Is religion a from of evil in disguise?

who is satan? How about 'satanism' is a manmade creation of a diety that is per se, bad.

Have you met satan? (how can you witness such?)

religion is not how to know any god.

religions are how to observe what people believe.

Can you witness that Muhammed met god. The story shares he was learning from 'gabriel' (the gabby one), not god.

manmade beliefs come from manmades/identities

i agree. Religions test whether you can be honest with yourself, or require someone to tell you what is true.

exactly.

The religions dont creates or make the human being 'a very good' person. The person must submit to being good, by choice.

confucius, buddhism, tao, even wicca.... etc etc etc......... all have credibility of enabling each to be 'good' to the extent of peace and love

exactly.

a jew may state, it takes torah to be good

a christian may say, 'the bible is 'the word of god'' and a muslim may say quran is the way of god

but of all three the opinions are found of belief, not fact

and of all three, good can come from each but the person is who makes the choice to be 'good' based on the principles that each can and do know, within
regardless of the religion

i agree.

right and wrong are not defined only by religion

heck the commandments of torah (the first book of the abrahamic sects) came from egypt (book of the dead)

but the greatest lesson that any human being can sustain can be found from confucius (simplistically put; do unto others as you would have them do unto you)



what evil comes from religion is what people do with it


best rule; "no false witness" and then the religions cannot be held accountable and the individuals can be directly.

We all can judge, equally........... remember, you are just as capable of both every evil, and every good, even thought of, just as naturally as moses, jesus, muhammed and/or me, too

no one is better. it is what they/you/i.... do/did that we judge.

the KISS approach

 

You answer your own questions these are NOT Spiritual persons that can be horrible unthinking perpetrators of any violence to any that do not believe in their rules. In History too often Religion was administered by the faithful like gestapo storm troopers yet many of the faithful were ostracized for following their own conscience.

A true story. perhaps 15 years ago while spotting weights for some guy at the gym he noticed the pale ringmark and said he did counseling for couples.
I went to his place and he was there with about 10 couples reading the bible and interpreting in a very literal manner. This group made it a crusade to get me to join minds with them as they used all forms of coersion.
Finally 4 showed up to my house after a month of attempts to put me to their test.
1) we have had 3 leaders since you joined I hope you think you are not responsible.
me: That is absurd, i am not God.
Them: I want you to answer some questions
Me: sure. and i answered each one. Exasperated i said you have taken messages of love and Hope and only seem to stress limitation and sin. we are reading the same things and are getting different messages.
Them: you cannot pick and choose what you believe in and twist the rest to suit your means.
Me: those are fine words, say them 3 times aloud in front of a mirror.
they left never to return.

The United church of Christ was later exposed in the Atlanta Journal as exploiting people by having them turn over their assets and defrauding them.
their mind control over congregations that behaved more akin to sheep than people suited the mindset of the "leaders". This was an exploitative power trip. Nor all religion is that way, find your way in your heart.

 

Why would you allow your kid to smoke dope or beat up another kid? It happens.

 

I don't know about all that... Sounds like you've been reading that one book - the Dawkin's guy...

For one - it's not invented. Because if it was - like all inventions, individuals would have a decision to invest in this invention. Also, by the means of what did every person on the planet get to play with this invention of religion? How did population on islands get the invention of religion? OR are you suggesting that every person on the planet just "invented" religion roughly at the same time in their history....?

As I said - I am not religious by any means, but I will say that religion is, in itself, quite evil!!!!

 

You do realize you are trying to compare God to a bad parent, right?

 

How many threads about religion based on false premises and disinformation, do libs need to start? You don't like Christians.....we get it. Move on dot org already.

 

God does nothing since no god exists. Oh, and the tale of Job is idiotic, lol. Job had his wives and children, his concubines and friends, his slaves, and acquaintances killed over a stupid bet--roflmfao, what a glorious god.

 

Humans are not flawed, humans are humans, that is all. Religion is just one of the many things humans have created, but it is time to leave all the superstitious nonsense, that we have created, behind.

