• Welcome to Religious Forums, a friendly forum to discuss all religions in a friendly surrounding.

    Your voice is missing! You will need to register to get access to the following site features:
    • Reply to discussions and create your own threads.
    • Our modern chat room. No add-ons or extensions required, just login and start chatting!
    • Access to private conversations with other members.

    We hope to see you as a part of our community soon!

Religion is not the root of all evil.

Samurai

Member
The followers of different religions have done many wrong deeds throughout history. Even in our time and age, it happens a lot of injustice in the name of religion. But the truth is that religion can be used positively and abused like everything else in the world. Some people are guided by religion, and become better people. But other peopleare misled by religion, and do wrong deeds. The problem is not religious texts. The problem is people who choose to abuse these texts to their personal agenda. For example, a person can use a knife to cut bread, which he gives to the hungry people on the street. Or he can use the same knif to cut himself in the arm, or abuse the knife by using it in a fight. As you can see, the knife is not guilty when it comes to how it is used. The knife is a harmless object. The person who chooses to abuse the knife, is the one who is guilty. If people do crazy things, you can not blame their religion. The followers must take responsibility for their wrongdoings. Whenever something bad happens in the name of religion, it is not the fault of the Quran, the bible or the Torah. You can not arrest the Bible, Torah or Koran. And no court in the world would accept this.

We can not deny that religion has been abused by humans throughout history. We can't deny that wrong and unjust actions have been done by people who claimed they were religious. And we can't deny that even in our time and age, people in many religious countries, particularly Arab countries, become oppressed by people who claim they are religious.

Witch Hunting, crusades and imprisonment of non-religious and people who were free thinkers, are examples of wrong and unjust actions that have been done by people who claimed that they were religious. In the past, many religious people tried to prevent freedom of speech, open debate, science and free-thinking in the society. The priests were afraid of losing power, authority and their wealth, so they oppressed people in order to maintain their unjust systems. But the fact is that none of the prophets taught the people to hate eachother, oppress each other, be violent towards each other, exploit each other, be unfair to each other, or do other evil acts. The Prophets teached people to be compassionate and peaceful. The prophets learned people to be generous, taught people to be fair, be moral, take care of each other, seek knowledge, and they wanted to unite mankind. So all the evil acts that happened in the past and still happens, in the name of religion, is against the basic and fundamental principles of religion. Some people claim that religion is the root of all evil, but that's a lie. No followers of religions have killed as many people as secular and atheistic ideologies like communism and fascism. According to history, more than 50 million people were killed by supporters of communism. Followers of Islam, Judaism and Christianity have not killed as many people as Communists have done. Therefore, if we use logic and reason, we will understand that religion is not the root of all evil, and that supporters of communism, fascism, and other man-made ideologies have been worse than the followers of different religions. The capitalist system alone has contributed to pollute more than all the religions combined. On the other hand, the religious Buddhists in the East, are some of the most peaceful people on earth. They do not start wars and do not pollute the planet like capitalist nations in the West. Buddhists show compassion for people and animals, and take care of nature.
 
Last edited:

Gjallarhorn

N'yog-Sothep
To add to that, faith cannot rid the world of ignorance, since faith by definition is "firm belief in something for which there is no proof". To eradicate ignorance, you need fact, not faith.
 

Samurai

Member
If there is no proof for a belief system, then that belief system is based on falsehood. However, there are many proofs, that confirm the truth in the scriptures of Islam, Christianity and Judaism. Also in the Vedas. For example the Vedic scriptures have been verified by Science. Therefore they are not based on faith or wishful thinking. Read the article below.

Scientific Verification of Vedic Knowledge: Archaeology Online
 

Gjallarhorn

N'yog-Sothep
Then I will just leave a single comment here, since we are in agreement:

"It is a capital mistake to theorize before one has data. Insensibly one begins to twist facts to suit theories, instead of theories to suit facts." -Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, A Scandal in Bohemia (1891)
 
I agree. Very well said. :)

Religion is a system of ideals that calls us above "evil" behavior by encouraging traits like love, compassion, etc. Blame falls on the individuals who do not live up to those ideals and bastardize the religions of the world for their own gain or prejudice.

If religion in itself were inherently violent, or the "root" of evil, we would see EVERY believer expressing violent opinions or actions, and that is not the case. Believers fall on a spectrum which ranges from complete pacifism and love to extreme violence and hate. So it is the individual who chooses how to understand and apply religion. Religion itself is not an active power, it is merely ideas. People are the force through which it moves, and to people fall the blame when it is misused and misrepresented.

Bringing religion down to their level, instead of trying to live up to the idealism religion represents defeats the purpose(IMO), and is an abuse/misuse of the faith....


And then there is the consideration that a lot of the issues throughout history, involving religion, haven't been *just* about religion... It's important to recognize the geo-political (etc) issues involved as well, especially when we look at times where the government was tied to an official, declared, religion.


So I dont' believe we can, or should, "blame religion". It is what people *do* with how *they, specifically* understand religion that can be so wrong or awful. And, as I've already shown, what people do with it isn't consistent - there are many different levels of goodness and wickedness achieved through applying religion or using religious "justification".


