Religion, Good or Bad?

[Gaelic Celtia]

Ugh. Here comes the people that say "religion has killed so many people", when atheism, (U.S.S.R.,PRC,Pol pot,) has killed just as many.

Those people did not kill because of their beleifs (or lack there of)

Any way it can be good or bad, but no it is not inherently bad. Just a few people wrongly use it it do bad things in its name.

[Personal Freedom]

Religions usually don't. There's not much in the bible promoting violence. There's violence in the bible, yes, but there is nothing that says "also burn all the heathens". Part of being Christian is believing that people will convert themselves, given time. Just as one can't point to most communist countries and use it as an example of communism run amuck (or so communists always insist) you cannot point to medieval Christian rulers and say they represent what the religion really believes.

Religions evolve, whether or not the bible specifically says "burn the witches" or even mentions witches, is entirely debatable. But that is what people seemed to have picked up from it, and that was what was enforced, therefore for many centuries that was Christendom, not just some backwards representation of what it's supposed to be.

Religion Evolves, Religious Disunity = Unity

[Seshephe]

I'm not educated very well in the two examples you provided. I don't think any religion should promote violent behavior. Period.

Religions usually don't. There's not much in the bible promoting violence. There's violence in the bible, yes, but there is nothing that says "also burn all the heathens". Part of being Christian is believing that people will convert themselves, given time. Just as one can't point to most communist countries and use it as an example of communism run amuck (or so communists always insist) you cannot point to medieval Christian rulers and say they represent what the religion really believes.

And while the children of Israel were in the wilderness, they found a man that gathered sticks upon the sabbath day ... And the LORD said unto Moses, The man shall be surely put to death: all the congregation shall stone him with stones.--Num.15:32-36

After God has sufficiently hardened the Pharaoh's heart, he kills all the firstborn Egyptian children. When he was finished "there was not a house where there was not one dead." Finally, he runs out of little babies to kill, so he slaughters the firstborn cattle, too. 12:29

Joshua, with God's approval, kills the Amalekites "with the edge of the sword." 17:13

"Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live." Thousands of innocent women have suffered excruciating deaths because of this verse. 22:18

Do not allow others to worship a different god. Conquer them and destroy their religious property. 23:24

Should I go on?

[Conkerials]

Religions evolve, whether or not the bible specifically says "burn the witches" or even mentions witches, is entirely debatable. But that is what people seemed to have picked up from it, and that was what was enforced, therefore for many centuries that was Christendom, not just some backwards representation of what it's supposed to be.

Religion Evolves, Religious Disunity=Unity

Broken link?

[Personal Freedom]

Ugh. Here comes the people that say "religion has killed so many people", when atheism, (U.S.S.R.,PRC,Pol pot,) has killed just as many.

Those people did not kill because of their beleifs (or lack there of)

Any way it can be good or bad, but no it is not inherently bad. Just a few people wrongly use it it do bad things in its name.

They killed religious people for being religious. Blood is all around. Until everyone learns religion and nonreligion is equal, religion is a wall of isolation.

[Seshephe]

Religion Evolves, Religious Disunity=Unity

Broken link?

I can read it...

[Personal Freedom]

Broken link?

I can read it...

I fixed it.

[Conkerials]

Broken link?

I can read it...

I get a page of wikipedia that-.... I see a did you mean that looks right.

[Conkerials]

I can read it...

I fixed it.

It sounds like something I read about the Freemasons, where they all worship the same God, but some people just know him by different names.
.... Found it

Now imagine me standing in lodge with my head bowed in prayer between Brother Mohammed Bokhary and Brother Arjun Melwani. To neither of them is the Great Architect of the Universe perceived as the Holy Trinity. To Brother Bokhary He has been revealed as Allah; to Brother Melwani He is probably perceived as Vishnu. Since I believe that there is only one God, I am confronted with three possibilities:

They are praying to the devil whilst I am praying to God;
They are praying to nothing, as their Gods do not exist;
They are praying to the same God as I, yet their understanding of His nature is partly incomplete (as indeed is mine — 1 Cor 13:12)

It is without hesitation that I accept the third possibility..

