Has religion really helped the human race or has it only divided people?

Question

fighting ,terrorism all in the name of religion

Answer 1

No.It has not divided Humanity.It has in fact united many smaller divisions into one.The number of divisions has been kept to the minimum by the religion.
Despite the terrorists and other fanatics the religion has done more good than harm,but for which humanity would have seen large number of splinter groups fighting among themselves.

Answer 2

Fact check: not "all" fighting and terrorism has been committed by people twisting religion for their own ends. The vast majority of violence in the world has nothing to do with religion.

Some people have allowed religion to divide them from other people -- unfortunately.

But many religions -- most notably the one to which I belong, the Roman Catholic Church -- have done great things to help the human condition.

The Catholic Church is the single largest nongovernmental provider of humanitarianism and charity in the world. Other religious organizations do their fair share also.

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Answer 3

The foundations of the culture , grows or unites the culture. Religion in the most pure sense is : "system of beliefs" that could appy to evolution, or politcal theory or organized spiritual religions. But mankind is divided on almost every issue wether "religion" is involved or not. That division, the dividing of the distintions made are the esscence of creation , even at the cellular level. Without opposing forces and defining distinctions life, culture, civilization as we know it would never have come to be and would cease to exist.

Answer 4

In any religion in the world never teaches that you hate to other religion or divide society or country it is man made differences.All religions teach us to be a good human being which is big difference between human and other animals.

Answer 5

Religion originally, is about revelation and knowing the ultimate truth. Someone - a long time ago - had a bright moment. So he tried to put it down in a book or someone else did. Others are reading the book but as they have had no such moments of brightness, they haven't a clue what the person is talking about. So they start to guess from the level of logic or just treat his words as a fact. I bet if you had Muhammed, J. Christ, Buddha and Shankaracharya sitting at a table drinking tea, there would be no misunderstanding in their midst - to say nothing about fighting.

Answer 6

that is a very difficult question, I mean to evaluate the effects of religion on human society.
I think that religion was important for human society as a source of ethical and legislative dictates, as a foundation for the creation of learning centers around temples, as a driving force behind many human achievements in art, architecture and literature.
on the other hand religion was the cause of many atrocities, persecution of religious minorities, human sacrifice, holy wars and hatred.
I also thing that the the trend at present is that religions produce more evil than good.

Answer 7

"All in the name of religion." Have you ever taken a look at what has been comitted in the name of religion? Are you really naive enough to believe that terrorism is performed in the 'name of religion,' rather than to fulfill some political agenda? Even Osama was very clear in citing specific political goals behind all of his attacks! Fighting, inquisitions, heresey hunting - most of the atrocities attributed to religion are based on some underlying political motivation. Why do you suppose there are no overt religious wars being raged in the United States? It is because religious wars derive from conflicting political views, social structures, governmental models, and cultural values, and are instigated as revolutions or civil wars - not mere differences in religion.

All of the hatred and bigotry of a religious group can be traced back to social issues. Nazis did not hate Jews because of the religion of Judaism, but because they believed that Jews were influencing the German economy and threatening the security of the state. The Inquisition did not hunt down the Cathars because of their peculiar religious opinions, but because they were seen as a seditious and revolutionary force with the potential to undermine the French government. The Lutherans did not murder Anabaptists because of their anti-Trinitarian views, but because they negated German citizenship by re-baptising their converts. The Crusaders did not attack the Holy Land because they were opposed to Islam, but because they sought to avenge attacks against occupied Christian communities, and rob the Muslim treasuries. The Hebrews did not drive out the Canaanites over differences of religious opinion, but because they wanted control of the natural resources abundant in ancient Palestine.

You get the idea.

Answer 8

From an anthro perspective...when society was young, religion was vital. A pronouncement from God to build an empire was agreed upon by everyone to be right--even if individuals felt differently, not much you could say against it.

Today, people are more equpiied to use reason, and our empires are built. It's more of a personal thing now than a social construct, and while not negative in and of itself, should be well-tempered with reason and loking at the big picture when dealing with others.

Answer 9

If one thinks of any relogion as a set of hard and fast rules which cant be questioned then without a doubt it is the best weapon of destruction for human race. But if one thinks of it as a reference for not just an individual but the entire society to live by, then perhaps one can understand the real meaning and purpose of any relgion.
All the religions in the world preach one basic thing and that is to excel. Excel in terms of our living statndards, our thought process, our direction in life. A religion gives us a set of rules because thats the most agreeable set of rules to abide by for that particular section of people.
Problem arises when we start to follow those set of rules blindly. Because then the process of introspection and questiong dies away. When we do not question ourselves and our actions then we lose our direction. No relgions asks its followers to stop using their logical and questioning power, infact, that is the very purpose of it- to let an individual question everything and search for the answers. For that is when we discover ourselvs, shape our characters and in the process we ' progress as a civilization'.
Ever wondered why only we humans have the concept of religion and not the rest of species?? well if you give this a thought, may be you will find the answerto your question....and if u ask me i would say - without intending to hurt or offend anyone- GOD is just the result of relgion and not the vice-versa.

Answer 10

Like the knife that was invented for use turning intoa weapon of murder , religions that was created for the refinement and advancement of of the humans have been used to divide people and destroy peace in civil societied . Now the time has come for people to do away with religions for universal peace .