Is religion such a good idea for people?

Question

I believe religion is a good idea but behind every good idea is a bad representation of it. Now a days I see people preach the ideas of religion even practice that religion according to custom but when the day is over they it seems like they hang their coat and call it a day. It almost seems like its a job being in a religion rather then having religion as a way to betterment of oneself. Most people in my opinion have a religion but lost the faith in believing what they preach. In many cases they would uses religion as an excuse to create conflict amongst society. I believe we have lost the idea of what religion is and now we're only trying to preach about our own religion only in the sense of trying to dominate other religion and not for the idea of helping one's fellow men and women. I'm sure there are exceptions but majority has lost their ways on their path of faith. Agree or disagree?

Some of you are correct that I might have no idea what religion is. But I also believe everyone should have their own idea of what religion is about. I believe religion is there to help guide our lives w/o doing harm to others and to promote self knowledge of the world around us. I don't believe religion is about workshipping a higher being rather it should be following what is being preached. All the stories and the guide lines promoting being good people should take precedence over wokrshipping an entity. But the real question was irregardless of which they prefer in religion do people believe in what they practice anymore or rather it has become a "job" to them, or has it become only an image people carried around because it is widely accepted by the populance?

Answer 1

Religion does more harm than good.

First, it is based on a false belief. It is, at best, an organized superstition. There are no gods.

Second, it is very divisive. Not only do they fight people of other beliefs, but they split among themselves and fight with each other, all over a mythical being.

Religion causes people to be morally lazy and intellectually apathetic. It spoon-feeds people lists of rules, so they don't have to think, for themselves, why something is right or wrong. And its rules are impossible to follow for anybody who happens to be human. But religion feeds off of the guilt it can generate from such dictates.

Religion nearly always makes a bad situation worse. If you look throughout history, there's not many wars that religion hasn't made worse. It also causes people to accept repressive laws and idiotic taboos without thinking. It actually discourages people from thinking about anything that might contradict its tenets. It makes people incurious about the world, filling in any gaps in our knowledge with the pat answer of "God did it".

Answer 2

Yes and No.

Religion, its self was created to help straighten people. To help them to become better people, much like a diet. You have a diet, to have a healthy life, but a diet is only part of a healthy lifestyle. Religion is only part of a healthy relationship with God. There are things like Faith, Prayer..and Growth.
So religion is good to an extent, but then again remember, so is a diet, but even people take diets too far. Its the same religion. When people only go as far as to fallow the religion to look good, or they just think that its what they're supposed to do, it can go horribly wrong, and in most cases that's what happens, people become obsessive with the religion its self....People become so focused on doing what the religion says and the grantees that come with fallowing through, they forget about the rest of everything, heck sometimes they even forget what they're doing this all for, it becomes something else. See religion is good, when you fallow it, and keep it as a guide, and as a path marker, but when you start to use it as the path then its bad....for anyone

So religion is a good idea, but just like a diet, if you abuse it, it becomes like anorexia, It starves you, controls you, and can kill your faith.

Always
AOJ

Answer 3

I agree - I think that religion, like all other things in life has two sides two it: good as well as bad. As long as it encourages one to live a better, more moral and meaningful life religion is good. Also, faith in a higher being can help one get through the hard breaks in life, which is another plus. Further, it encourages things such as charity which help society as a whole. The bad side of religion is that it creates divide within a group of people. It becomes an affilitiation which sets people apart form one another and creates conflict. In some cases it causes people to believe that they or their way of life is better than that of others. In the bigger picture of things I don't think religion is either good or bad - it is a choice...it may be good for you but not for me, it is the way one lives which matters the most anyways.

Answer 4

You make very interesting points, and I do agree that most people are only practicing their supposed beliefs out of tradition, rather than true faith.

You sound as you don't quite get the idea of "religion" either though. You make it seem as if religion was something people made up in order to set a moral standard and provide a way to better themselves.

Yes, of course religion does that, but that's not its purpose. "Religion" is about figuring what the truth is behind the spiritual aspect of existence, just as science is about figuring out the truth behind the physical aspect.

As a Christian, I believe that basically that spiritual truth is that God is all-powerful, that he created everything, and that for some reason He likes us enough to make a way for us to get into heaven. I don't believe that because its my "religion", I believe it because that's what I've discovered is the truth.

Answer 5

I believe religion is a great idea. You have pointed out some ways in which it is misused. People who put aside their beliefs at the end of the day are not sincere. People who use their religions to dominate others are not good.

First remain true to that conscience within you that has led you this far.

Seek truth wherever you find it. Most religions have a great deal of truth in them that help their adherents be happy and live together.

Ask God for guidance.

Answer 6

No, it isn't.

Read this paper 'Cross-National Correlations of Quantifiable Societal Health with Popular Religiosity and Secularism in the Prosperous Democracies' for a look at the damage religion causes to society.

http://moses.creighton.edu/JRS/2005/2005-11.html

Answer 7

AMEN! I totally agree, we are simply wasting our time by telling a non-believer that our faith is better, I usually leave it up to the person whether they think my faith is a "good" one...I simply ask to come to my church, if you like what you see then good, if you don't then good, I try not to put pressure on people that are non-believers...I'm sure I've said this before...I think that it's a great idea but due to humans and thinking that their perspective is the right way and the only way then...this will continue to happen...

Answer 8

I believe that some of the spiritual ideas behind religion are good to have. They give people hope. Hope is a good thing, maybe even the best thing. Organized religion however - is very very scary any way you slice it.

Answer 9

Alot of people thought Socialism was a good idea. In practice it works about as well as religion. They are both institutions that are ripe for corruption. History tells us this is always the case.

Answer 10

You make a really good point. And i do agree that most ppl in positions of spiritual authority should not be there. But that doesn't mean that the religion there representing is wrong also. You just have to find out for yourself what works for you. I'm a christian, but i'm not gonna sit here and say you have to be too or your going to hell. You would't listen to me is i did. But please dont judge a religion on its representatives. Becuase ppl are not perfect. Just try and experiacne it for yourself.