Religion: Helping or Destroying?

well i believe religion will give people hope not destruction.
for example in Japan or new orleans, (i dont know which, probably japan) a baby was stranded on top of a roof for 4-5 days (not sure)

doesent that give u hope??? that a simple baby can survive all alone in that kind of place for so long,
hope for that u still have your baby and that He/she is alive???
and the family of this baby are Christians.

so it doesent sound like its destroying does it??
but thats my 2 sense.

 

Probably Japan. I heard a story where a baby was washed right out of the mother's arms. Three days later, rescue crews were going through the destruction, searching for survivors. One of them heard a baby crying, but thought it might've been the wind. They kept on hearing the baby cry, and the people eventually found the baby and managed to return the baby to its family.

Anyways, as for the point of the debate, religion in and of itself does not destroy communities. The problem is when people use religion as an excuse to do bad things.

 

......WARNING: this will turn into some Arguement..

Christanity is not here to give you less fun God wants you to have fun but not as in*Examples*rugs,Swearing at someone,ruining others property,Ect.
God wants you to enjoy life,and obey his commandments and you will live a good life*okay but what if i dont do these things is he gonna kill me??* no he will let you have your "Fun" but when you do die you will be judged and he will ask you if you obeyed his commands.and it will only be you and you will have to tell him you did not and be thrown into the lake of fire Aka Hell,so if this is true why not make sure that you dont get sent to Lake of fire Aka Hell?? here is a list of Gods commands.


I am the Lord thy God ,
who have brought thee out of the land of Egypt (Mizrahim), out of the house of bondage.
Thou shalt not have strange gods before me
Thou shalt not make for thyself any graven image
(carved idol) or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth; thou shalt not bow down to them or serve them; for I the Lord thy God am a jealous God, punishing the iniquities of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generations of those that hate me; but showing mercy to thousands of generations of those that love me, and keep my commandments.

Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain ;
for the Lord will not hold him guiltless that takes his name in vain.

Remember to keep holy the sabbath day ;
six days shalt thou labor, and do all thy work; but the seventh day is a sabbath, that is, the rest of the Lord thy God. Thou shalt not do any work therein, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, nor thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy ox, nor thy ass, nor any of thy beasts, nor the stranger that is within thy gates; that thy manservant and thy maidservant may rest, even as thyself. Remember that thou also didst serve in Egypt, and the Lord thy God brought thee out from thence with a strong hand, and a stretched out arm. Therefore hath he commanded thee that thou shouldst observe the sabbath day.

Honour thy father and mother
that thy days be long in the land which the Lord gives thee.

Thou shalt not kill.

Thou shalt not commit adultery.

Thou shalt not steal.

Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor.

Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's wife.
Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's (goods)
house or fields, nor his male or female slaves, nor his ox or ass, or anything that belongs to him.


Deuteronomy 5:6-21

 

I promise myself to never debate in any religious topics again (Because of previous debates.) but anyways, here is what I have to say:

Article 1: First off, I always call God with a capitol G. Why? He is a real being. I am not going to go into details that will have all of you start going at each others throats. Also, I need to see the evidence as to how studies have proven that criminals and religion are related. I am thinking on a different perspective as a child of God so if I don't see it, then I cannot believe it. Sorry, but the person who said that all of us needs to stop trying to believe on faith and to start using our own eyes so that is what I am doing now to this article.

Article 2: I have nothing against gays. Besides, you can still be saved if you turn away from it. Also, God said that he does not like all of that junk because he made man and woman. I do not even think that there are any religion that stated that there was God or a god who allowed a man and a man to be together or vice-versa. Also, as a child of God myself, I do not believe that religion shoudl be use as a weapon. When I read about that "God does not need our defense." I have two answers to that only because I did not know how it was stated. One: God is all-powerful Lord and Savior. He created everything. Even so, he even thought of destroying the whole world with a flood but saved Noah and his family and the animals. The world can be try to ignore him and go against him and he would still be God all by himself. He even kept quiet and never gave any advice or help to the people for 400 years (If I remember Malachi right). In that perspective, God does not need our defense in that way in attack and battles. Two: In the other sense, as children of God, we are to defend for what is right and just and we are to support Father's plan. To help others when they are in need, to go against wickedness, to accomplish what we are set to do, that is defending what is right and not only that, we are glorifying him and showing everyone as to who we are.