So blame, IMO, should fall on the individuals themselves - those misusing the faiths that call us to goodness (note, I'm referring to goodness as in the idea of kindness and goodness and love, not necessarily "righteousness" or "piety", if you get what I mean), and to grow past the tribalisms (and other 'isms' that cause any kind of "us and them" thought or behavior) even if they truly think that they have it "right". It is *their* interpretation and application that is "bad", not the religion itself - especially since, as I've mentioned, there *are* so many different interpretations, ranging from the most intolerant and extreme to the most tolerant and inclusive.
 

Desert Snake

Veteran Member
Don't Islam, Christianity, and Judaism contradict each other?... so how can they all be true?... or do you mean that these religions CONTAIN portions of truth? Alice In Wonderland contains 'truth' if one takes sentences out of context etc...
 

Samurai

Member
So blame, IMO, should fall on the individuals themselves - those misusing the faiths that call us to goodness (note, I'm referring to goodness as in the idea of kindness and goodness and love, not necessarily "righteousness" or "piety", if you get what I mean), and to grow past the tribalisms (and other 'isms' that cause any kind of "us and them" thought or behavior) even if they truly think that they have it "right". It is *their* interpretation and application that is "bad", not the religion itself - especially since, as I've mentioned, there *are* so many different interpretations, ranging from the most intolerant and extreme to the most tolerant and inclusive.

I read your post. I agree with your thoughts. All human beings like goodness. Whether they are muslims, christians, jews, buddhists, hindus, atheists and agnostic. I think it is more important to focus on the similiarities in the different religions, than their differences. It is more important to cooperate to create a peaceful earth, than to stubbornly claim that only our religion or ideology is true. I am a truthseeker. And I believe that truth is not only in one religion. "There are truths in all religions."

There are good and bad people in all religions and ideologies. There are good muslims, christians, jews, buddhists, hindus, atheists and agnostics. And there are bad muslims, christians, jews, buddhists, hindus, atheists and agnostics. There are people who have a good heart who follow religions. And people who follow ideologies. Religion is not the problem. It is people who choose to misuse religions who should be blamed.
 

Gjallarhorn

N'yog-Sothep
"Equally right" doesn't mean 100% factual.
No, but it does mean equal, meaning UUs who follow that doctrine believe that the early Jewish and Muslim laws of killing almost everyone for any reason imaginable are equal to the Buddhist doctrines of not killing anything.

How exactly does that work?
 

Storm

ThrUU the Looking Glass
No, but it does mean equal, meaning UUs who follow that doctrine believe that the early Jewish and Muslim laws of killing almost everyone for any reason imaginable are equal to the Buddhist doctrines of not killing anything.

How exactly does that work?
It doesn't. Luckily, that's not what we actually believe.

I would elaborate, but the Islamic DIR is not the place to explain UU beliefs.
 

Samurai

Member
Don't Islam, Christianity, and Judaism contradict each other?... so how can they all be true?... or do you mean that these religions CONTAIN portions of truth? Alice In Wonderland contains 'truth' if one takes sentences out of context etc...

All of them are true because they come from the same source. Islam, Christianity and Judaism are abrahamic religions. They are monotheist belief system. Monotheism = The belief in on God. They have lots of similarities.
 

Desert Snake

Veteran Member
All of them are true because they come from the same source. Islam, Christianity and Judaism are abrahamic religions. They are monotheist belief system. Monotheism = The belief in on God. They have lots of similarities.
I agree that they all come from the same geographical region, and are all "Abrahamic", but history has shown in many cases that people adhering to these religions have clashed... even if we blamed 'cultural' or tribal animosities for these conflicts, if the religions go hand in hand with the cultures... well then the Abrahamic religions are still in opposition to each other by default. But yes, with civilised people there shouldn't be hostility. Emphasis on shouldn't...:)...As far as similarities, yes, there are, but there are also differences. Do the differences outweigh the similarities? Perhaps.


Anyway, I don't want to stray further from the main point of the OP.
 
Last edited by a moderator:

Desert Snake

Veteran Member
MOD POST:




Thread moved to Religious Debates.

Thanx:) The OP really is a good topic, I agree with the basic premise that religion is not the "cause" of many problems, I just don't agree with mixing science up into religious texts. There's enough argument already within religion, bringing quotes from scientists...eh, most of the time it's apples and oranges.
 

Desert Snake

Veteran Member
If there is no proof for a belief system, then that belief system is based on falsehood. However, there are many proofs, that confirm the truth in the scriptures of Islam, Christianity and Judaism. Also in the Vedas. For example the Vedic scriptures have been verified by Science. Therefore they are not based on faith or wishful thinking. Read the article below.

Scientific Verification of Vedic Knowledge: Archaeology Online

I should clarify. This is the kind of thing I'm referring to. Also here we have Christianity, Judaism, Vedas, and Islam all being lumped together. Just too far out for serious consideration. Hey, just my opinion.:)
 
Top