Is religion the root of all evil?

[NBK*Twitch]

Every war we have fought as been over Religion , Funny thing is most people say Religions people are supposed to be peaceful.

That's a very ignorant comment. Simply, WW1 and WW2 were not religious wars. The belligerents may have had a religion, but they weren't fighting because the enemy had a different religion.

I gotta disagree here,WW2 did have something to do with religion. Does the holocaust ring any bells?

While the entire war wasn't based on that,some of it was. So one can say there was religion had something to do with it.

 

[Watch Me Sink]

especially considering almost every war fought has had religious undertones.

That's entirely false. Maybe in ancient times, but definitely not now.

 

[Deleted member 1609]

especially considering almost every war fought has had religious undertones.

That's entirely false. Maybe in ancient times, but definitely not now.

Agreed. Wars now are usually fought over resources, land, or politics.

 

[Gimgak]

In ancient times religion was an excuse a lot of the times too. Hell, the whole point of the Muslim religion at first was warfare and conquering, has to do with power and not with religion.

 

[Taz]

Money is the root of all evil.

 

[etc]

if you do some thing, like believing, do it like you know what you're doing and do your best. why do Christians do sign of the cross when they don't know what it means?

if you don't know what it mean then why do it?

 

[Watch Me Sink]

why do Christians do sign of the cross when they don't know what it means?

huh? I'm pretty sure every Christian knows what it means.

 

[mancala1964]

That's a very poor argument which can simply be counter-attacked with: if God has a morally good reason to allow such things to happen then how can we as human beings judge what God does. (Note this is for arguments sake, and with the assumption of God existing as the claim infers the existence of a God).

But isn't this just as bad a counter-attack ? Basically what you are saying is: "I don't know why" which is not really a "counter-attack", you are just admitting that you have no idea why.

 

[Lorcan]

If there was no religion, there would have still been those wars, people only blame religion because it is an easy target, most wars are based on greed, jealousy and power, not religion at all.

 

[kasem]

especially considering almost every war fought has had religious undertones.

That's entirely false. Maybe in ancient times, but definitely not now.

Agreed. Wars now are usually fought over resources, land, or politics.

what about the war on terror? (War on Muslim Extremists)

 

[Watch Me Sink]

I see the war on terror similar to how the US got involved in WWII. We were attacked, we fought back. The fact that the people that attacked us were radical Muslims who hated America had nothing to do with it. If they were Sri Lankan Buddhists, the same action probably would have been taken.

 

[alfred01]

I haven't read all the responses to this question, but I haven't read one yet that I agree with. The root of evil is not religion, greed, government or promiscuity. The root of evil is the mind of the evil person as they will always find a way to inflict their evil on anyone they can.

 

[Nuke]

I say Communists, "Democratic Socialists", the more Fundamentalist, Radical Muslims, and the Militant Atheists are the problem. Lots of them, although not all of them, are very violent.

Now, saying that religion is the problem is wrong. Why? Because Atheism is a religion once you begin saying that non-Atheists are stupid and whatnot. It's highly aggravating. So really, all these militant Atheists do is make things worse.

 

[Deleted member 1609]

I say Communists, "Democratic Socialists", the more Fundamentalist, Radical Muslims, and the Militant Atheists are the problem. Lots of them, although not all of them, are very violent.

Are democratic socialists really famous for being violent?

 

[Watch Me Sink]

I say Communists, "Democratic Socialists", the more Fundamentalist, Radical Muslims, and the Militant Atheists are the problem. Lots of them, although not all of them, are very violent.

Are democratic socialists really famous for being violent?

A bunch of socialists, but definitely not the democratic ones.

 

[Deleted member 1609]

I say Communists, "Democratic Socialists", the more Fundamentalist, Radical Muslims, and the Militant Atheists are the problem. Lots of them, although not all of them, are very violent.

Are democratic socialists really famous for being violent?

A bunch of socialists, but definitely not the democratic ones.

I agree that many people who call themselves socialists have been violent in the past (and still are), but I don't like that kind of socialism any more than you do.

 

[David]

Every war we have fought as been over Religion , Funny thing is most people say Religions people are supposed to be peaceful.

That's a very ignorant comment. Simply, WW1 and WW2 were not religious wars. The belligerents may have had a religion, but they weren't fighting because the enemy had a different religion.

I gotta disagree here,WW2 did have something to do with religion. Does the holocaust ring any bells?

While the entire war wasn't based on that,some of it was. So one can say there was religion had something to do with it.

You are very, very historically mistaken. Hitler's racial policy was to do with his personal agendas, as mentioned in Mein Kampf. The Holocaust vetted out Jews for racial reasons, not religious reasons. Religion was pretty much irrelevant throughout the Holocaust, as shown through the Reichskonkordat. There were fair more superior reasons over religion as to why the Holocaust occurred, eg. Lebensraum.

That's a very poor argument which can simply be counter-attacked with: if God has a morally good reason to allow such things to happen then how can we as human beings judge what God does. (Note this is for arguments sake, and with the assumption of God existing as the claim infers the existence of a God).

But isn't this just as bad a counter-attack ? Basically what you are saying is: "I don't know why" which is not really a "counter-attack", you are just admitting that you have no idea why.

No. I'm saying there are fair more plausible (and contextually rational) reasons as to why evil acts occur, if a God exists. Plus, the very nature of this debate is far superior than what the human mind can comprehend. Even if you interpret what I am saying as "I don't know why", I'm saying in reply to "if God exists....", which is not a straightforward a question as it appears. Anyway, you're getting close to attacking straw men.

 

[Hotspot]

I think that religion can cause hate and war, since it separates people because of the differences with one religion to the next, as well as people who are not religious at all. But not all religions and not all religious people are evil, and there are bad people who are not religious.
There will always be someone good and someone bad from every walk of life.

 

[Midnight]

Religion is not the cause of all evil. Suffering is part of life, 'evil' is part of life. We become a better human being through the evil that happens to us.

That is my belief and no one will ever change it.

 

[Mik.]

Religion was a man made thing. I don't believe any religion is actually real. I do believe though there is a creator on the other side.