Thursday, November 11, 2004 at 9:56 PM
Edited Thursday, November 11, 2004 at 10:00 PM "The truth is that even though religion causes all sorts of problems, it also brings about a great deal of good--even though it is based on the ridiculous idea that there is this thing called "God"--by giving people positive moral codes to live by, by bringing people together into communities, by getting people together for charity work etc..." Dr. Drew alluded to this as being a good aspect of religion during Adam's rant, but I have to disagree with him. A moral code with a foundation in selflessness and altruism isn't a good moral code. The fact it may bring about good in people has more to do with the natural benevolence people have and not the moral code it espouses. The fact an institution like religion needs to dictate morality and that people can't derive it on their own is a frightening though. Religion doesn't really promote good moral values, it just imposes them. Moral Christians act morally because they believe they have to, not because they've reasoned the actions that are immoral are in fact immoral. I don't like what religion has done in the field of ethics and I don't care much for the ethics they support, even if they manage to get a few things right. They're still bad. "but if you think that religion is the only human institution that causes problems then speaking of retarded you'd better walk yourself down the hall to the special ed classroom and try finger-painting instead of philosophy. The Nazis weren't particularly religious, and look at all the shit that they pulled. People will always find a way to do bad and/or stupid things, and will justify those things with whatever is handy, whether it be religion or politics or science or whatever." You're missing the key connection between the Nazis and the various oppressive religions. What did they have in common? Collectivism. Both perpetrated their evils by subjugating the individual to the desires of the collective, whether it be the Fatherland or the Church and the Almighty. The greatest evils occur when people embrace collectivism and reject individualism. I hate both religion and the Nazis because of this common element. "the problem is the evil morons who only pay attention to certain parts of their religion--the ones that allow them to look down on other people and close their minds to the world--while ignoring the parts that tell them to love and not judge." But those certain aspects are the core aspects. To a Christian, knowledge is something independant of evidence, proof, or logic. What is right and true is right and true BECAUSE IT IS SAID TO BE. This is a foundation of Christianity and it's not the flaw of its followers that created that. The fact some Christians have an "open-mind" is because they've partially rejected Christian epitomology and Christianity's authoritarian ethics. I must disagree with you: it's much more the flaw of the religion than the followers. —clodhopper | 
