What has............?

Question

what has religion or beliefs truly achieved?
they cause hatred, wars and distrust amongst fellow humans throughout history.
the majority maybe are peace loving but why do they tolerate their goverments that go to war, terrorists that kill, even football matches are a place of religious bigotry and sectarianism.
why dont the peace loving followers of these religions stand up against the more blood thirsty; yes that includes goverments in the west as well as in the east being stood up against, the goverments are the worst claiming to be 'at war' Bush uses statements about gods will etc, is this man a coward and has to hide behind a 'diety'
if i do something its because of ME nothing else, i do not hide behind my religion/belief,
my little rant is now over!
please debate!!!

Answer 1

You seem to suspect that religion has some noble purpose behind it. It doesn't. It's just a mental virus that exists for the sole purpose of spreading itself.

It's rare that a virus provides a net benefit to its host.

Answer 2

Religion isn't all bad. Granted it is severely overrated and has become the most popular excuse for the terrible things that have happened in the relatively short history of human kind. I do agree that anything you do should be according to your own personal morals, not those that have been beaten or spoon-fed to you.

However, look at the good things that have been done in the name of religion. I have two words for you people, SAN MARTINO. It is a monastery based on the grounds of St Elmo's castle and is one of the most beautiful places I have ever seen. It is also a museum with one of the largest collections of nativity scenes in the world.

Sceptics and cynics may see it as a waste of time, money and resources but I see it all as works of art. Without religion, there would be no San Martino. Artistic masterpieces like "The Ecstasy of Saint Teresa" by Bernini "Ode to Joy" by Beethoven and "My Tourniquet" by Evanescence would never have been created. Even the pyramids at Giza had religious reasons behind their design. These are all beautiful expressions of love and devotion to whatever god the artist believed in. Does it really matter if it's to a "false" god?

As for not speaking out against the bloodthirsty minority, remember the "Not In My Name" protests? People from all walks of life joined that protest, including the Christians that George Bush claimed to be protecting. You don't hear about people spreading peace and doing good deeds because the media moguls don't feel it newsworthy.

Answer 3

Western beliefs as far east as India are intermingled with government, and thus, politics. Check out Zen.

For the heck of it: Check out Tao Te Cheng by Lao Tzu. You'll find it in the social science section of the library. There's alot of translations today for this book written about 400 B.C. It's made up of 81 short poems. No kidding. The whole book central to the religion (Taoism) is only five thousand words long. But it says so much. Not just about another religious way to believe, but actual advice that makes for a happy life.

Answer 4

Ryn are you bored with a capital B today?

Although at least I can fully understand this question!!!

Anyway , I don't believe that religion and beliefs cause wars etc, -people do.

We have to have something to hang our horrors on; a coat peg for our less nice side.

Religion, race , nationality are all easy fall guys.

By the way, I stand up for my beliefs in peace,anti war, etc and for my pains recently got theatened by a rather nasty man with a web site and large number of followers......

He doesn't think that he is racist, a bigot or ( my opinion) a bully, but he doesn't claim to be religious either.

Gits come in all shapes and sizes I guess. just that some are more powerful than others!

Answer 5

Look around you and see all those beautifull monuments, all those works of art, all that literature devoted to God and religion(try looking at a koran the caligraphy is pure beauty). Surely A lot of wrong has been done in the name of religion and a lot of hatred spewed. But think about the believers that do have integrity, and that do believe in the right way. Is there anything more beautifull(I sometimes envy them). There is a saying in my country that belief can move mountains. Religion as all things in this world has a good and a bad side to it. That's karma

Answer 6

GB is a coward and he will answer for giving God the credit for his actions.
People cause the problems, not the Gods they worship. But it would be nice if they stood for what the believe in instead of hiding. I am not big on turn the other cheek when it means getting wiped out or royally beat up.
Unfortunately, people are too scared to stand up and fight. It is easy to say My God doesn't allow it or want me to fight. I am pretty sure my God wants me to fight against the wrong, and do my part to make this a better world for having lived in it. That means cleaning up the pollution, helping the sick and poor, etc. No creating wars and taking pleasure in killing people.

Answer 7

Motivation is the important factor, I think. Not all religious sentiment is altruistic and neither is all non-religious sentiment. Many have learned to cultivate and channel their altruism through religion, so it does not seem correct to condemn it out of hand. Many have done the same without religion, so it is equally wrong to condemn people for the lack of religion.

Answer 8

Well, at least in a democracy if our politicians don't do the job we elected them for we can put them out of office at election time, but i feel sorry for countries that are stuck with the same leaders until they die, because all you need is a bad leader that lives a long time and you will always be in the sh it.

Answer 9

Well, religion gets nothing accomplished. People hide behind it all the time; however a relationship with Christ is what makes the difference. Christ teaches love not hate. Humans in their own self rightousness have made many turn away. It started with God it will end with God thats pretty much sums it up.

Answer 10

"Religion" is completely different from "spirituality".Religion is ALWAYS organised into various sects/denominations,whereas spirituality is very much a "do such-and-such whenever "God" tells you to" thing.Because of the way religion is organised into these sects/denoms.,it's always possible to have either two different groups in the same religion fighting each other,or even two different religions fighting each other "en-masse",so to speak.It is ,however,impossible to make two spiritual men/women fight each other,because spiritual beliefs are very individual,NOT based on group activity,such as corporate worship in churches,temples,etc,but on the INDIVIDUALS' personal relationship with his/her "God".Most religious people mistakenly see themselves as spiritual,and this makes it easy to tell them "God wants you to do this....."That's why all the fighting goes on,you see.