Does religion help or hurt society? (mainly christianity)?

Question

People might say that religion is necessary to have morals. But is this really true? Also, how about those children who have no family, no one to care for them...no one to teach them morals. Is religion then the only thing that can keep them in a good place (i.e. not getting involved with drugs, gangs, etc.) Religion works through fear . . . keeps people in line and doing the "right thing" by scaring the hell out of them. Is this the only way that children will do the right thing? If so, is religion then always necessary in a society? at least when people are still growing up with no one to teach them morals?

Answer 1

religion has nearly crippled most churches .... religion is mankind's attempt to reach God.... based upon their own rules and regulations.

Answer 2

Both. Here is why...

When people assume that religion is nothing more than a scare tactic to keep people in line, it hurts society. The fear of God is seen as a bad thing only. If you don't behave and do the right thing you will go to hell is used more as a punch-line to a joke. Society has this illusion that the Bible is only a fairy tale. And with that mentality, it hurts society.

I personally have no religion. I have a personal relationship with Jesus. I believe He died for not only my sins but for the sins of all men and women. I preach at our county jail and inform the men that there is both blessings and curses in the Bible. Over the last few months, I have met some of the men outside the jail and they still remember me and thank me for helping them change their thinking habits. They in turn start to have a positive impact on their neighborhoods, families and work place. Thus it is good for society.

As for the children you spoke about. If people would take the time to show compassion and kindness to the children, they will turn out just fine. Children are very easily influenced by what they see and hear. If they see only the bad, they will make poor decisions. If they see only good, they will make wise decisions. If they see both, they will make an informed decision.

It isn't religion that gives us morals, it is the spirit that is living inside of all of us. God gave each of us free will to make decisions on our own. Let me ask a question. Have you ever done something you knew was wrong and later felt bad inside? Or done some deed out of the kindness of your heart and felt a sense of peace and warmth inside? It wasn't religion that gave you that feeling.

I know that society would be a better place if we stopped all the bickering and blaming and started to work together to build stronger communities and tear down wall of racism and hatred. The only way for that to even begin is if we realize that we are all in this together.

Answer 3

Simply put religion is like any other tool. It can be used for good such as charities and help. It can (and is) often used to divide and cause strife. I have a personal relationship with the bad side of religion. (sarcasm is the point here). If you are part of the "fold" then life is alright. If not.. watch out! I was christian then started to doubt my faith as i saw lots of people not really doing what I was taught that Jesus would do. It seemed more like a social club than a faith. I decided to throw away all my beliefs and look for other info and very quickly my nick name was "Satan". Good job small town Christians.
Certainly not every on acts like this.
In short though i feel the answer is that it hurts us as a society now because all of the rules where made by iron age goat herders who e lives where far different from ours today. Back then slavery was accepted, women where property and could not hold authority, death was the sentence for everything, and all where required to help kill the offender.

Answer 4

Well,by looking at the past.Traditional values will never go out of style.If it's not broke,don't fix it.More and more everyday I see young people have less respect for their parents.Husbands cheating on wives and vise verse.Of course,nobody is safe from that temptation if you don't have a solid marriage.Christianity has in the past taught men and women,boy and girls good values that they can use in their everyday life.Christianity can hold a struggling marriage together if they try not to fix the problem on their own,and adheres to what the bible tells them.
Abortion is more rampant because of decaying views of human life.Homosexuality is considered an alternative lifestyle,but Christianity has literally pulled people out of that life and pointed them in the right direction.People meddle in witchcraft and occultism and it's okay.Common sense tells you it's wrong.
The world now tells you nowadays if it feels good,it's okay as long as you don't hurt anybody.We have tried it with the new philosophy of life,and it's not working.
Remember,Christians are not perfect.We have our stumbling blocks just like the next person,but we have somthing we can go to if we're out of answers.,the Holy Bible.
For a person that reads the bible without an open mind and a hardened heart will not get anything from it,and will consider it gibberish,but that's what the devil wants.Wonder why the world is so screwed up?Blame it man giving up on traditional values and sucumbing to the devil's temptations.
Any grown man or woman worth their salt will admit we have a problem in the United States and abroad,and you can't blame it on Christianity.

Answer 5

Different things work for different people. I know people of faith who I would define as good people and also people of faith who I would define as not good people. Laws work on some as a deterrent, but if it worked on all people, we wouldn't need jails. I think much of it is how children are raised and what their personalities are. Morals come from what is culturally acceptable. Children learn morals even from their peers. Religion helps some who cannot accept responsibility for their own actions and need to place accountability on God. Sometimes, this is how a behavior can be fixed, ie alcoholism.

Religion helps as much as it hurts. Countless wars and now world politics surrounds religious issues. Religion in the past has been used as a measure of power over the people, and now its just a matter of political debate. Good people will be good people regardless of religion and the same for the bad people. Religion is only required by people who need someone to blame other than themselves.

Answer 6

More people have been killed in the name of religion than any other cause. I don't think you need to read a certain book , go to a certain building, dress up and follow man-made customs, to be a good person. You find that within yourself. To me, every religion has a grain of truth and something to offer to us all. However religion ends up being just another thing for people to be divided over. The ten commandments are a fine guideline. The Golden Rule (do unto others as you would have them do unto you) is the best piece of advice I've ever heard. We could just take those two things and use them to be better people, better countries, a better world. But no, we have to reinterpret every little thing and use it against other religions that see things differently. To put it bluntly "My god has a bigger d*ck than your god." It's ridiculous. Just do the right thing, be a good person and treat people how you would like to be treated....ALL people...not just the ones that go to the same church you do.

Answer 7

My religion does not make me scared. It is not necessary to have religion to be a moral person.
But I believe churches can do good for their communities, or they can do bad.
My church donates musical instruments to elementary schools, it supports people in the community when they get sick, a family member dies, or a natural disaster. They fund a camp for kids in foster homes every year. They do blood drives. They do a recovery program for people with alcohol, sexual abuse, etc. They build orphanages in 3rd world countries.

Then some churches don't do anything, some protest with signs that say Murderer, or God hates Fa-gs, and cause more people hurt than doing any good.
Have a nice day.

Answer 8

Hurt. Any belief system so ridiculous and absurd just keeps people stupid. They no longer have to think for themselves, it's all "explained" to them. How stupid? Not less than 20 years ago, people were estimating that religion was well on its way out. Poor education and people with an agenda have managed to let it creep back in. We might have had the Internet as far back as 1200 A.D. if it weren't for the dark ages imposed by religion. Children learn their values more from society and other children than they do from teachers.

Answer 9

Everyone has a sense of right and wrong from birth. Watch a child that is doing something wrong...you will see them look around like they are checking to see if the coast is clear.

Christianity does not keep people in line through fear. There should be a healthy respect of God's power (yes, that's fear) but the more important thing should be God's love for you and me.

Answer 10

Religion isn't neccesary to have morals. Morals are dictated by society at large, not by any book.

People will do the "right thing" because they have to live in this society too and it's much nicer to live in a world where everything isn't always hurting each other than live in a world of fear, pain and suffering.

Answer 11

I have a personal story that illustrates just how harmful religion is. When my daughters were 10 and 12, they became victims of undue religious influence and came to believe that because I didn't attend their church that I was under the influence of Satan and demons. I lost them in a court battle, due to their total alienation toward me. Many years later, we reconnected, thankfully. But those years of their childhoods can never be returned to them or to me. We all were hurt by a fundamentalist Christianity gone awry. When an ideology becomes more important that a parent who loves her children, and that ideology is used it to tear a family apart, it's a tragedy.