Religion itself, the root of all evil?

Religion could very well be the greatest, and sadly, the most harmful conspiracy ever created. Don't you think it's possible that religion itself is perhaps the worst thing that has ever happened to man? Think about it. What has been the root cause of mass violence in the world for thousands of years? Religion, of all kinds. Every religion is guilty of murder, lies, and corruption. Pagans were even guilty of it. They had ritualistic "sacrifices" on a regular basis. Christians preach about peace and love, yet they have tortured and murdered more people than any other organization. Muslims/Islams are the same. They murder "infidels" who don't believe what they do. What do you all think the world would be like without religion? In my opinion I think it would be much more peaceful.
After all, what is religion anyway? Simply a few ideas presented by people who seek nothing but control, a huge circle of lies created for power. All religions utilize this circle. They preach or condemn one thing, all the while turning it around and making it OK for something else. (Example: Do not harm innocent people, unless of course they don't believe in the way you do.) Religion is just a crutch for weak people who can't face problems of their own. It was created (and changed) by weak people for weak people. It is definitely the largest and most clever conspiracy targeted at people for the power of others. If what I have said doesn't make sense or convince you of the evil of religion, just keep this in mind:

Pagans- Murdered hundreds in ritualistic "sacrifices" to appease their gods

Christians- Wiped out the Native Americans and other pagan peoples after they wouldn't be converted

Muslim/ Islam- Murder "infidels" who don't believe the same things they do

* I guess I forgot Jews and Buddhists, ect. Well, they have't really killed enough people yet so they can't be considered religions. Have a nice day.

your right... religion has been the cause of alot of bad things. but yet it has been the cause of a lot of good as well. there is missions that go to 3rd world countries to help people and children who dont have anything. i know that in that process they are brainwashing them to beleive what they do. but still there is some good that comes out of it. i also wonder what it would be like if we didnt have religion . if there was non the world would have alot less fighting over who's god is right, but at the same time people would not have faith. and without faith, people dont have alot.faith gets some people thru some really hard times.


imout
-mindtrip02

You may have a valid point my friend. The dude in my avatar was inspired by a by actual events. He walks around our town every where he goes dragging a cross attached to a wagon. For some, religion is a good thing and some it drives nearly insane.

I know their are good sides and bad sides of religions. The higherly evolved dimensional traveling star people (aliens) have created them many still promote them. A lot of people are better people as a result. They are not evolved enough to recognize and fully understand the truth and how to live.
If all the star people and governments anounced their existence and one star people race told us how to live while others with differant agendas told us differantly, humans would separate themselves to the star people race that they find to be true just like a religion anyways.
Also, if you can't recognize the truth, then you are not evolved enough to choose the real truth and live by it.
Dogs don't really see themselves in the mirror, but monkeys do. Monkeys have higher evolved souls than dogs. To be higherly evolved is to have a higher conscienceness or awareness of self and your true surroundings.
I have a very high conscienceness. I see and understand the truth that is hidden a lot even when most don't even see it as a possiblity.

Most people may think that many of there physical problems can't be fixed.
Not true.
Fat people think they are fat because they eat fatty foods and don't exercise.
Not true.
Fat people gain weight due to an imbalances in their digestional track and consuming bad food and persciption drugs that destroys the digestional track. Meat can take long to digest. Fried foods have high amounts of trans fatty acids from its oil that it is cooked in which destroys the digestional track. When I mean destroy, I mean bringing imbalance to the good digestional bacteria. That good bacteria can be replenished by consuming milk cultures from foods like yogurt.
People don't link their attidude changes with what they consume. I understand my surroundings and the cause and effect in situations. Chocolate has properties that cause the consumer to be more charismatic and emotional. Most berries can make some people very sensitive.

Originally posted by the_truth42187
Don't you think it's possible that religion itself is perhaps the worst thing that has ever happened to man?

Inflicted upon mankind by mankind itself. Indeed. I've come to that very conclusion. Religion is poison and it divides and causes hate and prejudice.

Christians preach about peace and love, yet they have tortured and murdered more people than any other organization.

That's right! And they condemn the flower children of the 60's for all their 'free love!' Love IS free! What can be as valuable as love?

Those hippies were the seeds and we are the flowers. Religion is a weed and all flowers are getting a bottle of roundup for each hand/leaf...



Even if it rains, the weeds still die!


We are all brothers on this planet....without exception. When we make war upon one another we are killing our own family....

