Is religion the answer to our most serious problems, or is it the cause ?

Question

HGHOSTIN:---Which god?---There are many.

JB:---Do you really believe we should sit back and wait for God to protect the innocent, and cure the diseases?
He doesn't seem to have done much about these problems.

SPIRITWA:---You make a good argument for teaching morality and ethics in our schools, but these things exist apart from religion.---Many atheists have strong moral values.

SNIPER:----Tolerence for those who are different, is being taught in our schools and on T.V.----Much of our political correctness comes from the media, and not just from religion.
Many people who used to get their moral teaching from the Bible have turned away from this book because of the many contradictions in it, and the advances in scientific knowledge.

I'm not sure that Islam and Christianity can be salvaged as good teachers of morality now that so many mitakes have been made by first describing God as a cruel and merciless tyrant, and then trying to change his image to loving and merciful in the New Testament. ---Many people have seen this as a cop out that was designed to recapture believers.
There is no reason that the media can't fulfill the role of moral teacher.

Many theists seem to be oozing over with an almost romantic expression of "love" for their god, yet they have little more than haughty contempt for their fellow man, and they blame man or the devil for everything.
It has become difficult to retain respect for people who seem to be sucking up to their god , and one wonders if any god would be duped by that behavior.----Instead of recruiting believers, they seem to be driving them away by coming across as spiritual oportunists.

PEACENEG:---If we have a god who stands by and does nothing about the problems you mention; ---how can you insist that religion has nothing to do with it?----If these believers would join the rest of us, instead of waiting for their god to do everything, we would have a better chance of solving these problems.
If these fundies stopped "loving" some invisible entity, and extended some of that "love" to humanity, just think of what we might accomplish.
If not for religion, there would be no 9/11, Iraq war ,or Taliban.
If Muslims stopped praying 5 times a day, they might focus their attention on taking democratic control of their government to solve their economic problems.

Even overpopulation is caused mainly by religions that insist on people having more children than they can feed.

Answer 1

I see religion as neither the answer nor the cause.

I do feel that man's indulgence in fundamentalism is the most dangerous of our pathetic indulgences.

The power behind fundamentalism is ignorance and we cannot afford to underestimate it. It has a terrible power.

Answer 2

I want to take a shot at your question. Some of our most serious problems (opinion) are 1) the Iraq War, 2) Worldwide terrorism, 3) Global warming, 4) Human suffering, not mentioned or included in the above. Hunger, poverty, and sickness.

Not many Americans really know the inners of the Iraq War, because of our government, Executive branch and Congress.

Saddam did not kill the millions that we said he did. He is not an evil ogre or dictator and his government did not have WMD, nor did not violate UN resolutions.

1) The Bush administration is directly responsible for Iraq and all of the killings now going on in Iraq. 2) Because of the Iraq War, we have terrorism and/or terrorism has dramatically increased under President Bush. This has nothing to do with religious motivations. 3) There's not much we can do about global warming, yet nations can get together and try to agree on common solutions. Religion, as the question is being defined, has nothing to do with the solution of global warming.
4) Human suffering can be partially solved in our nation's life span if only people tried (to working together on common solutions.

Max

FIRST EDIT:
1. If, perhaps, people had more integrity, many of the problems that we people have could be solved.
2. One of the goals of religion is to make a better society and to allow people the freedom of choice. If man's principles and inward nature were to change, then at that point I would say that religion had helped to shape and properly manage a better nation.
.

Answer 3

People are the cause of all the serious problems, not religion. It is the failure of people to think for themselves and to develop their own moral center that causes all the “serious problems”.

Religions are only man made ideas passed down. Ideas alone cannot harm. If you like your religion when it says, love your fellow man…. but are not sure about your religion when it says, kill those of other religions. Guess what? You have a choice which ideas to take to heart.

