It appears from much of what I have seen on here and the world in general that religion is commonly seen as contributing towards many of the global problems both in the past and today.

So I would like to ask your opinions on whether or not religion has a place in solving these problems?

If not, then why?

And if so - how can this be achieved now that in the western world, churches are no longer integrated with government to the same degree as in the past?

An issue which I feel strongly about!

Indeed that current of thought seems to be widely accepted nowadays, it's common to see people that aren't religious but say that religion and faith may be something that helps people living and that even conforts people.

I must disagree!
Faith weakens people! When people believe in a God, when people try to explain anything using a God, using a belief, they exit from reality, they, how to explain it, they destroy one more lasting part of their strenght.

By refusing to acknowledge reality as it is, by trying to explain it by other means that we do not have a clue about existence, not only our mental abilities are gradually weakened (it's like refusing to think) but also our spiritual and individual strenght is destroyed.

What about afterlife? Another escape from reality, another way not to face the truth, another way not to face the real world, another way to deserve death.
Most of this behaviours not only show how weak the believing one is, but as well weaken it even more. In my opinion, not only non-religious thought is needed but also Anti-Religious thought is!

How can man evolve from its actual stage if we keep putting our destiny in "God's" hands, how can we transcend our actual state if we believe we have no real control on our life (and that is what religious thought is all about, with it's morals and values, punishments and sins, a real mind control) how can we evolve if we don't have total freedom of acting, inherent to our human condition and undermined by religious morals and sins?
How can we be happy if we think how much we are puppets of our own (imposed) morals?

How can we accept to live under this conditions?

The Death of God is needed! First and most important premise of our transcendence, first and most important law of the path to the Super-Human.

It appears from much of what I have seen on here and the world in general that religion is commonly seen as contributing towards many of the global problems both in the past and today.

/////Arc
So I would like to ask your opinions on whether or not religion has a place in solving these problems?

If not, then why?

And if so - how can this be achieved now that in the western world, churches are no longer integrated with government to the same degree as in the past?/////////


This is precisely the problem...........
Church.....(people) is not the same as what it once was......politics have entered the church and many leaders of the church have followed suit..
Power ,combined with Wordly expectations of how one should be in this world has dominated the church.........

do i beleive that the church has the problems of society solved.......no i dont........
its not the religions that will solve the problems, but the small minority that hold the truth of our existence........

because people have become so infiltrated with worldy persuits ,the people themselves are lost and in search of a worldly leader to show them the way......

Is the modern world really anything whatever
but a direct denial of all traditional truth?It
wears every disguise,often the most unexpected,
to avoid being recognized for what it is, and
even to pass itself off as the very opposite of what it is...


---Rene Guenon......

[Edited on 12-3-2003 by helen]

I think somewhere along the line religion becomes co-opted, along with many other things by those with their own agenda, they then use religion as their excuse and go on to cause misery.

Religion and spirituality should be matters of individual choice IMHO and should be kept well away from any secular or political concerns.

As for faith or belief making you weak, who's to say. I've known people of a very strong faith who have overcome terrrible problems and gone on to thrive, I've also seen
athiests who adopt the mindset of survival of the fittest and any action is justified if it benefits me, who have caused untold misery and conflict and the strange thing is at some point it nearly always comes right back at them and eventually proves to be their undoing. OK I'm generalising the fact is everyone's experiences are different.

Pro-active faith or secular humanism, if either one helps to get you through you're day that's fine with me. More importantly a belief system whether spiritual or athiestic should make it's number one priority the aim to have a beneficial rather than negative impact on society.