As a spiritual anarchist I have to agree with what you've put forth here. I believe all religions are a form of idolatry which robs mankind of the one thing it promises, to be closer to the creator of all things. If you'd like more on this:

The conspiracy that is religion

Just my thoughts on it.

wupy

I must disagree with the premises of this thread. Religion did not create evil, it merely quantified evil with in a society to bring about order. And as any institution abuse has occurred. As human societies grew from small tribes we needed a force to bring about law and order, to prevent murder, theft and generally greasing the wheels to bring about peace, or to unite us against an enemy of the collective.
In short I find the argument that religion is responsible for evil like saying that law is responsible for criminal behavior.

if there was non the world would have alot less fighting over who's god is right, but at the same time people would not have faith. and without faith, people dont have alot.faith gets some people thru some really hard times.

perhaps it helps some get through tough times, but to say that without faith people don't have a lot is not true. if people don't think they have an afterlife to look forward to, than they are more likely to be a little more conservative with the life that they have.

being an atheist, I am not offended at all by the saying "there are no atheist in foxholes". To me, this is essentially christians bragging that their faithful are throwing themselves recklessly in harms way with the promise of eternal life, and we hold ourselves to such higher standards than suicide bombers.

in Palestine, Israeli soldiers abuse palestinians and kill civilians. In turn, Palestinians kill civilians also. at whom do we point the finger? religion. Israelis believe the land was given to them by god, and palestinians believe that martyrdom is the path to heaven.

I do not believe that religion is evil. Rather, it is a skewed interpretation of religions that is the source of evil. I don't think you'll find any religion that officially condones hurting others, but there are people in every religious sect who believe that causing harm for "the greater good" is okay. It's all a matter of people interpreting their own teachings incorrectly.

IMHO, it's not religion that causes so much trouble...It's organized religion.
If my opinion isn't enough, how about the opinions of some of the "leaders" in organized religion?
Check out:
What the Hell is Hell. This particular link quotes some religious "leaders" & what their opinion is of the "common worshipper". The rest of the website is a pretty good read too.

i must agree with some of the points listed religion obviouly has been at the root of many wars however i believe that even without religion there would continue to be a large number of conflits. It is the nature of men to disagree with one another, thus I think it is believable that were it not for religion men would sure enough find another reason to fight. Here's the thing...men like to disagree and then fight over whos right....as long as we maintain that mentallity there will always continue to be numerous conflicts

Religion is the curse of mankind. It still never fails to amaze me that in the 21st century people still proclaim belief in what they cant see. I am agnostic, I have faith in the unknown. I do not pretend to know who or what god is, or if he even exists.

How can any rational human being go through life like this? People who follow religion are obviously so lost in their own world that they cannot cope without the crutches that organized religion provides.

I go out into the world with fear and hope. Religion swells egos, and gives people a reason to die for the hope of entering paradise/heaven. Religion is dangerous and evil, and until we grow up as a collective humanity, we wont ever see the light of day.

There are no atheists in foxholes. THATS A GOOD THING. Follow the example of atheists and stop fighting for nothing. A good world is one focused on science, logic and rational thought. People are delusional. This is why I could care less what happens to Israelis and Iranians because they are bringing so much trouble to the rest of their world with religious conversion and recruitment. GET A GRIP PEOPLE

I think I should elaborate a bit on the opinion I posted:

A bit of history, as the archeologists dug it up--Before the advent of "civilization" (More & more I think of that word in looser terms), there was religion but it wasn't organized. During those times, yes, there were still conflicts between nomadic tribes, but it was more an issue of "territory"...Whose territory was better suited & resourceful enough to promote survival.

It was when the first cities began popping up, that's when religion "organized" itself & started taking control of even the secular issues of the time; Recall the history of Mesopotamia, where religion controlled everything from farmwork to political policy with neighboring Mesopotamian cities.

Another example was Egypt (barely after Mesopotamia when "civilization" sprouted); Religion was in direct control of everything. Even Pharoah himself was considered to be a living incarnation of a god & he was also the Chief Priest over all the country. However, even Pharoah was bound by the religion to see to secular needs, but it was for the purpose of keeping his people prosperous; It was his "divine duty" to take care of the nation & its people as a whole. Egypt was the first civilization to accomplish that...Mesopotamia remained as a collection of independant City-States, but Egypt was the first to become a unified Nation.

Still, the wide-spread conflicts of ancient times didn't involve anything more than individual tribes, with their alliances & enemies to deal with; Only after "religion" came to organize did it dominate secular concerns & pit nation against nation.

This is the main reason that I consider myself among the Faithful, but I avoid "organized" religion with a passion.


[edit on 6-9-2006 by MidnightDStroyer]