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All Religion is Bad.

All religion is bad and causes harm

  • True

    Votes: 97 49.7%

  • False

    Votes: 98 50.3%
  • Total voters
    195

The Atheist

The Grammar Tyrant
The Atheist
Joined
Jul 3, 2006
Messages
36,362
Ok, let's put this to the test.

I have been having a fairly lengthy discussion in SMMT, which ought to be in here. The main problem is this phrase:

ALL RELIGION IS BAD.

Nice, black and white comment. Not, "most religions are bad" or "some religions are bad", but ALL. I have covered the matter several times and that is a fair description. "Bad" will equate to "causes mental or physical harm", the contention being that belief in god is bad, of itself.

I would like to poll views on this.

Sorry there are only two choices, but it is a yes/no answer needed and I've lost the instructions for putting Planet X in polls.



And PLEASE!

Do vote before reading the spoiler about why I voted the way I did.


It has been suggested that if all religion is bad, people who don't admit to that are religious apologists as a result. If the majority rule decides that all religion is bad, because that is not a position I can state, I am changing my name to The Religious Apologist.

Please do not take this a chance to be mean to The Atheist! :bgrin:
 
Uh - hate to point this out but:

"All religion is bad and causes harm," is not the same question.
 
I don't believe most religions are entirely bad. So I'd have to analyse if the harm they do outweighs the benefits (such as charity work, emotional comfort, community, etc). No idea how to do that, and I've only known a world with religion in it so have nothing to compare it to.

I have a suspicion that if religion didn't exist, someone would invent it. So, not sure I can answer the question. I don't really know if religion is bad, I think it just is.

It's rather like asking "are humans tall?".
 
cyborg said:
Uh - hate to point this out but:

"All religion is bad and causes harm," is not the same question.
Click to expand...

Well, not in this poll they aren't, because that's how religion was classed as "bad". It causes harm by encouraging beliefs in non-existent things.

I put it in the question to remove debate on what "bad" means - in this context, it means "causes harm", emotionally, intellectually or physically.
 
Hokulele said:
Since when does a religion necessarily require a belief in god?
Click to expand...

Well, that's a fairly small argument. I guess it depends whether you class Buddhism and its clones a religion or not. Let's agree that I'm meaning the 99% of religions which believe in god/s. Those are the ones which matter as I'm not aware of Buddhism telling lies about sky-daddies and angels.
 
tkingdoll said:
I don't believe most religions are entirely bad. So I'd have to analyse if the harm they do outweighs the benefits (such as charity work, emotional comfort, community, etc). No idea how to do that, and I've only known a world with religion in it so have nothing to compare it to.

I have a suspicion that if religion didn't exist, someone would invent it. So, not sure I can answer the question. I don't really know if religion is bad, I think it just is.

It's rather like asking "are humans tall?".
Click to expand...

Not trying to make your mind up for you, but the bolded bit is the one which matters - as I said, it's fairly black and white. All religion is bad and causes harm is either true or false in your mind. The first sentence suggests the latter.
 
It's the dodge and weave thing... if someone dares say religion is harmful or falsehoods dressed up as "higher truths" the apologists run in and say that not ALL religions are bad... as though that makes spreading and covering for the lie noble.

Faith is a crappy way to know anything. This started from a thread where qayak said something to the effect of "who says religion isn't child abuse?" after reading an OP about a creationist tour guide teaching children to be "skeptical of the skeptics" with a kid saying to an evolutionist at the end "why do you teach false facts"?-- The thread was derailed while demands were made to produce evidence of religions harmful effects. Studies and anecdotes were provided to no avail. The apologists love to demonize those who point at that religion is a lie and pretend that those commenting on it's harms are trying to say ALL religions are bad and harmful and child abuse.

All religions promote the notion that faith is a good way to know the truth. I'm voting yes even with the purposely dorky wording implying that anyone criticizing religion is criticizing all religions equally.
 
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tkingdoll said:
I don't believe most religions are entirely bad. So I'd have to analyse if the harm they do outweighs the benefits (such as charity work, emotional comfort, community, etc).
Click to expand...

Not me. I think that the act of having a religion is inherently bad for you.
 
The Atheist said:
Well, that's a fairly small argument. I guess it depends whether you class Buddhism and its clones a religion or not. Let's agree that I'm meaning the 99% of religions which believe in god/s. Those are the ones which matter as I'm not aware of Buddhism telling lies about sky-daddies and angels.
Click to expand...


Taoism? Confucianism? Jainism? Paganism? Carvaka?
 
Hokulele said:
Since when does a religion necessarily require a belief in god?
Click to expand...

True enough... the "religious impulse", which can sometimes exist without a belief in a god(see "communism" and "American Idol") is always bad.
 
The Atheist said:
Well, that's a fairly small argument. I guess it depends whether you class Buddhism and its clones a religion or not. Let's agree that I'm meaning the 99% of religions which believe in god/s. Those are the ones which matter as I'm not aware of Buddhism telling lies about sky-daddies and angels.
Click to expand...

Most Asian religions - Buddhism, Taoism, Shintoism (depending on your definition of god(s)), Confucianism - don't necessarily follow gods. And believe me, there are a ton of Asians out there. So 99%? I dispute that.
 
While some religions don't have a god, they do tend to all have a supernatural aspect.
 
I just played the odds. All religions are bad and all religions cause harm. There's just too many things that have to be true at once for that conjunction to be a true one.
 
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