Should religion be banned?

Question

Catholics fight the Protestants.Christians fight the Muslims.Everyone hates the Jews(ok that's a generalisation).
Over the centuries more people have been killed either because of their religious beliefs or in the name of one god or another.
Should we not then ban religion as a danger to mankind?

Answer 1

I believe at the end of the day you are judged on how you have behaved during life how you have treated others- I think the fanatics of the world cause all the trouble and hide it under the blanket of "religion"-
Whatever religion you are who can possibly justify taking another persons life in such a cowardly way
Also if some religions believe paradise is waiting for them- why don't they just go there- and do us all a favour
Also (sorry i'm on my soap box now) how many times do we read about paedophile priests/ clergymen- how can they justify there actions etc- and look how the "Laundries" where run by the nuns in Ireland - cruel beyond imagination - we are supposed to be civilised
Religion is a dangerous and evil ticket for fanatics to rule the world! and now i'm going to carefully step down from my soapbox

Answer 2

What needs to be banned is ignorance rising from these religious people being brainwashed from when they are young to think the way they do. All those religions you just mentioned are extremely similar to one another, so if these people had any common sense, they would actually be best friends since they basically believe the same things, instead of killing each other by the millions in terrible wars and having such a bitter hatred and rivalry with each other. It's very ridiculous to see them doing this. Their religions are all flawed, and they are all similar, but yet they continue to hate each other instead doing what makes sense, and that's being buddies. But I guess because they are so flawed, they can't see it...how sad. Organized religion is the problem, I believe God intended for each person to find his/her way to enlightement, not through the flawed teachings that dominate organized religion and only promote fear, ignorance, and hate for no reason other than so some clerics, politicians, and capitalists can line their wallets with lots of cash and oppress the population by keeping them under their fists by using these dirty tactics.

Answer 3

Banning it doesn't work, alas, in fact it seems to give it the allure of the forbidden. Look how it survived and even flourished under communism.
You can't ban belief, you can't 'make windows into men's souls', but I feel that some religious practises should be prohibited, like the aggressive proselytising and promotion of sexist, homophobic and racist theology. As Richard Dawkins said, it is time to start to get angry with religion, and not just Islam.

Answer 4

Yes! Absolutely! You are completely right. Religion and the fanaticism it breeds, such as demonstrated here by some of the other answers you have gotten to this question, are the greatest dangers that humanity faces today, especially in the United States.

Answer 5

The world would be a better place without it. The most civilized nations are the Scandavian countries where church attendence is less than 10%. After reading the fanatics on Answers, I am thinking that religion is some kind of delusional form of mental illness.

Answer 6

No, because then you'll fuel the fire even more. Radical religious people are bad enough; radical religious people who are pissed off because they can't practice their beliefs are worse.

Besides, what's wrong with the regular people who just want to go to church on Sunday? You might not agree with their method of thinking, but they should have the right to do it, at least. Now, killing each other in the name of religion, that's one thing... but just practicing your beliefs, as long as it doesn't get into violence or anything, is perfectly fine. I'm totally nonreligious, but I can't imagine living in a country where something as simple as THAT isn't allowed.

Answer 7

Banning religion is like trying to ban bad poetry.

Religion is only the poetry of the human heart. Much of it pumped at us worse than elevator muzak. Anyway, when you eliminate "religious" forms of worship and thinking and tradition you leave the State as the only thing left to worship. This is the essence of what we mean by the term "fascism".

Literally: "Worship of the State".
Hence one of the first things every fascist empire tries to do is seize or employ potent religious functions to service the politic of the State.

Answer 8

i think banning of any kind only makes for an even more dangerous and risky crowd. just look at history..

banning of alcohol.. people were killed over it.
abortion.. coat hangers

the list goes on and on. you cant truly ban anything.. what i would want is people to just tolerate each other. if its not religion its money, if its not money its power/land/resources..

mankind will always kill. regardless of the subject

Answer 9

No. Now I do believe that religion is harmful, and should be done away with, but banning it's practice would accomplish nothing. In fact, it would probably be even more detrimental. People would simply practice in secret, and have even more self-righteousness than they do now. No, religion needs to be left behind voluntarily, not by force.

Answer 10

So do you think by banning religion, people are going to commit less crimes. Religion keep some people in check, if that wasn't for fear of divine punishment, I would destroy you just for asking that question. Cause I'm not afraid of the police nor jail.