think *this*was the reference link. I'm not in this, and you may not hold this to be credible, seeing as it's an article purely from the other side. Even so, this is the link. No friendship necessary.

Thank you, Hayden, for the citations. I hope this brings clarity over the subject.

Personally, I dont have a problem with religion or religious people. I just wish others would respect those who are different. Not doing that sparks wars and debates that split communities.

True, modern western society has been formed from Christianity and the ten commandments and so on.. but just as society develops and grows, the views in it need to as well. Only recently the world has started looking deeper into its issues, and while trying to solve them its created moral issues.

Honestly, I dont think I need ten rules to let me know how to be a good person, its kind of natural to me and the people I know. So I don't think religion should be linked in with government or society anymore. It may have helped us get where we are or may not have, we can never say. But even within a religion there are arguements as to there meanings/ rules/ origins/ ethics/ ect. Example not all Muslims believe it right to kill people, in fact its commonly a very peaceful religion.

Ok, Ok, i've figured out what I'm getting at. Bascially people's minds have evolved, we are less one-minded, we think more about our own values and ethics. We simply dont all fit into orriginal religions these days. If we want to keep it, either they have to change with us and face the facts, or we have to go back to being simple folk who need to be told whats bad or good and promised a reward at the end.

And to answer the question, yeah, I do think religion causes more harm than good. Think about it, if it never existed would this question even need to be asked? How many wars would have not happened? If we had not been looking at differences in beliefs perhaps we would notice that we are all humans and we are all just trying to live...

Yes to all. I don't follow any religion of any kind, personally. But when one is alone and feels the need to confide in something/one you have god/guardian angel. It makes more sense when you're a kid.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1IAhDGYl ... hrOKOCr5nB

I think so,religions causes more problem then it solves because people starts making their decisins on what their religion says and as you all know these decisions can make what kind of disasters...

I think so,religions causes more problem then it solves because people starts making their decisins on what their religion says and as you all know these decisions can make what kind of disasters...

It depends on what your religion says. We know that many people commit awful acts in the name of Christ such as murder and discrimination. But if we look at the Bible it says:

1 John 4:20-21 If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar: for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen? And this commandment have we from him, That he who loveth God love his brother also

And:

Matthew 5:43-45 Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy. I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you; ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust

If people were to listen to the prinicpals of this, and what this 'religion' teaches. There would be much less violence in the world. It's just unfortunate that many 'so-called' Christians do not listen to the Bible

Lumi, I take it you're now Hayden's best friend forever, since he has cited his statement?