[4years]

You mean besides the entire Old Testament and the majority of the New Testament?

Did you even read my post?

Have you even read the bible?

The whole thing is basically kill this or that group. Takes these for example: "If a man still prophesies, his parents, father and mother, shall say to him, "You shall not live, because you have spoken a lie in the name of the Lord." When he prophesies, his parents, father and mother, shall thrust him through." (Zechariah 13:3 NAB), "You should not let a sorceress live." (Exodus 22:17 NAB), and "If your own full brother, or your son or daughter, or your beloved wife, or you intimate friend, entices you secretly to serve other gods, whom you and your fathers have not known, gods of any other nations, near at hand or far away, from one end of the earth to the other: do not yield to him or listen to him, nor look with pity upon him, to spare or shield him, but kill him." (Deuteronomy 13:7-12 NAB). Not exactly "burn the heathen", but close enough. And remember you have kill according to the bible, "Cursed be he who does the Lords work remissly, cursed he who holds back his sword from blood." (Jeremiah 48:10 NAB)

[Personal Freedom]

I fixed it.

It sounds like something I read about the Freemasons, where they all worship the same God, but some people just know him by different names.
.... Found it

Now imagine me standing in lodge with my head bowed in prayer between Brother Mohammed Bokhary and Brother Arjun Melwani. To neither of them is the Great Architect of the Universe perceived as the Holy Trinity. To Brother Bokhary He has been revealed as Allah; to Brother Melwani He is probably perceived as Vishnu. Since I believe that there is only one God, I am confronted with three possibilities:

They are praying to the devil whilst I am praying to God;
They are praying to nothing, as their Gods do not exist;
They are praying to the same God as I, yet their understanding of His nature is partly incomplete (as indeed is mine — 1 Cor 13:12)

It is without hesitation that I accept the third possibility..

i did not realize the Universalist belief was shared in Free Masonry.

[Bezombia]

Bad. Very bad.
It's one of the great destroyers of life, after all.

[Gaelic Celtia]

Those people did not kill because of their beleifs (or lack there of)

Any way it can be good or bad, but no it is not inherently bad. Just a few people wrongly use it it do bad things in its name.

They killed religious people for being religious. Blood is all around. Until everyone learns religion and nonreligion is equal, religion is a wall of isolation.

That was not their main goal. The Reformation, crusades, largely the 30yrs war, and the st bartholomews day maasacre however, all occurred in the name of a religion.

Though yes, I agree with the last statement in part

[Personal Freedom]

Bad. Very bad.
It's one of the great destroyers of life, after all.

So is atheism attacking spiritualists and shamanism.

[The Fraticelli Papacy]

Did you even read my post?

Have you even read the bible?

The whole thing is basically kill this or that group. Takes these for example: "If a man still prophesies, his parents, father and mother, shall say to him, "You shall not live, because you have spoken a lie in the name of the Lord." When he prophesies, his parents, father and mother, shall thrust him through." (Zechariah 13:3 NAB), "You should not let a sorceress live." (Exodus 22:17 NAB), and "If your own full brother, or your son or daughter, or your beloved wife, or you intimate friend, entices you secretly to serve other gods, whom you and your fathers have not known, gods of any other nations, near at hand or far away, from one end of the earth to the other: do not yield to him or listen to him, nor look with pity upon him, to spare or shield him, but kill him." (Deuteronomy 13:7-12 NAB). Not exactly "burn the heathen", but close enough. And remember you have kill according to the bible, "Cursed be he who does the Lords work remissly, cursed he who holds back his sword from blood." (Jeremiah 48:10 NAB)

All of those are from the old testament, first of all, which is mostly irrelevant to Christians, because they are not Jewish ethnicity-wise for the most part. You forget that those rules apply to the "chosen people of God", which were the Jews.

[Sailsia]

Ugh. Here comes the people that say "religion has killed so many people", when atheism, (U.S.S.R.,PRC,Pol pot,) has killed just as many.

None of the countries you just listed killed anyone in the name of atheism.

[Seshephe]

Have you even read the bible?