To follow any religion blindly is worse than having no religion at all. I am a Christian, but I would prefer to sit next to an atheist that is kind because he wants to be, then sit next to another Christian that is nice because a book told him he should be. The bible or any other religious tool is just that, a tool. Tools can be used any way we choose for good or evil and it is us who make those choices.

People who do horrible things in the name of religion are just horrible people with a mask.

Answer 4

We are better off with religion than without it. But Religion needs to improve just like everything else. The world could be so much better off, if our religions would be searching for the truth, like science is always doing. In primitive times, when people knew so little, and had little technology, religion was important to help people cope, with so much that was outside of their control, or unable to be understood. They needed a fantasy like afterlife, to keep them going. Religion was the answer to almost everything, and had great power. Science with technology came later, and after many tough battles with church authorities, finally won out to have its place in this world. The church is still quite authoritarian, and stuck in the primitive past, where its ideas and writings come from. They could do so much better with newer, fresher, and clearer spiritual ideas. With the best spiritual ideas available, along with good training techniques, our religions could help focus people spiritually, to take on these problems, and make a difference in this world. A lot of causes in the past, were affected greatly in a positive way by religious groups.

Answer 5

Before you think I'm being judgemental, hear me out. This won't end well. I'm a devout Christian and dated two non-Christian girls. Both ended horribly because of the different belief systems. He's right, he won't change. And lets say you guys end up getting married, would you want to get in fights over belief systems all the time and make yourself miserable? If you were to marry him and have a family with him, then your kids will more likely follow in his footsteps and go against God. Save yourself the time and heart ache. Cut it off before you get seriously hurt. I spent a year and a half dating a girl who wasn't a Christian. It started off good. She helped me with my uncle's suicide and was very supportive. But later we started fighting all the time because she didn't have the same foundation as me and had worldly views. I now have learned from my mistakes and won't make that mistake again. Please date only Christians, it'll make your life and your family's life so much easier. It's easy for the devil to entice us into dating non Christians. I know. I've dated two non Christians already. But it's your choice. Pray and ask Christ for help. Maybe God is trying to tell you that the relationship isn't good for you.....

Answer 6

I think we need to get straight what exactly you mean by religion. Religion is a person's struggle to make themselves good enough for God. This doesn't help matters at all, because we can never be good enough for God. A lot of problems would be solved if people realised that they can't solve their problems by themselves but that they need the power of Jesus. Believing that is having faith!

Answer 7

Religion is never the answer. At best it will only make you feel better temporarily. Believing in something without any eveidence won't fix any problems.

In my opinion it's closer to being the cause of problems, as evil people use religion as an excuse for their acts. Religion is not a factor in the acts of good people, even the religious ones.

Answer 8

If you mean in a *generic* sense, then, no. Religion is often *used* to garner support by those who intend to "cause problems", but religion is rarely the cause itself.

For example, WW II was not started because of religion - it was started because the certain leaders wanted greater power.

The Iraqi War was not caused by religion. It was caused (primarily) by Saddam's use of weapons of mass destruction against (Muslim) opponents to his regime, and his subsequent refusal to document the destruction of those same weapons.

The list goes on and on. *Very* few wars are started for religious reasons. They *often* gain support by (mis)using religion, but rarely is religion the actual driving (instigating) force behind the military action.

Of course, our other serious problems - global warming (if you believe that it is a problem), world hunger, disease, poverty - these are the *real* serious problems - are far more often assuaged by religion than caused by it. As one answer stated, overpopulation is far more responsible for the "most serious problems" than religion.

Jim, http://www.life-after-harry-potter.com

Answer 9

The part of religion that teaches us to love one another, respect one another, be tolerant and forgiving of one another, to help each other when we are down. Those things are good for society. Those parts that cause us to kill one another, hate each other, and cause us not to have any tolerance towards someone else a little different that we are, well, those things are causing a lot of trouble.

Answer 10

It can help, it is the idiots who have tried to STOP religion that has caused the problems. When we had prayer in school, work, and every where else, we didn't have the violence we have now. People knew what love, honesty and helping others meant.
You don't have that today.