Why do Athiests think religion's are slowing humanities progress down?

Question

regardless of the fact that we still "cling onto old habits and beliefs"... the idea behind religion is to make your life better by makin you an intrinsically good person who contributes back to society.

Last i checked religion only improved my life and those around me and i'm not the preaching type... i just try to be a good person and that has it's payoffs but i'm not a pushover either. I'm just sayin for me, personally, religion has made me into the morally and ethically driven man that i am, which has it's benefits.

I also dont' believe the world would be a better place without religion either, we contribute alot of good to society and not nessessarily the religious affiliations but the independant Christians as well in their own personal lives... so how can something that is soul purpose to be good be frownedupon and regarded as bad?

Answer 1

Look up, "Dark Ages".

Even today, religions, especially christianity and islam, are biggest stumbling blocks to human progress in terms of Education as well as Ethics.

For example,

Science v/s Christian Pseudoscience in USA

Islamic Laws v/s Human Rights, in Afghanistan.

Answer 2

Uh, because it is. Everything one takes 'on faith' is something that person will NEVER know the true cause of--if we all still thought blindness was a curse from God to sinners, we never would have REALLY learned what causes it. The same thing goes for the hundreds of other things that used to be arbitrarily attributed to deities. The moment you accept the non-explanation that is "God did it," you have immediately surrendered your ability and willingness to TRULY learn. It's true:

Where faith begins, progress ends.

"the idea behind religion is to make your life better by makin you an intrinsically good person who contributes back to society."

Well, it's doing a pretty shitty job of that; religious socities are typically LESS moral than secular ones (source).

"religion has made me into the morally and ethically driven man that i am"

This is actually quite distressing to read. I think Dawkins said it pretty well:

"Do you really mean to tell me the only reason you try to be good is to gain God's approval and reward, or to avoid his disapproval and punishment? That's not morality, that's just sucking up, apple-polishing, looking over your shoulder at the great surveillance camera in the sky, or the still small wiretap inside your head, monitoring your every move, even your every base thought." --Richard Dawkins

Religion doesn't make anyone a better person. If you're a good person with religion, you're a good person without religion. On the flip side, though, religious conviction can make good people do very bad things.

Religions contributes a lot more bad than good--at the HEART of almost every religion (and practically every theistic one) is the divisive mentality of "us vs. them"--you put yourselves above those of other religions or those without religion. YOU are the chosen, YOU are the redeemed, YOU are the saved, etc. This kind of attitude does nothing but TEAR THIS WORLD APART--and more people kill in the name of a deity than for any other reason on this planet. That is an inescapable, and inexcusable, fact.

You say that it's all good and everything at its foundation, but history tells a very different story. As Voltaire said, "If Christians want us to believe in a Redeemer, let them act redeemed."

Answer 3

There is a very strong human tendency to hold the attitude of "if you're not with me, you're against me".

Most people do not take the time to contemplate an issue that looks like it can only exist as a contradiction through to the point where both sides can be seen equally, and contradiction no longer exists. If they did, think how much tolerance and appreciation there would be, rather than division and strife.

So, followers of structured religions tend to be in-nies and frown on the out-ties (or blow them up or kill them or....)

Being a good person has happened because you personally have made decisions to act in that way. Your religion cannot make you do anything.

The frown from atheists comes from the insistence from fanatics to join or burn, that there is no other valid option, that sort of thing.

And unfortunately, religions soul purpose is not always to do good. I am happy for you that that is your experience. Others have not, and I would say that just off the top of my head, the fanatics in the middle east who are dedicated to killing their opposers are in the same boat as the crusaders in the middle ages- I cannot subscribe to the stand that the ends justify the means for any religious act of violence. Killing in the name of any god/God is killing none the less, and I don't believe anyone does have THE answer.

Therefore, Buddhist........

Answer 4

look into the amount of science that religion has tried to stop through the ages.

first the earth was flat. and was the center of the universe.

then there were no other planets.

people were killed for having any ideas that were not bible supported.

now stem cell research is being held back because some religious people have a problem with it.

and the facts of evolution are marred by the Christian assumption that when we talk about evolution in 2007 that we are still talking about Darwinian theory of ape to man. when we are usually talking about biological or species evolution with a common ancestor of ape and man being a possible explanation as to where we came from. and this science suffers each day that they try to take it from schools and put in it's place "an invisible man in the sky made everything"

that is why people believe that religion is holding man back.

and i am an Ordained minister.

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oh Pops, there are stem cells in the placenta that are just as uesful as the embryonic cells of the fetus. but due to Christian involvment in our government we cannot even use the afterbirth. something that will be thrown away, but could hold the cure to many diseases. and be used to grow new organs for people that neet them.

Answer 5

That theory doesn't work. Studies find that Christians commit more crimes than atheists . They believe that they're being compelled by 'Satan' to commit crime.

