Offensive To Some, Please Answer Though?

Question

How Can I Do It? Religion Makes Fools Out of "Some" so wouldn’t it be for the best of mankind, to wipe all religions off the face of the planet. I mean, have you seen some of the things done in the name of religion?

Wouldn’t it be better to accept you fate, and realize, that your life is truly meaningless. You’re one person out of billions. Noting you do if really ever going to make a difference, unless, you do something truly terrible or horrific or truly good. And the vast majority of us will do neither. Will live our little lives and then die off, mostly to not be remembered at all.

Can You Share Your Opinions Please?

Answer 1

Things done in the name of religion - but you must realize it is in spite of the teachings and not because of them. Besides, even if you got rid of religion - nationality, race, etc, etc, are just other ways people can fight. Have you seen what has been done in the name of country or race? As long as we identify with small groups and try to force our will and way on others - there will always be fighting.

As for one out of billions - each one of us is unique and has purpose. We are important to what is around us. There are billions of stars, but we don't think our sun (one of the billions) is meaningless. It has a lot of meaning to us and all life in this system.

Our star does not have to do anything terrible or truly good - among other stars it may seem quite ordinary. You can not judge worth by this method. Being remembered is not a judge of worth either. You have not found out what is important yet.

~ Eric Putkonen

Answer 2

I doubt it would really make all that much difference.

Would you wipe out religion by killing all those who believe? If not, how would you stop their beliefs and actions?

If so, don't you really think people would just come up with some other false rationale for the harm mankind inflicts upon itself.

I also disagree that life is meaningless. I am not Christian and therefore do not look forward to the return of Jesus or my heavenly reward, yet I find beauty and meaning in every day. And a million small acts are more useful, quite often, than one great one.

Answer 3

You are assuming that lives are meaningless. Why would you think so? Yes, religion has done great harm. But it has also created great beauty, provided much hope, and taught a primitive, violent race at least the possibility of a better existence. The foundations provided by Christianity made science and modern advances possible. Buddhism has taught billions how to accept that which they cannot change. Perhaps someday we can all learn the value of each and their appropriate applications to life in general.

Besides, even if the odds are against becoming great, why give up on the hope for greatness?

Answer 4

You mention do something truly good or truly horrific. That implies a certain moral standard. If there is no God, then there can be no objective verity by which to adjudicate right from wrong.

Terrible things done in the name of religion? Sure. Terrible things done from an atheistic worldview: Hitler/Stalin - killing of tens of millions (together killed probably more than all religious wars combined). School bombings by atheists. Gang violence and much more.

So some terrible things also happen not in the name of religion.

The point isn't whether bad things can come from religion. It's whether the religion is true or not, since they all can't be true at the same time in the same sense.

Answer 5

to me this is the essential dichotomy of life.

nature has no 'point' or 'goal' as we humans know or understand the concept. Nature doesn't work that way. We hold no special place in the universe, there is no afterlife and the human soul is a myth. In general, we come from nowhere, spend less than 100 years wondering what it all means and then go nowhere. For all intents and purposes, life is indeed meaningless as you state.

We have to balance this harsh reality somehow with our everyday lives, our struggles, our hopes and fears and dreams, our peers and loved ones. And not to mention our ego that tells us we will live forever and are the center of the universe. It's enough to make people believe all sorts of crazy things.

But at the end of the day it is not meaningless. I am here living my life, even if in 200 years nobody will know. Most likely I only get one shot at it. And it is glorious and terrible and fun and weird. I don't look for the meaning of life anymore. I give meaning to life.

Answer 6

That bad things have been done in the name of religion don't justify doing something horrible in return. I don't think my life is meaningless. I think my life has the meaning I give it and my friends and family count on me and need me. Everything we do makes a difference of some sort. It may not seem like much or register on the greater scheme of things but it does. My mom died and she wasn't someone hugely important to the world but I remember her and she played a huge role in who I am. In return everything I do that affects my loved ones in a way reflects her since she is a person who influenced who I am. Not a huge thing maybe but so important if you think about it and the cumulative effect down through generations.

Answer 7

Some may think I am a fool for my beliefs. ( I am a non-denominational Christian.) However, I don't really care what I may look like to any human, I only care what God thinks. It hurts when people belittle me and others like me out of their own lack of understanding or inability to be tolerant. Personally I would never call for wiping anyone that didn't believe what I believe off the face of the planet and I am upset that people who did do that are remembered as Christians. My beliefs state that judgment is reserved for God, and God alone. I cannot make you believe, nor can I force you to...It is your choice. I can only live by example, and Jesus Christ taught the example that I choose to let lead to me. He loved everyone and was friends with all kinds of sinners. I am a sinner myself! He, spoke out the Truth and didn't care what others thought, to the point of death, he spoke the truth.

I can see that you feel you are worth nothing. I feel sorry for you, for the fact that you feel your life is truly meaningless, and that you feel lost in crowds of billions. I feel badly that you believe you will never make a difference, and that you fear not being memorialized. I truly feel for you, it is very hard to feel so alone. Is there something I can do for you? I want to help you! The one thing I want to tell you, is that with faith in Christ no small deed goes unseen. Ecclesiastes 12:14 For God will bring every deed into judgment, including every hidden thing, whether it is good or evil. My word will seem foolish to anyone with out understanding, and God knows that too. 1 Corinthians 2:14 The man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned. At least read the Book of Romans, in the Bible...If you still choose to think it all a hoax, quit reading & asking, but if part of you wants knowledge keep searching. Deuteronomy 4:29 But if from there you seek the LORD your God, you will find him if you look for him with all your heart and with all your soul. I will pray for you.

Answer 8

Well, I don't agree with the second part of your statement because it'd be a pretty sick joke for humans to have been put on this rotten earth for "nothing," but I entirely agree with your claim that religion makes people generally stupid. It makes them totally and utterly stupid and leaves them oblivious to the fact. A Muslim father in Jordan just shot his daughter four times in the head because he suspected she had lost her virginity. _Jordanian government organizations actually make fathers sign contracts promising they will not harm their runaway daughters when they suspect their daughter of having lost her virginity_. I could never quite understand how people fail to see the absurdity in situations such as this, or of the thousands of years of ridiculous, bloody religious wars in Europe or Africa or Asia or everywhere, or of god being a white man when half the earth's population is colored and women.

No one ever thinks about other _people_. No one thinks about living and letting live, and giving their neighbors a helping hand with the time they would otherwise have used to carry out their totally random rituals like not eating meat or chanting prescriptive prayers or throwing stones at a monument. Religion alienates people from themselves and from the humanity of others, and this often and easily leads to violence.

Answer 9

It takes a brave person to do that. Even amongst these countless billions, we still want to be individual, we want to be recognised.

Is life meaningless? In the great scheme of things yes, but not meaningless for me (and I hope you).

You tripped yourself up a bit by talking about fate. There is no fate, except that which we chose for ourselves. There are always accidents of course. Walking in front of a bus is likely to change the course of your life, but it is not fate, just carelessness.

Answer 10

The predicts that the leaders of the world will go against religion. When they do, the end will come some time after. So I hope you become the president because that means it is really close. How odd that the bible knows what people are going to think almost 2,000 years after it was written.