 

But, not all less advanced cultures have a religion that tells them it is OK to be wiped out. And not all less advanced cultures have been wiped out with the justification of religion making slavery, murder and destruction, a good thing, for the souls of the poor primitives.

 

Sorry, but you are mistaken, being an animal is not a flaw, humans doing what humans do is not a flaw, it is just part of our nature. Being violent, cruel and mean is not a flaw, it is just our nature.

 

All the questions, wonderings and suppositions you pose about gods and religion are easily answered, with one simple statement, which takes all the confusion out of religion.
No god or gods exist, religion is man-made nonsense.

 

I have never heard of any religion that would refuse your giving them your money, land or anything else, lol.

 

If you cannot understand how and why religions were invented, that is a shame. But, your lack of imagination and education does NOT change the fact--men created religion and gods.

 

You do realize that bad parents exist and that gods do not? The answer to the comparison is that god does not exist, and that Satan like gods was invented by man, for man's reasons. Therefore god does not allow anything, but, bad parents do.

 

You, seemingly, are also part of a group. A group that is classified as 'non-theists'.

 

I though one of the main points against religion is their habit of pointing at things and shouting "Eeeevil!", maybe we should take it for what it is and not what nasty sounding words we can throw at it.

 

Sorry, but non-theists are not a group as are Muslims, Christians and Buddhists. Religious groups are indicated by many common beliefs. Being a non-theist only requires ONE belief, that you do not accept theism. I am a member of the group, humans, of the group males, of the group atheist, but they all have only ONE thing in common. Being a member of a religious group requires that you have many many beliefs in common with other members of your religion. And, in many cases, with some religions, it requires that you belittle others that are not part of your group, by saying things like, "you will not go to heaven", and "you have Satan in your heart". Many non-theists do not even address the beliefs of others. Some do, myself for instance. I find many of the beliefs of humans to be foolish, ignorant and with little value at all, however, each is free to have their own beliefs. I personally draw the line when your beliefs require you to take actions that I feel are against my needs. When your actions, religiously based or otherwise, interfere with me, then you are WRONG.

There is not a thing wrong with being a part of a group, what is wrong is being a part of SOME groups.

 

LOL That there is a group of people who are not in a group is hard to argue with.

 

Religious basics, from whatever walk of life, try to show that being a good person is what counts. There may well be trials along the way, and we should over come that. Be good, live well, enjoy family.

I think political figures, be they high (president) or low (tribal elder) may use religious to disguise their own motives, which could be considered evil.

 

I doubt that being a good person is a religious basic. It is also the core of the legal system, that doesn't make it a legal matter.

 

Not specifically true.

Ignore which religion is cited as an example, see it as "overall religion":
http://bible.org/seriespage/difference-between-legality-and-morality-genesis-3117-55

And another article:
http://www.gallup.com/poll/8794/legality-vs-morality-life-death.aspx


I could probably spend time arguing that the basis of most, if not all (I'm not familiar with teachings from EVERY religion) is to teach morals, most of which are about being a good person. I think that's the most basic foundation in any texts. Anything that has been added onto that may be embellishment.

 

Nearly all religions teach "us vs. them" which is nothing but a way to teach conflict, hatred and bigotry. As such then most religions, including Christianity, are evil (by evil I mean bad for society as a whole). Catholics hate Hebrews, Baptists hate Mormons, all of them hate atheists ----US vs. THEM. Until a decent religion comes along that can teach something besides hatred and bigotry, we need to do away with all of them.
Quotes I have personally heard from "good, decent, church going Christians.

"Obama is a Muslim"
"Atheists are Satanists"
Jews are running a world govt by controlling banking"
"The only good Arab is a dead arab"
"Nuke the middle east back to the stone age"
"Blacks are not really human"
"Blacks are OK, everyone should own a few"
"we ought to shoot those wet-backs as soon as they cross the river"

The above are a very very very small sample of the hatred and bigotry spewed by Christians in my presence. I have heard the similar from other individuals of other religions. This is what religion teaches....I am good, you are bad.
Sorry, but religions have NO value in a modern society, they are just a cause of trouble.

