Religion - Pros & Cons Options

[darkphyre]

What Atheists think about religion

Atheist Criticisms of Religion

Not all atheists are hostile to religion, but many do think that religion is bad. Here are some of their reasons...

• Religion gets people to believe something untrue.
  
• Religion makes people base the way they run their lives on a falsehood.
  
• Religion stops people thinking in a rational and objective way.
  
• Religion forces people to rely on outside authority, rather than becoming self-reliant.
  
• Religion imposes irrational rules of good and bad behaviour.
  
• Religion divides people, and is a cause of conflict and war.
  
• The hierarchical structure of most religions is anti-democratic, and thus offends basic human rights.
  
• Religion doesn't give equal treatment to women and gay people, and thus offends basic human rights.
  
• Religion obstructs scientific research.
  
• Religion wastes time and money.

Religion has good bits to it.

Most atheists willingly concede there are some good things about religion, such as:

• Religious art and music
  
• Religious charities and good works
  
• Much religious wisdom and scripture
  
• Human fellowship and togetherness

I agree with just about everything on this list. What do you think?

[Mini]

okay, no one knows if anything we say about religion is true until we die.

i really believe religion is just something to erase the fear of death. if you look at most religions, they always state what happens when you die. either you go to heaven or hell, get reincarnated into something based on whether you have been good or bad in your previous life, etc.

i think religion is good, it motivates people to become better human beings. it gives comfort, hope, joy, peace, assurance. religion can be a powerful thing.

also, there isnt just one religion, there's many. i just hate the fact how people take things into their own hands and try to convert people. i wish people would respect each other and just let people follow whatever they want. people are corrupting most religions. i think religions are fine, yet people turn it into something corrupted and tainted.

i think people bash Christians because of the Bible. the Bible again speaks metaphorically, there is no exact translation on it. people are bashing Christianity because of certain things the Bible says that are considered very biased to other people. yet some dont know how the Bible has been updated for the "new church". also there's also bad reputation with Christians, about the crusades and what not. how Christians are killling people if they dont convert in the name of God. i think that's very very stereotypical, i hate when people are blaming other people because of what others in the past did.

the only thing i hate is when some Christians follow the EXACT words of the Bible and tell everyone else to follow it and that Christianity is the only true religion. as i said, people create the negative things in a religion.

im Buddhist, but i respect other religions ALOT. heck I even believe there is God, Satan, Hell, Heaven, Buddha, and what not. its funny because i grew up to believe that everything happened historically. did you know that Buddha could be also a messenger of God? even though Buddha is just a person, he rose up to the chaos in Asia and tried to spread peace throughout the land. Buddha also taught about how to live a pure life without sins. when you live a life without sins (pleasures, evil, food, clothes, etc.) then you will reach Nirvana (a state of being where you are pure in the eyes of God, if you reach Nirvana, you can go and live in what is called "heaven") if you havent reached Nirvana, you get reincarnated into something based on your previous life. For example, if you were bad your previous life, you might get reincarnated into a person with hardships or not even a person at all. If you have been really bad like going against the essentials DO NOTS, then you would be sent to what is called "hell" or the underworld where you are literally tortured for all the different sins you have done. there are different planes of "hell" like the the ones in Daunte's Inferno. Heck, i think most religions are VERY VERY similiar. most believe in a universal being (God) and living a good life. religions also state punishments for the wrongs that people have commited in their mortal lives.

but there is some doubts in my mind about certain things in all religions, like about the Bible. if only God made the Bible and it is all holy. then i would believe everything in the Bible, right now i have my doubts because the Bible has so many versions that you dont know what is true and false anymore.