What's so "bad" about religion?

[fhbnfghnbfgbsnbg]

So, what's so bad about religion itself?
Not the people, not the fundamentalists shoving bibles in your face or the crusaders heading out way back in the day, but the actual religion?

Quote:

I am the Lord your God 1
You shall have no other gods before me
You shall not make for yourself an idol 2
You shall not make wrongful use of the name of your God
Remember the Sabbath and keep it holy
Honor your father and mother
You shall not murder
You shall not commit adultery
You shall not steal
You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor
You shall not covet your neighbor's house
You shall not covet your neighbor's wife

(Yes, I'm going with christianity because that's what I know the most about.)
Yes, those commandments are very bad for you.
Especially the ones on not murdering ,commiting adulty, or stealing.

So, as I've heard it said, how does "religion inspire fear"?

Discuss:
What makes religion bad
What makes it good


Have proof to back up what you say.

[Corrupted Coco]

KuroFur

So, what's so bad about religion itself?
Not the people, not the fundamentalists shoving bibles in your face or the crusaders heading out way back in the day, but the actual religion?

Quote:

I am the Lord your God 1
You shall have no other gods before me
You shall not make for yourself an idol 2
You shall not make wrongful use of the name of your God
Remember the Sabbath and keep it holy
Honor your father and mother
You shall not murder
You shall not commit adultery
You shall not steal
You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor
You shall not covet your neighbor's house
You shall not covet your neighbor's wife

(Yes, I'm going with christianity because that's what I know the most about.)
Yes, those commandments are very bad for you.
Especially the ones on not murdering ,commiting adulty, or stealing.

So, as I've heard it said, how does "religion inspire fear"?

Discuss:
What makes religion bad
What makes it good


Have proof to back up what you say.

People make it bad.
People make it good.
It's all subjective.

[Ability Versus Hope]

Its people, mainly.

[fhbnfghnbfgbsnbg]

Corrupted Coco

KuroFur

So, what's so bad about religion itself?
Not the people, not the fundamentalists shoving bibles in your face or the crusaders heading out way back in the day, but the actual religion?

Quote:

I am the Lord your God 1
You shall have no other gods before me
You shall not make for yourself an idol 2
You shall not make wrongful use of the name of your God
Remember the Sabbath and keep it holy
Honor your father and mother
You shall not murder
You shall not commit adultery
You shall not steal
You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor
You shall not covet your neighbor's house
You shall not covet your neighbor's wife

(Yes, I'm going with christianity because that's what I know the most about.)
Yes, those commandments are very bad for you.
Especially the ones on not murdering ,commiting adulty, or stealing.

So, as I've heard it said, how does "religion inspire fear"?

Discuss:
What makes religion bad
What makes it good


Have proof to back up what you say.

People make it bad.
People make it good.
It's all subjective.

But this is about the religion.
Not the people.

The people are important.
But does their religion tell them to make it bad?

[Thunderous Skies]

If Christianity boiled down to nothing more than the 10 Commandments, many issues wouldn't exist.

[Sergeant Charlie Foxtrot]

KuroFur

Corrupted Coco

KuroFur

So, what's so bad about religion itself?
Not the people, not the fundamentalists shoving bibles in your face or the crusaders heading out way back in the day, but the actual religion?

Quote:

I am the Lord your God 1
You shall have no other gods before me
You shall not make for yourself an idol 2
You shall not make wrongful use of the name of your God
Remember the Sabbath and keep it holy
Honor your father and mother
You shall not murder
You shall not commit adultery
You shall not steal
You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor
You shall not covet your neighbor's house
You shall not covet your neighbor's wife

(Yes, I'm going with christianity because that's what I know the most about.)
Yes, those commandments are very bad for you.
Especially the ones on not murdering ,commiting adulty, or stealing.

So, as I've heard it said, how does "religion inspire fear"?

Discuss:
What makes religion bad
What makes it good


Have proof to back up what you say.

People make it bad.
People make it good.
It's all subjective.

But this is about the religion.
Not the people.

The people are important.
But does their religion tell them to make it bad?

Only the malicious ones. Or if you follow ancient texts. Stoning disobedient children doesn't sound that great to me.

[GunsmithKitten]

Quote:

Remember the Sabbath and keep it holy

Screw you. What if I want to get some work done?

Quote:

Honor your father and mother

Even if they dont' deserve to be honored?

