I agree that for even the slightest hope of a peaceful world, religion needs to be 'abolished' although I don't think abolished is the right word.

I think the only way we will ever see a world without religion is when something big happens or a discovery is made that defies all religious beliefs.. highly unlikely.

The other possibility is that religion will slowly die, there are far less religious people now than there were two hundred years ago.. hopefully over the coming generations people will see that they don't need guidance from a mythical entity.

It is like stopping the world from smoking cigarettes, if you outrightly banned them there would be a lot of angry people and it would move into a black market industry. The trick is to slowly ween people off it. The difference is, a lot of smokers know that smoking is bad for them, religious people think that their belief is good for them.

Why people feel the need for direction, acceptance and forgiveness is beyond me. If religion was a good thing it would have 4 simple rules or commandments..

1) use common sense to figure out the unexplainable
2) be nice to other people regardless of anything
4) Learn from your mistakes
3) Accept that you only live once and milk it, get everything out of it you could possibly want without harming or interfering with others because one day you will die and there will be nothing.

If the above is wrong and there is a heaven then you have earnt yourself a free pass without having to follow rules and religious restrictions or do things you have been told to do by your holy book. How?... by being a good person and enjoying what god handed to you on the day you were born.

[edit on 23-12-2008 by fiftyfifty]

I don't think religion must end, but rather I think that it's fundamentalism that needs to be abolished (if that's even possible). Fundamentalism extends beyond just the sphere of religion, and it's every bit as damaging to both the individual and society no matter what context it's in. I think a good example of this would be the "hard liners" of Capitalism and Communism on both sides of the Iron Curtain during the Cold War.

I agree with rapinbatsisaltherage posts. I could not have written anything so well said. The OP did well by posting this way. The focus has been on the issue and not the OP. Most people who disagree with these types of issues usually focus on the OPs choice as an individual and not the subject of the issue (as we have seen so far with some posters). Stared and flagged.

Removing religion would make us closer, and would not divide us.

However, "removing religion" is a vast and broad term. In my own belief, we should never remove meditation... Meditation is a part of buddhism, which is a religion. We cannot remove everything bad about religion, without removing everything that is good about it.

A solution should be to never remove religion, but for the followers of the religion to only practice the practical, and not the theoretical. By theoretical, I mean by teaching principals of the religion onwards to other people.

The ideals and principals of a religion should *never* be taught onward to other followers. Each individual should learn about the religion on his own without guidance. If you are strong in the faith of your religion, you will always find the answers, if helped or not.

It is the same as being given the answer to life, without ever having lived life.

[edit on 23-12-2008 by Volatile]

I see evidence of outrage and condemnation for the Opening Post and this i find troubling. While I take no sides in this obvious diversion of what is considered right or wrong I have to wonder why some people have taken this thread so personally.

While I question the Opening Poster's choice of words, I cannot at the same time let pass, some of the statements that have ensued.

Freedom of choice as an individual is, and will always be, part of what we are as humanity, irrespective of weather it goes against the beliefs of others. The point the Opening Post makes is that perhaps having no religious support is the best way forward for them. Bringing in such topics as the NWO etc is irrelevant and at best, misleading the original Opening post statement. The fact that this thread has so many 'flags' that agree with its statement is again, irrelevant. There will always be people that agree with issues that we, as individuals may disagree with, that does not mean we should take this as a personal threat to our own way of life.

Right or wrong, what will happen will happen, but as history has shown us many times, that despite any indifferences we have with one another, humanity as a whole, will still survive.

The problem is not religion by itself. The problem is the false ego. The truth is that you (referring to whoever's reading this) are not who you really think you are.

You are not the name your parents gave you, not your likes/dislikes, not your race, not your nationalism, etc.

These are all falsities picked up as one grows up.

When you strip all these things away, you realize you are a soul having a human experience and the soul itself is kind, loving, united, fair, gentle, caring, compassionate.

So, even if you strip away all the religions in the world, your still going to have wars, murders, rapes, bombings, famines and so on.

You wanna know why??? Because nationalism is a religion, i.e. my country is better than your country. Race is a religion, i.e. white is better than black or yellow is better than brown vice versa. Financial status is a religion i.e. poor vs rich. Government is a religion i.e. them vs. us.

Do you not see Religion is in everything????? You will always have wars until the whole world can transcend these things and realize we are all united and the one thing we all have in common is that we are all souls and have to work together. This would require some kind of shift in consciousness, or perhaps using perspective guns like in hitchikers guide to the galaxy.

Your dealing with the philosophical truth that religion is inherent in all of mankind for as long as mankind see's himself as separate or different in anyway from his brother/sister, and as long as people look down on or up to others.

Bill Mahrs movie to me was a waste of time.

There's not much else to discuss after what I just said.

So, OP, you're on a mission to get rid of religion? Get rid of what people believe in?

Has it ever occurred to you that some religions actually do help mankind? No, you didn't think about that. You just jumped on a soap box, half minded. And you certainly didn't do enough serious research.

I think you will find that, in many cases, it's not the religion that is at fault, it is the insanity of the individual himself that is destructive.

For many, religion is a stablizing force, not destructive.

Spirituality, my friend, is not fiction to many people, including myself. We know that we are more than just a pile of animated meat and chemicals.

If you don't defend the right of people to believe as they please, then maybe you need to live under a strict dictatorship? Would that be to your liking?

Troy

[edit on 23-12-2008 by cybertroy]

Fanatics towards any ideal are damaging to humanity as a whole. This ranges from those who go to war over a religious belief to those who wish to control what others can or cannot think.

I met this girl at my anime Club. And she told me that Islam will lead anybody to Athesist or to totally rigilious zealot. And there's some truth in what she say, after all she ain't the only former Muslim who is an Athiest.

There is some truth in what you are saying, but the fact remains, unless Science officially explores Death and the spirit, then Religion will alway's be around.

I totally disagree with the OP post. Just because I personally don't believe in God that doesn't mean that I want religion abolished. In my opinion, I believe religion is a good thing because it makes some people turn there life around.

For the OP to say such a thing is wrong. People like the OP really need to take a good look at themselves. Why? because we are already living in a broken world and the only thing some people have to hold on to is the truth and religion.

We all know that religion is not real, but if religion was taken away then some people would be totally lost.

Originally posted by truth_seeker3

"you must believe this. When we as a species abandon our trust in the power greater than us, we abandon our sense of accountability. Faith ... all faiths … are admonitions that there is something we cannot understand, something to which we are accountable . . . With faith we are accountable to each other, to ourselves, and to a higher truth. Religion is flawed, but only because man is flawed. If the outside world could see this church as I do ... looking beyond the ritual of these walls . . . they would see a modern miracle... a brotherhood of imperfect, simple souls wanting only to be a voice of compassion in a world spinning out of control. . . ."

Forgive me, but I have to disagree with your quote. It implies that mankind is in some way, unaccountable if he does not trust in a "power greater than" himself.. That would imply then, that anyone who, for their own personal reasons, chooses to live their life without this "greater power" over them would be in fact, a lesser of man in his relationship towards his fellow man.


In plain, simple terms then, would a man without a religious background be considered incapable (i.e Lacking the necessary ability, capacity, or power) to show compassion, understanding and love towards his fellow man?.