I am directing this question at any atheist, but anyone may answer?

Question

Do you believe that the downfall of religion was by the nature of the bible or the way man handled Jesus’ teachings?
What I mean is that Jesus says confusing things, then closed minded people with biased opinions look to the bible for validation of their slanted beliefs.
Do you believe that if Christians had followed the teachings of Jesus correctly then this backward hatred would not exist (e.g. It is ok to hate you because you’re not a Christian)?
If anyone wants to say, “Jesus did not exist so it doesn’t matter” Go ahead, but regardless of his existence the religion does exist, so how people interpret the religion is key in how they will practice it.
Religion is used by people to control the minds of others, but the other side of the coin is that people use religion to validate murders(9/11, Waco) So I believe how people interpret, even a religion based on false claims can still have a very negative impact if done improperly.

kjelstad: I deleted the last question because it was extremly long. I shortened it and took out some things that offended the people that my question was directed at, but thanks for not answering my question!

Answer 1

The downfall of religion is its relentless focus on miracles, the impossible and overinflated egos (and I don't refer to Christ here, I do refer to Paul - the first televangelist). Life really is pretty simple - do good and don't hurt others. The rest is just details and if you focus on doing what some invisible sky daddy calls good or what your pastor calls good, you're just missing the big picture.

jmo.

Answer 2

The downfall of religion is the religion itself. What is there will be destroyed. This is a never changing change.

Jesus does not say confusing things, he just contradict himself, like a normal human being, that's all. Up to the level no rationalisation can be achieved without contradicting another phrase in the same book. Moreover, out of 34 gospel, only 4 are chosen and 30 were destroyed, all by men, why? Because the rest of 30 does not coincide very well?

If Christians bothers to mind their own business, probably not everyone will loathe certain christians' denomination.

The main thing about Christianity as a religion is not just the way they practice, it is the way it is written and interpreted. It leaves too many open ended questions for self interpretation and self prophecies.

I think 911 and Waco does shows the extent of religion's mind control capability. It move back to the crusader's period too.

Answer 3

Actually, as a non-Christian and as a non-believer in the Jewish creation myths, I don't think the "downfall" of Jesus' message has much to do with the churches that followed. There are loving Christians and there are hating Christians just as there are loving and hating people in all religions. You can't judge the message or the religion by what individuals (or even large groups) do. I have met Christians that I felt were very spiritual people and other Christians that I felt had no spirituality at all. The same goes for people I've met from my own religion-Buddhism. All one can do is just read the message of the religion and decide for yourself if it is right. It is very difficult to follow the peaceful and loving ways of the various religions because that calls for compassion and forgiveness and these are very difficult traits to cultivate. We need to work hard to cultivate these two traits.

Answer 4

Neither. Religion's downfall was cause by it being superceded by Science. The scientific method of thinking was a new way of thinking that was developed and matured during the Renaissance period. This new way of thinking relied on going out and looking at nature, examining the world, gathering data, making a hypothesis (guess) based on that examination and data and then testing the hypothesis for success or failure, as opposed to relying on our understanding of the world by reading an ancient text or being given the explanation by religious leaders and profets. This was the downfall of religion. Why do people still cling to religious belief over science? It is like a chicken which has just had its head chopped of a split second ago and doesn't yet know or understand what has happened. Religion has fallen. Science is the new religion. Its just a matter of time before everyone realizes this.

Answer 5

I'd like to agree with you for the most part on the christian religion, but the reality is that Jesus himself has said that the unbeliever that doesn't want to take him as their king should be brought before him and slaughtered. He also compared the non-Jew to dogs. This, if strictly adhered to, promotes murder and bigotry, not exactly things that build a peaceful society. Fortunately, most American christians do not support these scriptures.

I think that if certain passages were re-worked or eliminated then the christian religion could be a very useful tool to promote harmony and brotherhood, but as of now, it separates the world into believers and non-believers in a way that promotes judgemental attitudes towards one or the other.

As for other religions, I look to Buddhism as the ideal. I'm actually giving serious thought to converting, simply because I won't have to imagine anything answering my prayers and defend why my god does this or doesn't do that. I also wouldn't be at odds with science, since it has no pre-supposed beliefs about science. All the others are riddles with questions of proof of divinity, conflicts with history, science, and logic.

Answer 6

Jesus teachings are not that special. Spiritual leaders have espoused love thy neighbor before and since his life. It is the making of a religion and the silly punishment/reward system that was created around it that I have a problem with. Everybody is sooooo"well jesus said xxxxx,so he must be god. Love thy neighbor,help the sick,the poor....these are not Magnificent revelations by God,same thing with the commandments,dont kill,steal,bang your neighbors wife/husband.....DUH!!!!!I do none of those things. I do try to help others,even when it hurts,so,I have no problem following "the teachings of jesus"although I have utterly no belief in him as a god.But life taught me these same things. It is the abomination religion that destroys and hates that grew from those teachings that I hate.Why does plain ol' common sense and decency have to have a god?Really,it is almost scary when people say that "if there is no god,I might as well go out raping and murdering"that's paraphrased,but I'm sure everyone here has either heard or used that argument. It kind of creeps me out when they say that,like deep down that is what they really want to do. I don't need a teacher or a god to give me morals

Answer 7

You seem to think we have rejected Christianity. We have rejected the premise of a god, any god.

You make your own point about mind control. The acts you speak of were done in the name of religious doctrine. While you feel if people follow the teaching the way you think is correct, it is love and peace. There are so many ways to construe these "good books" anyone can feel justified if they think this is god's wish.
Socialism sounds good on paper, but it practice it is corrupt. Religion isn't much different.
So I reject the concept of god. Additionally religion has an inherent danger, is it ALWAYS corrupted, absolute power absolutely corrupts.

Answer 8

The only information we have about Jesus' teachings comes from the bible, a document written by other men. So it is pointless to try and make a distinction between Jesus' teachings and man's handling of them.

Answer 9

The downfall of religion has nothing to do with jesus teachings. It has to do with the church killing everyone they didn't like. Selling indulgences to the highest bidder to escape hell. Licensing brothels to the church. Opening brothels and calling them convents. Molesting children for centuries. Lieing right and left in the bible. None of this was jesus teachings. Jesus said love the lord and love your neighbor. The church has said everything else.

Answer 10

the sad of fact of the matter is that the major religious works really are violent, bloody, petty, and brutal books. the bible contains a number of examples of genocidal jealousy. the problem is that the extremists are right, god really does hate anyone who doesn't believe in him. many people believe that somehow jesus made the old testament irrelevant when in fact he urged people to follow all the law set down in the old testament. so actually the main problem is that the right interpretations of these books are incredibly violent and uncivilized.