Quote:

You shall not murder

Quote:

You shall not covet your neighbor's house

Kiss capitalism goodbye.

Quote:

Yes, those commandments are very bad for you.

Yes, they are. I might want to drum up some business on Sunday, and some people's parents dont' deserve honoring. Murder is also a legal term, as you can kill all you like as long as it falls within the right religious grounds.

[Daumier]

Religion isn't bad. Religious thinking is. There's nothing wrong with believing that murder is wrong. But you worry about somebody who believes murder is wrong unless God says it isn't.

[eden-of-mine]

I'm not well equipped to answer, but I'll provide my own thoughts.

Religion is bad, in my opinion, because it usually teaches us not to do good things simply because they are good and we should strive to be moral on our own, but because there is some reward waiting at the end of the tunnel, or some punishment if we do not.

Religion is bad because, if forced upon a child early in their lives, it restricts their thinking and doesn't give them the chance to choose for themselves.

Religion is bad because it is often used to control behavior and to separate and exclude.

Religion is bad because once you convince yourself that the world is a certain way no matter what, the evidence no longer matters, only belief.

Religion is bad because it tends to focus on conversion and sustaining the religion or group itself, instead of simply doing good deeds.

I could say more things but...there are far juicier debates and I'm not really interested in this one.

[Sadistika!]

You misunderstand the meaning of murder, m'boy. Killing is perfectly fine in the name of the lord, according to christians.
;]

[Corrupted Coco]

KuroFur

Corrupted Coco

KuroFur

So, what's so bad about religion itself?
Not the people, not the fundamentalists shoving bibles in your face or the crusaders heading out way back in the day, but the actual religion?

Quote:

I am the Lord your God 1
You shall have no other gods before me
You shall not make for yourself an idol 2
You shall not make wrongful use of the name of your God
Remember the Sabbath and keep it holy
Honor your father and mother
You shall not murder
You shall not commit adultery
You shall not steal
You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor
You shall not covet your neighbor's house
You shall not covet your neighbor's wife

(Yes, I'm going with christianity because that's what I know the most about.)
Yes, those commandments are very bad for you.
Especially the ones on not murdering ,commiting adulty, or stealing.

So, as I've heard it said, how does "religion inspire fear"?

Discuss:
What makes religion bad
What makes it good


Have proof to back up what you say.

People make it bad.
People make it good.
It's all subjective.

But this is about the religion.
Not the people.

The people are important.
But does their religion tell them to make it bad?

Despite the word "bad" being subjective, I've never heard of any major religion that tells you to hate people or do harm.

[eden-of-mine]

Quote:

Despite the word "bad" being subjective, I've never heard of any major religion that tells you to hate people or do harm.

You've never heard of the Muslim 'jihad'?

[fhbnfghnbfgbsnbg]

GunsmithKitten

Quote:

Remember the Sabbath and keep it holy

Screw you. What if I want to get some work done?

Quote:

Honor your father and mother

Even if they dont' deserve to be honored?

Quote:

You shall not murder

Quote:

You shall not covet your neighbor's house

Kiss capitalism goodbye.

Quote:

Yes, those commandments are very bad for you.

Yes, they are. I might want to drum up some business on Sunday, and some people's parents dont' deserve honoring. Murder is also a legal term, as you can kill all you like as long as it falls within the right religious grounds.

And yes, murder is a legal term, which makes me wonder why its in the bible.

It doesn't tell you to go out and kill people, though, does it.

[fhbnfghnbfgbsnbg]

Poison-the-Monkey

I'm not well equipped to answer, but I'll provide my own thoughts.

Religion is bad, in my opinion, because it usually teaches us not to do good things simply because they are good and we should strive to be moral on our own, but because there is some reward waiting at the end of the tunnel, or some punishment if we do not.

Religion is bad because, if forced upon a child early in their lives, it restricts their thinking and doesn't give them the chance to choose for themselves.

Religion is bad because it is often used to control behavior and to separate and exclude.

Religion is bad because once you convince yourself that the world is a certain way no matter what, the evidence no longer matters, only belief.

Religion is bad because it tends to focus on conversion and sustaining the religion or group itself, instead of simply doing good deeds.

I could say more things but...there are far juicier debates and I'm not really interested in this one.

I have pretty much one question for most (if not all) of those:
How?

Elaborate, if you will.

[GunsmithKitten]

Quote:

It doesn't tell you to go out and kill people, though, does it.

Well, it depends; are you counting Levitical law?