Do we NEED religion?

Question

religion is meant for peace and good morality but it has spurred violence (religions are like tribes and if one tribe doesn`t like the other, you can only guess) this is because of Human nature we are all competitive when we are set in groups and are different. If we had no religeon there would be no war... no fighting,
Do we really NEED religion?
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to people that says islam is the best religeon in the world: Open your eyes, if you think outside the box and not rapidly assume on behalf of islam, there is no god, i'm sorry but there isn`t. God was just made by our forefathers to give us hope when we feel sad its our interpretation of happiness and joy.

Answer 1

No. There is no need for religion in order to be moral.

Answer 2

I can only assure you that I was not raised to believe in any faith, nor did anyone tell me what to believe, or scare me into believing. I didn't come to faith by any intellectual argument or human persuasion. I simply met Jesus one day. It was a bit like Saul/Paul on the road to damascus. A bit of a shock to find the weird christians actually had been right after all. It's a challenging thing to take, but once I'd met Jesus I couldn't walk away, he changed me from the inside and healed my depression, in an instant. Nobody was praying for me.
I can't tell you why people think war is ok in the name of their faith, only that they are wrong and they will have to answer for it one day. It's not really a reason to reject christianity. You may as well say all of football is bad, based on the few violent supporters you see on TV. The true followers of football, like the true followers of christ, know it's not in the spirit of the thing to be violent.
So it's not fair to say there would be no fighting if there were no faith. We are a fallen race, and we would find other things to fight about, football I guess being one of them, land being another.

Answer 3

From prehistory man has worshipped gods of one kind or another .
Religion has been at the centre of peoples lives for thousands of years so clearly it has been fulfilling some kind of need in the lives of people . The irony of some faiths is that they start out as a persecuted minority , become powerful and go on to persecute others of a different persuasion. They rightly deserve to be in the dock . In our modern world many have abandoned religion as irrelevant and unproven and a source of division and conflict between nations and neighbours .
Do we need religion ? nobody will persuade all to come to a consensus on this question so it will be left the individual to make up their own mind . Following a particular belief because of social conditioning or cultural influence is not conducive to an informed choice regarding following or rejecting a system of belief . We need to live in harmony , we need to be tolerant , we need to have compassion and we need to give every one a chance of living a decent life free from hunger and preventable disease . More than that we need to create world where we don't treat others in a way we would not like to be treated ourselves . Our prisons are brimming over and their are plenty of criminals waiting to take up residence , Drugs are rife , families are breaking up and children are the victims of the failed relationships . So society is in a mess and we need something to get us back on track , for some it will be religion while for others may find answers in improving education and life chances . God knows !

Answer 4

My view is that you are looking at the extremists in all religion.
The issue has been highlighted by the action of one religion.
It has just one agenda, to spread through the human society.
It says 'Anything the other religions believe is wrong'.
'Anything we say is the word of God' it stresses.
Intolerance is it's trademark. A nun was shot in the back and two churches firebombed after the Pope quoting from history.
Which other major religion reacts so violently.
It's book authorises killing of those that do not believe it's words.
It's system of laws is grossly biased against half of humanity, the women.
Currently, in Pakistan, a woman who has suffered the indignity of rape has to get 4 men to testify against the rapist, in court. The odds are stacked against the woman from the word go.
Some of these same tribe talk of widespread practise, now outlawed, of 'suti' among the Hindus.
Till Islam reaches maturity you will remain correct.

Answer 5

No we don't need religion - it's man-made - what we DO need though is a relationship with Jesus Christ! OK you don't believe in God but if ever you have looked in a Bible you will see that it's not a list of dos and don'ts - or if it does say don't do whatever - it's for our own benefits - to protect us!

Religion is man's own interpretation of who or what God is!

Look around you at the atheistic regimes - do they work? China, North Korea etc have the worst human rights records!

Answer 6

The simple answer is no, we do not need religion, in any of its manifestations to have a knowledge of right and wrong. I've happily been an atheist from I was old enough to know that religion was a load of nonsense and, hey, guess what? I'm in no way 'evil'. Shocking.

Religion is essentially one of the most idiotic expressions of humanity that we have. The whole 'My invisible friend is better than yours and I'm willing to slide knife into your gut to prove it.' mentality of some of followers of all religions is simply appalling. Religion is totally unnecessary in a time when science is progressing at rates which outstrips an ancient document. It just isn't practical to have that 'Supreme Being' being in charge of everything, it isn't logical and it certainly is not healthy.

How on earth can humanity progress if so many of it's people rely so heavily on their superstitions, without properly questioning their validity?

People do not need religion to be good, I point once again to the many non-religious people who are just as 'good' as the religious. In fact, I would argue that religious people do more damage for their religion than people would do without it.

Religion causes pointless, bloody clashes and turns a simple question of divinity into yet another argument. Let's face it, it is nice to have 'something' up there to turn to, it makes life so much easier than having to explain how we got here and how bad things happen, and it is fun to have people believe in the same thing as you do. I think people should be entitled to their own faith but if this faith negatively affects another living human being, especially vulnerable children who SHOULD be allowed to explore all religious outlets before deciding their own beliefs, then that is deplorable and should be seen for what it is; a virus on the face of the earth.

Religion does cause war and religion does cause the decay of society, (look at stem cell research, for example, something incredibly important that needs to be explored to the highest degree possible yet is held back due to a religious backlash- NOT ON!) if it is taken to more than 'faith'. It is fine to believe in something but do not, under any circumstances, try and harm people with your delusions. It is utterly unnecessary and, frankly, a disgrace.

The sooner we are rid of this ridiclous notion of a higher being and start LIVING, the better.

I would suggest Richard Dawkins 'The God Delusion' for further information on this subject.

Answer 7

If there were "no religion" there would still be war and fighting...probably even MORE than what there is.
I'm not an atheist--but I think there's too many different frames existing for the same picture (too many different religions). Either ONE OF THEM IS CORRECT, or NONE OF THEM ARE CORRECT,,,,and I'm inclined to go with the latter.
But I've had too many personal experiences that defy anything but a paranormal explanation.

Answer 8

It is a lot easier to start wars in the names of religions. But have we wonder why certain religions just couldn't ignite wars?

Such as Buddhism, Jainism, Taoism, Confucianism? why no wars ever fought in their names?

Something is very wrong to religions that believe in God (creator or single god) Abrahamic religions seem to be war-mongers in the history of human civilisation. Europeans had gone thru religious wars for ten of centuries but not Asians,until Islam rose to power.

If wars are fought in the names of religions it could only be monotheists. Atheistic faiths never gone to wars till date which predate Christianity and Islam.

Answer 9

It depends on what you mean, you can religiously get up late, or religiously go to the same shop, it is a very miss-used word. Islam is not the best or the biggest by any means, they would like you to think so, this is why they have to kill those who change to the Christian faith. If you don't think that is true, then take a good look at Iran and other country's in the Middle East to find out the true for yourself.

Answer 10

Those who have religion evidently need it, OR have been unable to think for themselves - they may have been brainwashed as a child. After all, parents who are religious are bound to pass on their beliefs to their offspring. Because of the veiled threats involved in many religions or the wondrous rewards for compliance, most people who have been brought up on it are unable to break free from it even if they wanted to. Do they need religion? Yes, because the alternative isn't very pleasant. Does anyone else need religion? Not if you think about it.

Answer 11

Not institutionilised religion controlled by clergy. Perhaps there is a place for a more experiential form of religion founded on morality and tolerance, rather than meaningless dogma.