Religion's Effect on society

When we are talking about religion I think it is worth remembering that there ios usually a difference between what head office dictates about the religion and what the people do and believe. Most Catholics are extememely nice and reasonable.

I agree Belinda but as I have said to friends your quite acceptance helps perpetrate the errors.

The problem as I see it is when you are able to convince a certain group that their divine exceeds that of another. To find this typical crap we can cite events from the past to open our eyes. Kamikaze translated means divine wind. As Kubla Khan sailed his entire navy to invade Japan a hurricane hit. I'm thinking 45 days journey in peak hurricane season that's pretty reasonable. The Japanese people came to believe the wind was divine in origin because they where the chosen. At the end of WWII young stupid men where asked to kill as many as possible by forfeiting their lives all for the chosen people who possessed the divine right to rule others. Sure, now, we know it was all just that much crap. Can we find similarities? Religions effect indeed.

Quite right , Eyes.

Xris, if you can get the man in the street to think and to think rationally you are a better communicator than I. I have given up and have now given up my real life philosophy group leadership as I am tired of spoon feeding full grown adults who seem to lack digestive juices. Nice people but philosophy is something else. Richard Dawkins has a difficult task simply getting the public to understand science!

Invictus,
To be fair, I really don't see much difference between any religion beyond the differences in rituals, and how many gods there are.

I will safely assume that you've never studied any.

Invictus,
To be fair, I really don't see much difference between any religion beyond the differences in rituals, and how many gods there are.

I will safely assume that you've never studied any.

I have studied many sects of christianity, judaism, greek/roman mythology, islam, and the beliefs and myths of Vikings. Please convince me that the differences run deeper than how many gods there are, and how to worship them.

Invictus,
To be fair, I really don't see much difference between any religion beyond the differences in rituals, and how many gods there are.

I will safely assume that you've never studied any.

I have studied many sects of christianity, judaism, greek/roman mythology, islam, and the beliefs and myths of Vikings. Please convince me that the differences run deeper than how many gods there are, and how to worship them.

Cool story bro'. Who accredited the course(s)?

Invictus, I don't like the tone of your comment. It sounded as if you were discrediting the fact that I did indeed know of the religions. Rather than being immature, please just come right out and say you would like to know where I got my information from.
In response to your question, I read straight from the holy books. As for the more obscure one, I readpublished copies form credible authors.
Rather than question my knowledge, please try to convince me that there is a difference between them.

Your study has led you to the ridiculous conclusion that there is not "much difference between any religion beyond the differences in rituals, and how many gods there are". I concluded that your 'study' was a rather personal affair, a dilettantish skim-reading to confirm your own superficial first impressions, rather than an actual accredited course, and was goading you into revealing it.

As an example of what I mean, I could ask you to reconcile Islamic with Buddhist views on punishment. You would find that the points of disagreement lead you on from the particular to the general to the cosmological differences between the religions. You can do the same trying to reconcile the ethical, aesthetic, social (etc) attitudes of Protestants and Catholics, Jews and Zoroastrians, NeoPagans and Mormons.

Different religions have different cosmologies; that is to say, they work from different and frequently incompatible pictures of the universe, of mankind, and our place in that universe.

From that, different and frequently incompatible notions of value and morality arise, and from those arise different and frequently incompatible social teachings. These things run from the most trivial aspects of how we live our lives down to the fundamentals of physical matter and metaphysical purpose.

The common ground is important, but the differences are also important. Ignoring either is dangerous and foolish.

Actually, I read them for entertainment. To recieve a course on a religion creates a bias coming from the teacher, which probably will affect your opinion of it.

I consider Buddhism to be more of a philosophy than a religion.

You seem to be avoiding my request which was to prove to me that there is a large difference between religions, not the affect of that opinion. And just to be clear, I don't mean how most people interperet the text, but what is actually written.

Kingcool wrote:

Actually, I read them for entertainment. To recieve a course on a religion creates a bias coming from the teacher, which probably will affect your opinion of it.

No person is totally objective and teachers are people too. However, a teacher who has qualified in a respected institution of learning should be as fair minded as possible, because the teacher at least has professional standards. The same cannot be said for authors whose purpose is to earn a penny writing popular and entertaining books and magazine articles.
I think that , somewhere in philosophyclub, there should be advice on how to get the best information. My rule of thumb for reliable websites is to look for 'edu' or 'ac'' in the address. My advice for books and magazine articles is to look for footnotes, end notes and most importantly references.

Religion has had many different effects on society all the way from terrorists to civil rights. Osama Bin Landin to Martin Luther King Jr. With religion we have advanced ex. abolisionists, civilrights, inalianable rights. With religion we have declined ex. hate crimes, clinic bombings, and 911. It is not the religion itself that has brought about these good and bad things but the way in which people have interpreted it and acted in it's name. Would there be any terrorists? christian and muslim, if religion did not exist? I believe so. Would there be people like Mother Thersa if religion did not exist? I also believe there would be. Is it fair to blame the religion for good and bad people that come out of it? I believe not, because there would be good and bad people without the existence of religion.

Parro I think the world would have been better of without mother Theresa. she is hardly the best example of religous conviction. You can not select what you choose. You can not pick the good moral teachings from religion and claim that alone should be considered. Need we go over all the terrible advice religion gives us and the evil that it perpetrated.

Religion has had many different effects on society all the way from terrorists to civil rights. Osama Bin Landin to Martin Luther King Jr. With religion we have advanced ex. abolisionists, civilrights, inalianable rights. With religion we have declined ex. hate crimes, clinic bombings, and 911. It is not the religion itself that has brought about these good and bad things but the way in which people have interpreted it and acted in it's name. Would there be any terrorists? christian and muslim, if religion did not exist? I believe so. Would there be people like Mother Thersa if religion did not exist? I also believe there would be. Is it fair to blame the religion for good and bad people that come out of it? I believe not, because there would be good and bad people without the existence of religion.

I disagree. There would still be terrorism, but not as much. Religion is responsible for most terrorism, but this is not to say that without religion, there would be no war. People have always said that if we wern't fighting over religion, or oil, government, ect., we would just find something else to fight over. I don't think this is true. Eventually, we will run out of things to fight over.
To not blame religion for the death and hardship it causes because it would have happened for some other reason is like not convicting a rapist for raping an attractive woman because someone else would have just done it anyway.

-- Updated March 28th, 2012, 12:00 pm to add the following --

Kingcool wrote:

Actually, I read them for entertainment. To recieve a course on a religion creates a bias coming from the teacher, which probably will affect your opinion of it.

No person is totally objective and teachers are people too. However, a teacher who has qualified in a respected institution of learning should be as fair minded as possible, because the teacher at least has professional standards. The same cannot be said for authors whose purpose is to earn a penny writing popular and entertaining books and magazine articles.
I think that , somewhere in philosophyclub, there should be advice on how to get the best information. My rule of thumb for reliable websites is to look for 'edu' or 'ac'' in the address. My advice for books and magazine articles is to look for footnotes, end notes and most importantly references.

I didn't say there would be a very heavy bias, just that it will always be there.

I didn't say there would be a very heavy bias, just that it will always be there.

It is always there that is true.I can however seek for authors who dont have such motives as preaching, money making, power seeking, hoaxing, and what not.

It is these religions the cause of the worlds woes. The communist revolution of 1914 in Russia and 1921 in China banned religion, instituted central control, and lived happily ever after. We need full compliance to those socialist ideals and no longer need, indeed not even be permitted, discussions such as this!