katie_tully said:
I read a book about the history of the Bible the other day, you know, out of interest. I wonder how many hard core religious types know the true origin. I doubt it would matter, they all believe it is the direct word of God..
Which it turns out, is not correct!
Which book was that? I found that sort of thing interesting. I read a book by a bloke (can't remember whether he was a professor or what) about the evidence supporting the bible. It seemed pretty thorough. If you want the title and the author I can give it to you.
Anyway, as for religion in general: I am not going to be so absurd as to group all religions together because some of them do not mix well.
But first, it should be remembered that religion, like any other ideological perspective can be used by fanatics etc.
Christianity: This is a religion that I find to be extremely positive and most Christians I know are all the good sort of people who brighten your day and work for charities, that sort of thing. Christianity is a personal thing and should stay that way.
That being said, I do remember that the crusades were done in the past and that religious extrememists do exist, but, in modern Australian society, especially on a personal level, Christianity seems to do more good than harm.
EDIT: Catholicism: I knew I forgot something big. Catholicisim is similair in Christianity to beliefs but it has a more structured, and thus more corruptible approach. Further, Catholicism is rife with allegations of a disturbing nature. Catholics do seem a nice lot but being such a rigid heirachy there is always the worry of views being enforced on those lower down.
Islam: I don't know many muslims, though the few I've met are nice enough, even if it was just in passing. However, the continual problems that arise in relation to islams inconsollability with the West is a hard point to go past. The violence that seems to be inherent with islam (and I used to defend islam up until very recently) along with it's intolerance for certain individuals (including all non - muslims) seems to make this a religion that does more harm than good, at least in Western societies and from a Western, liberal, view point. Perhaps islam is all well and good islamic countries and they can stick with it if they want, but there'll always be a problem as long as they interact with Western nations and people.
Buddhism: There seems to be nothing overtly wrong with this religion in contemporary society (I'm not sure of it's history), but it's not practiced widley in Australia so I'm not familiar with it. Still, the monks seem happy with their lives so they can do as they please.
New Age: A market place religion, if you will. I don't have anything against New Age people in general, if they want to create their own religion to give their life meaning then fine by them. It's a personal thing. As long as it doesn't interfere with society then ok. The logic behind it is another matter, but people can believe in what they like in a free country.
Druidism: Perhaps this is the real religion that should be associated with Greenies, not buddhism. If trees are your thing then go for it, as long as it's legal.
Jedi: May the force be with you. It's actually a real religion and if it's followers reckon they can use the force then good for them. Star wars rules (though I do realise it's fantasy).
There are more religions and I'm sure I missed a few biggies but I'll get back to them.
Here is the crux though: Would society really benefit from the loss of religion? And would banning religion really be "freedom"? Wouldn't that just be another form of oppression.
I know the muslims are going to attack me
, but what the hell. I'm sick of being politically correct. Up until this cartoon foray I defended muslims in Australia when they came up in debates (not on BOS obviously because they're muslims here to do it themselves) and I had nothing against islam. However, these riots have highlighted how incompatible things are. What's more, those links provided withoutaface and others are disturbing and I am not going to defend islam again, or even give it the benefit of the doubt, until I'm assured that muslims aren't raised to believe this and similiar stuff. I'll post one of the links so people know what I'm ranting about:
http://www.papillonsartpalace.com/muhammpmad.htm
And there were other links.
Oh, and if this is a bit of a disjointed reply blame it on lack of sleep.