The whole thing is basically kill this or that group. Takes these for example: "If a man still prophesies, his parents, father and mother, shall say to him, "You shall not live, because you have spoken a lie in the name of the Lord." When he prophesies, his parents, father and mother, shall thrust him through." (Zechariah 13:3 NAB), "You should not let a sorceress live." (Exodus 22:17 NAB), and "If your own full brother, or your son or daughter, or your beloved wife, or you intimate friend, entices you secretly to serve other gods, whom you and your fathers have not known, gods of any other nations, near at hand or far away, from one end of the earth to the other: do not yield to him or listen to him, nor look with pity upon him, to spare or shield him, but kill him." (Deuteronomy 13:7-12 NAB). Not exactly "burn the heathen", but close enough. And remember you have kill according to the bible, "Cursed be he who does the Lords work remissly, cursed he who holds back his sword from blood." (Jeremiah 48:10 NAB)

All of those are from the old testament, first of all, which is mostly irrelevant to Christians, because they are not Jewish ethnicity-wise for the most part. You forget that those rules apply to the "chosen people of God", which were the Jews.

So it's only good for the Jews to kill and maim in the name of God? That makes it so much better!

[4years]

You mean besides the entire Old Testament and the majority of the New Testament?

Yeah, the gospels are contradictory to Jesus with the amount of violence advocated.

Jesus explicitly accepted the old law, “For truly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass the law until all is accomplished. Whoever then relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches men so, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but he who does them and teaches them shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.” (Matthew 5:18-19 RSV) Clearly the law is to be follow by until the end times, Jesus said so. It is Jesus will for the law to remain forever, "It is easier for Heaven and Earth to pass away than for the smallest part of the letter of the law to become invalid." (Luke 16:17 NAB)

Jesus came “not to send peace, but a sword.” (Matthew 10:34).

[The Fraticelli Papacy]

All of those are from the old testament, first of all, which is mostly irrelevant to Christians, because they are not Jewish ethnicity-wise for the most part. You forget that those rules apply to the "chosen people of God", which were the Jews.

So it's only good for the Jews to kill and maim in the name of God? That makes it so much better!

According to the jews who wrote it, anyway.

[Sailsia]

You are now saying praising our creator is bad. If it were not for God we would not be be here to talk about this.

It's hard to praise a creator that you don't believe in ya silly goose.

[The Fraticelli Papacy]

Ugh. Here comes the people that say "religion has killed so many people", when atheism, (U.S.S.R.,PRC,Pol pot,) has killed just as many.

None of the countries you just listed killed anyone in the name of atheism.

Part of Communism is atheism, which is exactly why they were targeted. They wouldn't have been targeted if the state wasn't atheist in itself.

[4years]

All of those are from the old testament, first of all, which is mostly irrelevant to Christians, because they are not Jewish ethnicity-wise for the most part. You forget that those rules apply to the "chosen people of God", which were the Jews.

You forget, Jesus explicitly accepted all the Old Testament laws and applied them to his followers. If you follow the teachings of Jesus, you must follow the old law. It is central to Jesus' teaching according to the bible.

[Personal Freedom]

Ugh. Here comes the people that say "religion has killed so many people", when atheism, (U.S.S.R.,PRC,Pol pot,) has killed just as many.

None of the countries you just listed killed anyone in the name of atheism.

I like the USSR somewhat, but they did kill because religion was able to inspire people. Whether it was because i made then different or just a fear of them being able to throw off their yoke of influence it happened. In some places religion has returned: http://web.mit.edu/press/2013/the-surprising-story-of-mongolian-shamanism-1216.html

[The Fraticelli Papacy]

All of those are from the old testament, first of all, which is mostly irrelevant to Christians, because they are not Jewish ethnicity-wise for the most part. You forget that those rules apply to the "chosen people of God", which were the Jews.

You forget, Jesus explicitly accepted all the Old Testament laws and applied them to his followers. If you follow the teachings of Jesus, you must follow the old law. It is central to Jesus' teaching according to the bible.

Source?

[The Multiversal Species Alliance]

In my opinion, religion on the whole is good (as it provides hope and comfort for many people), there are, however, sects and people in every religion who use their religious beliefs to cause harm to a large number of people.