Article 3: Let me see. As for religion as a part of war, meh...somewhat. Still, most of it is not based on religion. The American Revolution was not based on the war and even though the Civil War on slavery may be somehow related to religion, the main idea was not religion-related. World War II: Germany and Adolf Hitler wanted to have complete control over the world besidse just killing off of the Jews. Cold War: Communism started to spread and America lend a hand to try to halt it. Meh. religion hardly had anything to do with the war. As for the charts, meh... it depends on the year as to when the chart has been made. Also, the bible is not full of hate and murder. I am not saying that the Bible is all sweet and loving. Nope. it actually tells on the past of the old and new rules and as for God killing those who disobeys him, at least all of you know that God is not scared to pass judgement and is not afraid to strike those who disgust him greatly to an extent. Does he want us to suffer forever? No but we brought the consequence on ourselves. Do god loves us? Yes but he still dislike sin and it doesn't matter what it is: Homos, bi, killing, lying, stealing, fornification, it is still all one and the same. Those of religion must also follow the same thing.

What do I have to say on this? Whenever you say religion, which religion are you talking about? Religion is very broad. I am thinking in Christianity terms so I cannot give you my info on Islam or Buddhism. Heck. Before I became a christian, I was reading Wicca books without even realizing it and it was all because I was "Harry Potter" crazy and I was young. I just thought that magic was neat. Religion does not make anything strict but it is those who take it to the max who tend to make it so unintentionally.

 

Well keep in mind, religion is man's interpretation, nothing more, nothing less. I'm not saying that any religion is wrong, but I'm not saying that any is right. Here are the ups of religion and down's of religion.

Ups

- It gives man a moral support system to abide to reduce chaos and "Evil" actions amongst believers.
- Provides a sense of comfort knowing that when you die, you still continue to live (Many fear death, so why fear if you pass on?)
- It gathers large groups of people together as one, to share and cherish their faith accordingly together and builds relationships with other believers

Downs

- Religion has been the primary source of influence in some of our greatest wars in history of man
- Many criminals abuse the concept as a trump card to dodge or avoid the system of going to jail.
- The bible is being constantly modified and updated to keep with present times and stay relevant, but in doing so, this gives the publisher/s power to take out sources or add in new sources in ways they see fit.

I know I mentioned the bible a lot, not to target any faith but it's all I could think of at the moment. We have these discussions amongst believers and non believers and we came to the conclusion that if religion leaves you alone, leave religion alone.

 

nothing more needs to be said you have Nailed it H.summoner *Gives high five*..

 

At least you had the answer that I was thinking. If people are hurting people and killing people out of the name of their denomination, then I can see why it can be seen as a crime. Anyways, with the "Don't see, don't believe" phrase, well, if the person is complaining about not people should not believe in faith, then if you do not show me that $5.00 that you promise me, then I will not believe you. If I do not see that piece of candy that you promise to buy for me when we was inside Walgreens, then why should I believe you? Same thing with Article 1. If I do not see the evidence, then why should I believe or accept your opinion? Just reading it just made me assumed that the person is saying that we do not need faith so what I am giving you as an example is not in faith. Now that I am done stepping out of my zone, now let me go to the God part. Yes, I cannot see him. Well, too bad that there are no shortcuts to see him. Even so, for me, there is an anointing for me that tells me as to when I can sense a presence that is God. In order to specify this easier, call it an instinct link to the spiritual side. Even though I cannot see him, I can sense the power or presence. That is just a small piece of what I have to say. Also, how can someone can say "Seeing is believing" when none of us ever went downtown to see a big riot yet we still believe on what someone else said. How can we say "seeing is believing" when we never lived in the era of Depression or never lived poor and yet, we act as though everything is alright when we are rich and never experienced it? Well, that is my small contradiction to it there. Do you want a car? You better start believing in yourself that you will get that car. Want a job? Then you better start believing in yourself that you will get the job that you wanted.

