Something fishy going on with religion?

Question

I mean, religious people you have to admit it aint all good. The Bible was edited to suit the controlling powers at whatever time it was done, The Qu'ran says its ok to die or kill for Allah (supposedly), religion is one of the main causes of suffering in the world, Protestants and Catholics, Sunnis and Shiites are at each other's throats constantly, when their respective religions should promote peace and harmony, people are constantly bending the rules and twisting the words of the various religious books to suit their own beliefs, and there have been no religious messiahs, miracles or prophets for at least a few millenia, at which time people would have believed anything; surely all this and more proves that it's kinda...corrupt and shambolic? Religious people are constantly preaching to atheists and non-believers to adopt religion and welcome God into their lives, wanting them to be open-minded - will you be open-minded as well?

Answer 1

Your issue is not so much with the idea of God or spirituality, but rather, evil things committed in the name of God or a particular religion.

I agree that religion has been a corrupting influence because it's been used as an instrument of social control and a justification for heinous acts.

But is that the fault of religion, or of the people who pervert and distort religion for their own selfish gain?

Make sure you know where the real problem lies! People are doing what they want and twisting religion to justify their actions.

Doesn't that sound more like the PEOPLE who are evil? Could you even say that these people were religious, if they twist a religion to suit their own desires instead of following the religion's principles?

I think not. Religions generally aren't that bad until people mangle them into something nasty and cruel to hurt others and "help" themselves.

But you can't say every religious person is evil...come on! I know there are good religious people out there. Don't paint them all with the same brush.

Answer 2

Its like you read my mind and did all the typing for me.

But no matter how corrupt religion is, it did invoke the progress of humanity out of and into certain ages throughout the milenia.

The most edited holy text by far is the Bible, which was pulled from the Torah, and yet ask a non-jew to read it and they make a face of immense disgust, like they're about to puke all over your shoes. Any historian will tell you how many times its been edited, things taken away on purpose, etc., no matter what their religion may be. The things that were edited were lost forever, and one can only assume you could find it in the Torah. I also know that when King James edited the Bible, he took such a huge chunk out and added so much in that it really is just appauling.

Indeed religion is very corrupt, and religious people are very closed minded

I have my immense faith, so i dont need any single religion to get me through my life. But many others do.

Answer 3

Your grief with religion is not uncommon. Millions have been slain in the name of gods. Though I would have to disagree with you that it is the fault of the religion that so many have died. The fighting is as a result of intolerance. Such intolerance is not the exclusive domain of religion, but also atheistic philosphies such as communism and fascism. Consider the genocides committed in Russia (communism), Germany (fascism), and France (the Jacobins) in the name of secular ideals. When people refuse to tolerate differences violence breaks out, this is not the fault of religion, but human nature.

Note to "J.M. Smith": the King James Version of the Bible was translated from the oldest manuscripts of each book of the Bible available (the originals have long been lost) and the same manuscripts that are used for modern translations of the Bible (NASB, NIV, ESV, etc). There is no conspiracy concerning Biblie translation. With a few exceptions that are noted in most Bibles, the first Bibles in Greek and Latin say the exact same things as our modern Bibles in English. Please do not talk about the origins of the Bible if you have neglected to study it.

Answer 4

Truthfully, not one among us knows as a complete and absolute fact that God actually exists--it is all speculation. We try to explain what we see. We see good and bad, and so we try to explain it.

Now, I like to think that we're been placed here as part of a test. I believe that God is observing us, but hiding so as not to affect His observations. He is letting us prove to Him our integrity and our virtues.

We all handle this test differently. Some say there is no God as justification to do bad, while others say that there is a God as a reason to do good. Still, most fall somewhere in the middle.

If God showed Himself, there would be no doubt. We would all know He existed, and I truly believe everyone would follow Him--if we knew for sure. Thus, He keeps the integrity of the test by keeping Himself hidden from us.

Therefore, I believe much of religion is within ourselves. A Jew, a Christian, and a Muslim might all find their respective religions for the same reason--because they yearn for the existence of God and want to do good.

Nowadays, many religions point in different directions. Still, I believe they all have at least some good to them, and for the right reason, I feel most anyone can benefit from most any religion. Still, for the wrong reasons, a Jew, a Christian or a Muslim can derive no good, possibly bad.

Many claim to be very religious, yet know not what their religion preaches. These are the hypocrites the Bible warns us about. When I meet them, I gently remind them of Romans 14:19: "Let us therefore make every effort to do what leads to peace and to mutual edification."

I cannot convince you, nor anyone else to believe--it is all I can do just to convince myself. This explanation made sense to me; to others, it is a challenging explanation that might even weaken their faith. To each his own. But I encourage you to find your answer.

Still, I stand by what I said in another answer: when we critically examine and try to explain religion, the atheist looks for contradictions and the believer looks for explanations.

Answer 5

The problem with some, not all religious people, is they are insecure. The only way they can feel secure is if everyone around them feels and thinks the way they do. When people are clear in their beliefs and secure they do not feel the need to convert everyone else to their point of view. Security breeds confidence and when a person is confident they don't need to make everyone else like themselves and they can welcome diversity and deal with differing opinions in a mature way. Instead of pointing a finger at someone who disagrees with them and screaming "you're going to burn in hell" secure religious people can be gracious and curious about someone else's beliefs without compromising their own opinions.

Unfortunately, there don't seem to be many secure religious people anymore. You're more likely to run into the "other" kind.

Answer 6

Muslims keeps saying the Bible was edited or corrupted with no evidence of it other than the one true God who Allah claims ot be is not in agreement with Allah...this is easily explained by the fact Muhammad did not know God.