 

Your problem is that you do not have a clue what MORALS are. Morals are nothing but rules, worked out by humans, to allow lots and lots of people to be able to work together with minimal conflict. Depending on the time, place and society, the same rules do NOT ALWAYS work. Religion forces people to accept the nonsense rules of times long dead. Religion is not conducive to modern society and morals, it refuses to change. Religion is the tired, outdated and often foolish rules, beliefs and morals of primitive societies that often have no place today.

Religion teaches the outmoded rules of yesteryear, not the values of our modern society. As such, religion is worse then useless, it is a hindrance to peace, to justice and to getting along. Instead of improved values, we get hatred, bigotry and ignorance from religion.

 

Religion is one of the most subscribed ideas in the world.
If it is truely evil, and teaches conflict, then surely we would see a HIGH PERCENTAGE of religious based conflict. On the contrary, I wouls suggest that most people in the world, certainly high 90-something percent, do NOT cause conflict. Most of the world are NOT plotting bombs, or conspiracies, because they believe they have a duty to do so from the religion to which they subscribe.

In fact, I would argue that soccer matches cause MORE conflict than religion if you were to look at percentages of conflict between soccer fan numbers and religious numbers. Of course soccer isn't directly used as a political tool for people in power (such as kings, presidents, other leaders), so there is less money in the comparison and therefore less to fight for - the result is the conflicts seem lesser , but are still conflicts none the less.

What's my point in bringing up soccer? Numbers of people participating in conflict does not mean that whatever they are fighting for is promoting the conflict or that all people participating in their belief (religion or soccer) get involved in "perceived bad attitudes or ideals".

Why don't you think I know what morals are? First off, I'm fairly well educated, but even if I was not the internet would provide all I need to know and more. My problem is I debate on a forum and expect reasonable responses from others; but it's exactly the same as religion - what I should expect I don't get because people like twisting perception.

There may be survival of the fittest in a zombie apocalypse, and you may well need to steal and kill to eat or drink water. You can still feel remorse from those actions EVEN THOUGH these actions are all required and now "part of the game". The example of a "moral compass" is not because man dictates a rule, but rather because you have an inner gut instinct that most other men agree with.

When you start enjoying killing, regardless of the situation, I would suggest your morals have gone. That has nothing to do with external rules.

 

I would like to reply to some of your comments.
>morals are Nothing but Rules: if a society agrees that by rule Murder in not to be condoned and a man CHOOSES to live outside those rules he is punished. I agree it allows people to live together with minimal conflict as long as the rules apply to all. whether a man chooses to adopt rules or a code to live by it is not because they are enforced but because it is his internal compass.
because the whims of a society changes may not affect a mans internal code. Thinks about why many Islamists fight the Western viewpoint as "the Great Satan". They do not want a lukewarm amorality to many viewpoints they hold sacred. Is their religion wrong? Do they have a right to enforce their religion on all members of that region? Do they have a right to keep out the moral relativism of the west?
religions have rules that if you are to be a member you must try to live by if you Choose Not to be a member you are free from those rules yet you are NOT free to live outside Laws( rules of a society)
Is religion worse than useless? what about the amorality of banking and wallstreet that knowingly used changes in oversight to write bad loans they knew were bad, knowingly rate these worthless mounds of paper as AAA rated investments and defrauded the world of Trillions. They stayed within the letter of laws but had knowingly twisted them or ignored them and pput millions worldwide in debt, job loss, home loss, investment loss.

The King Of the Enlightenment upon his deathbed, the great Voltaire had said he regretted tearing down religion and the Church. he had said without religion man resorted to an animal brutality that made his whims his only rules and Europe was tron apart by violence. A man without any rules are codes can behave like the worst nazi stormtroopers. Look at banking and wall street to see people who justify any behavior to line their own pockets at the expense of the unsuspecting. While religion is flawed, the amoral justifications on display today are more chilling than any sociopath. many politicians and CEOs can steal and create more emotional and personal havoc than any cleric. maybe that is why Islamists want the west out.