Are religions at fault?

Question

I see a lot of statements blaming religion for causing harm in the world. Yet there have been non-relgious movements that have killed plenty of people, they are just not as common because religious beliefs have been dominate in society throughout history.

Isn't the religion just a tool? Guns don't kill people, people kill others with guns - isn't it the same with any belief system? Isn't it true that they act as the justification, not the cause?

Answer 1

i agree with you it is the perverse way people use religion at times not the religion itself that is the problem. guns can only kill if people have hold of them and put a bullet in the chamber

Answer 2

I agree that religion is a personal tool, and that is the reason why we have religions. People want symbolism, ceremony, a philosophy, and answers to why things are the way they are.

I think the problem comes when religion is used as a public CAUSE. Though I still agree with you that the same thing can happen with other ideologies besides religions.

(But then again, what do I know? You said on another thread that my religion makes no sense to you, and obviously you haven't researched it in the slightest.)

Answer 3

Yes, anything (a religion, a political philosophy, a mass deception) can be used to rile up a large group of people and make them do unspeakable things.

Religion did it during the Crusades, the Catholic v. Protestant wars in Europe, and in the Middle East right up to today.

The political philosophies of communism and fascism did it in the 20th century.

The way BushCo deceived most of the U.S. has been doing it in the 21st century.

It doesn't only have to be a religion.

Answer 4

Religion is the tool, that should be contributing to a better world, if it is not doing a good job at this, and is not improving on its spiritual ideas in order to be more effective, then it must be held accountable to some degree for being less effectual. Everyone and everything in this world can and should be made better.

Answer 5

I completely agree with you. In fact, most wars are caused by people FAILING to live up to a particular moral code in their religion (do not kill, love one another, etc.).

Also, lets not forget that millions upon millions of people were killed in the name of atheistic regimes and still are today!

As I am a christian, I find such unspeakable acts of man's inhumanity to fellow man, further evidence of original sin or humanitys fallen nature.

Each of us need to reform ourselves from the inside out.

Answer 6

I think the people who don't believe will use anything to back up their opinions. People who oppose anything will dig for anything to justify it.

Religion didnt cause anything- Greed causes everything. Including some religions.

The harshest of religions (that cause war) are started by someone trying to force people to believe in their faith -out of fear. Why would any one care if they dont believe? Ego, greed. That causes war.

In turn - you have innocents fighting for what they think is right, but any religion that tells you to kill, for any reason... has to be wrong.

Answer 7

Yes, I agree with you. Religion is an excuse for people to do things they would have still most likely wanted to do anyway.

Answer 8

People generally think that religion fosters love. But if so, why are religious differences the underlying cause of tension in Northern Ireland, the Middle East, and India, to mention only three examples? Of course, some people contend that political, not religious, differences are to blame for the disturbances. That is a debatable point. At any rate, it is obvious that organized religion has failed to instill in people a love strong enough to overcome political and ethnic biases. Many Catholic and Orthodox believers, and those of other faiths, in effect, condone prejudice, which leads to violence.

There is nothing wrong with trying to refute the teachings and practices of a religious group that a person may feel is incorrect. But does this give him the right to use violence in fighting it or its members? The Encyclopedia of Religion candidly admits: “Religious leaders have called for violent attacks of other religious groups repeatedly in Near Eastern and European history.”

This encyclopedia reveals that violence is an integral part of religion, by saying: “Darwinists are not alone in accepting conflict as necessary for both social and psychological growth processes. Religion has served as an endless source for conflict, for violence, and, thus, for growth.”

Violence cannot be justified on the basis that it is necessary for growth, for this would go contrary to a well-known principle laid down by Jesus Christ when the apostle Peter tried to protect him. Peter “reached out his hand and drew his sword and struck the slave of the high priest and took off his ear. Then Jesus said to him: ‘Return your sword to its place, for all those who take the sword will perish by the sword.’”—Matthew 26:51, 52; John 18:10, 11.

Violence directed against individuals—whether they are good or bad—is not the way of love. Thus, people who resort to violence belie their claim to be acting in imitation of a loving God. Author Amos Oz recently noted: “It is typical of religious fanatics . . . that the ‘orders’ they get from God are always, essentially, one order: Thou shalt kill. The god of all fanatics sounds more like the devil.”

The Bible says something quite similar: “The children of God and the children of the Devil are evident by this fact: Everyone who does not carry on righteousness does not originate with God, neither does he who does not love his brother. Everyone who hates his brother is a manslayer, and you know that no manslayer has everlasting life remaining in him. If anyone makes the statement: ‘I love God,’ and yet is hating his brother, he is a liar. For he who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, cannot be loving God, whom he has not seen. And this commandment we have from him, that the one who loves God should be loving his brother also.”—1 John 3:10, 15; 4:20, 21.

True religion must follow a pattern of love, which includes showing love even to enemies. Of Jehovah we read: “He makes his sun rise upon wicked people and good and makes it rain upon righteous people and unrighteous.” (Matthew 5:44, 45; see also 1 John 4:7-10.) How unlike Satan, the god of hate! He lures and seduces people into living lives of debauchery, crime, and selfishness, thereby filling their lives with pain and misery. All the while he knows full well that this perverted life-style will eventually lead to their destruction. Is that the kind of god worth serving, one who is unable—evidently even unwilling—to protect his own?
The bible states at 1 John 5:19 "We know we originate with God, but the whole world is lying in the [power of the] wicked one"

Answer 9

Yep, that's pretty much what I said in my last answer, that I'm not willing to type all over again.

Answer 10

I agree. 110%