My question is brought up from a post I saw on another club. However the basic gist is, is religion something that should be feared/stopped? It is naive to deny that religion has caused a lot of violence, both throughout history and now. Do you think it is religion itself that is dangerous, or some of the zealots that practice it? With some religious texts being incredibly violent books, some of them preaching the benefits of things like slavery and even going so far as to say homosexuals and women who seek divorce should be stoned to death... Should non believers be fighting harder to stop religious beliefs?
To tell the truth I don't full well know where I sit on this topic but I am curious to see what others have to say about it.
Should Religion be Feared?
7 posts in this topic.
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I think it's morally right to oppose religion and the harm it causes. Even 'moderate' religion is harmful. The world would be a better place if religion did not exist. Of course I'm not saying I would outlaw religion, I'm think we should teach children that religion is awful and silly and in a few generations' time there would be no one who would want to be religious.
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"...in a few generations' time there would be no one who would want to be religious."
I wouldn't say that. It seems to me that religion gives purpose where there otherwise is none [visible, at least]. There will always be agnostics and spiritual people. I feel it's natural for people to think of "something beyond the stars." Ghosts and the supernatural are fanciful ideas, but wouldn't it just be soooo cool if they were real? Though, perhaps if it was ingrained at an early age, you could make people think otherwise.
And would it be forward to guess that you (Karzkin) were subjected to some kind of religion at an early age? All of the strong atheists I know went to catholic school or Sunday school. I've hypothesized that secular government (with freedom of religion) will slowly destroy religion. I mean, how can you lead a society without God's laws? I haven't come across many people who can separate their emotions and deep intuitions from facts and laws. And if you have to think in that mindset, eventually you will forget your beliefs.
And on "religion has caused a lot of violence:" you're talking about organized religion (well, mostly). People with disagreements (you believe in Bob the Holy Destroyer and I believe in Max the Divine Demon Man...) are going to want to sort that out. How do you take violence out of the possible choices? Organized government has caused a lot of violence, too. I can definitely buy into the idea that either of those is wrong (organized gov and religion)... but it would also be naive to say that both haven't done a lot of good.
The Book Of Mormon musical (from the creators of South Park) does a good job at illustrating this. You can find the whole original Broadway recording on Spotify. (and elsewhere, but that would be illicit :p)
There's strength in numbers, and that strength can obviously be used for "good" or "evil." Missionaries/Religion can bring aid to people who need it, and they can even stop violence. So can organized government/organized anything. But numbers gives rise to the ability for organized violence. The US government can start a war whenever it wants, but you and I can't (well by ourselves, I mean: we could always piss someone off).
My point is that it's polarized beliefs with a bunch of people to back it that cause violence. -
And to reconnect to "should religion be feared," no. Organized anything should be feared. Fearing religion by itself would be fearing ideas. And living in fear isn't healthy, as far as I know.
Above, I target organized [x] as a cause for violence. Religion doesn't do it on it's own, it's people who hate each other. We just need to work on making religion more intimate, and respecting each other.
Religion is an idea, like anything else. Outlawing it, or fearing it, would simply be fearing ideas. When we fear ideas, we halt progress. When we halt progress, we stand still. And being that this is an atheists forum, I'll jump on happiness being our purpose. Not everyone is happy, so we don't want to stand still. We just need to be careful to not let our ideas control us and do bad things. -
Fundamentalism should be. The less religious the nation becomes, the more religion will slowly be taken over by fundamentalists.
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Religion should not be feared. People forcing their beliefs onto or harming other people because of it should, though.
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I agree with @Astronaut. Religion itself isn't a problem. Yes, some religious texts are violent, but most people are sane enough to interpret it instead of take everything religious texts say seriously. I really have no problem with religion. In fact, it kind of fascinates me. The only problem I have is if someone pressures me to believe what they do. I would never dream of attempting to change someone's religious beliefs, all I ask is that they do the same.
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