Sorry, but an intelligent person should be able to distinguish between what's right and wrong without having to read a 2000 year old book.

From my personal experience, Christianity makes your life horrible. It gives you a completely skewed view of morals. For example: homosexuality is NOT a choice, but Christians condemn homosexuality anyways. There's absolutely NOTHING wrong with sex, but you can't have premarital sex as a Christian, even though Marriage is a man-made concept. There are so many things wrong with the Christian moral code. Life is a lot less complicated when you don't think you're going to hell after every thing you do.

Answer 6

Look at how far astronomy was set back by the Church's persecution of Galileo and others who suggested the possibility that the Earth is not fixed in the heavens, as the Bible says, but that it may actually move around the sun. Consider how many brilliant minds have been wasted because Christians and followers of other religions persecuted and supressed people because they were different, being gay, or black, or female. Just look at the Biblical Creation (euphemised as "intelligent design") debacle and the efforts of modern fundamentalists to have its primative mythology taught in our schools instead of real science.

Religion does have an important place in, and potentially positive influence on, society and the human experience. It is unfortunate that so many use the powerful force of faith and religion to attempt to establish their own self-importance and power, and to persecute others, as is being done today by the Taliban as well as many (not all) fundamentalist Christians.

Answer 7

It is very good that it is helping you be a positive person. We may have questions as to why you need religion to be good, but we would all agree that a positive outcome is a benefit for everyone.

The reason religion is slowing huamnities progress is because religion is intrinsically AGAINST change. For religion to be successful it CAN NOT CHANGE. Therefore any new information or discoveries about nature and the universe that are a threat to religious dogma are attacked and oppressed.

Christian history is full of such examples. See material on the Dark Ages and Inquisition.

Answer 8

So basically what you are saying is that without religion, you would not be a morally and ethically driven man? Does that mean if tomorrow it was proven conclusively that no god/s exist you would suddenly cease to follow any moral or ethical code? You see I think religion slows down humanities progress in many ways and one of them is clearly evident in your question. Religion gives people the idea, not matter how unrealized that without their religious beliefs and practices they would not be the same moral/ethical "good" person. That creates bigotry... just read some of the things religion has to say about science, evolution, atheists, agnostics etc.. It all stems from this percieved threat to all that is "good" and comes only from "god/s". The main reason religion causes strife is because each religion believes that it is their beliefs which make them "good" and others who dont believe or believe differently must not be good because they dont have this influence of their "god" to make them moral/ethical people. Think about it.. witches, philosophers, scientists, etc have all been persecuted by religion simply because the people believed that only their religion, their god, their beliefs made them good, and that if anyone believed different they must inherently be bad. Only because from their point of view they were only good moral ethical people BECAUSE of their religion. That holds humanity back more than anything.. when you say "personally, religion has made me into the morally and ethically driven man that i am," whether you know it or not, you have just stated that unconciously you think that people can only be morally and ethically driven if they are religious, and specifically part of your religion. That is one of MANY reasons I believe religion is holding back humanities, moral, and ethical progress. One other point I will touch upon is narrowmindedness.. I believe based on observation and experience with religious people and groups that the belief "God did it" makes people narrowminded, supresses curiosity, and creates a culture of ignorance. When people believe they already know the explanation and cause of everything can be attributed to their deity, they lose the healthy questioning curiosity we all have and it slows down, tries to prevent or fights any kind of progress that conflicts with the established universal answer for everything. This causes wars, hatred, bigotry, ignorance and violence. If religion ruled the world we would not have the knowledge we do today in so many fields of science. Still religion tries to fight knowledge and curiosity, and evolution of ideas within humanity... we would move forward much faster without all the narrowmindedness that religion contributes to this world.

There is only one good, knowledge, and one evil, ignorance. Socrates

Religion is a source of ignorance and to me that is the only evil in the world. Religion supresses knowledge and supports ignorance and that my friend makes the world all the worse for it. You see it is knowledge that makes us who we are, gives us morals, makes us ethical.. the more you know, the more you understand, the more you understand the more compassion you have. Only the ignorant are prone to cause strife because they refuse to admit they dont know and try to seek knowledge... Instead they lash out with violence against the unknown instead of using their curiosity to illuminate the unknown and turn it into knowledge.

Answer 9

But think about how much money goes into building churches and financing missionaries. We’re talking billions and billions of dollars a year. Think about where we could be if we put that money into science or perhaps into feeding the poor (and don’t say that the churches give all the money to charity because I’m not talking about money that goes towards charities – I’m just talking about the $ that goes to missions and building churches). Also, science certainly never caused a war like religion has.

Answer 10

Religion in general and Christianity in particular has always been on the wrong side when it comes to both scientific progress and human rights. Read some history regarding the church... start with the Salem witch trials.