Also, I do not know anything about any wars from 1000 A.D, the Crusades, and I might not even know anything about the Muslims' "Holy War" unless you tell me one. Sorry. I only know the wars from 1700's-Present.

 

Sorry but I really find this a joke. In the Christianity sense, it has no relation in contributing to abortion, sex, promoting suicide, and most likely murder rates. As for other religions, I do not know but I am telling you from my perspective with just the religion that I have experienced. First off, our country is in a big dump anyways. Oil spill, dependent on other countries, gas prices will hit $5.00 in the summer and will stay that way, we are in a trillion dollar debt, government went broke for a day, you cannot go and try to put all of that on religion. We want to say "One nation, under God", yet some of them want to cross out God and want to replace him with something else or just say one nation. Also, I find this contradicting with each other in the link. Don't ask me but I find this very contradicting.

“Many Americans agree that their churchgoing nation is an exceptional, God-blessed, shining city on the hill that stands as an impressive example for an increasingly sceptical world. “In general, higher rates of belief in and worship of a creator correlate with higher rates of homicide, juvenile and early adult mortality, STD infection rates, teen pregnancy and abortion in the prosperous democracies."


But really, that's just me. Not only that, hasn't the United States has been always been dysfunctional? Great Depression, Cold War, big riots, capturing of citizens, high rated unemployment, you name it. As for teen pregnancy, I do not know a religion who thinks that it is ok to be pregnant at the age of 13 or 15. I mean, really. Why shift the blame on religion? Teen pregnancy comes from teenagers who was not being careful, the condoms or birth pills or whatever did not work, or it is just that the teenagers just do not care. As for suicide, well, if you kill yourself, you're supposed to automatically go to hell since it is unforgivable. You have friends and families who cares for you and you still go on ahead and want to do the action, I will not have any remorse for you. There are a lot of people who commit suicide and it has nothing, to me, has anything to do with religion. I don't know about the people in the different areas who blow themselves up during the war or whatever because their religion might be different from Christianity.


And as the country being the more religious, meh. I doubt it. This country allows the passing laws of gay marriages and even abortion. Is this is still one nation under God? I doubt it. Not only that, where are the studies? I do not see any evidence at all. Plus, there are many individuals who have STDs and what-not with their own decision and own mind. And what about religion contributing to social illness? The only way that, to me, religion can tear up a society is if people use it to create chaos within.


As for the theory of evolution, I just thought that the two can work together. Who knows? I might be wrong. I still do not believe that you need something that has been created so that there can be an evolution. Also, we want to go and compare with other countries and say "Well, they are less religious and they are doing far better off than we are." Just shut up. We try to say that we are more religious, yet we are still wallowing in the same stuff that we are still doing in the government, in private and in public and it hardly had anything to do with religion. If the others can work on their own without religion, fine, but this country, in my Christianity viewpoint, can do just as good with religion, only if people would allow it.

 

i will keep my thoughts short on how i see religion.

Waste of time. Gives false beliefs to those who have none. Christianity follows the Bible. IT'S A BOOK! how the heck can someone walk on water!?(Jesus) how the heck can someone push the ocean to make a path!?(Moses) how can someone make a planet in 7 days? impossible. sure there's a possibility for everything but C'mon! last thing about religion-show me some physical monkey flippin' proof!

 

To quickly summarize everything you asked, they are all acts of God. God, according to the bible, is all powerful. Do you seriously believe that something all powerful cannot create everything in 7 days, even though all powerful basically amounts to being able to do anything. And also, why should religion provide proof? Why does God, a being above us and beyond our comprehension, have to prove His existence to us?

But anyways...

This is basically what I said before. Religion in and of itself is not bad. People just use religion for their own personal agendas.

 

let me add to what you said about us being our own judges, Hope. From what I've come across, most religious people say God chooses who we are. But honestly, he doesn't. WE decide who we are and our paths. But possibly, Fate and/or Destiny, the unknown forces, decide our paths in life. To shorten it, it's going to happen. Like, how all of us know each other from the site. That's Destiny. God has nothing to do with any of us or what we do.