How many people would go for this if they could?

[dingdong]

You assume that losing religion = moving forward. It doesn't. Losing the heavy influence of churches is an improvement, but for individuals, religion is not necessarily a barrier at all.

How many countries are there today where most of the population live in poverty because of religion?

 

[b&wpac4]

How many countries are there today where most of the population live in poverty because of religion?

I give up, how many because of religion?

 

[Ambrosius]

I don't get it because there is nothing to get, your God is in your mind which means all you can do is TALK about your God, if you stopped believing tomorrow where would your God go? it does happen you know.

Actually there is a lot to get. I'm not even talking about god AT ALL, I'm talking about putting your self in anothers' shoes - to see that we each have our own experiences and knowledge, and none of it is absolute or perfect. Which is a FACT. I'm not talking about beliefs or dogmas, or anything visible or invisible.

Also, don't assume people have always believed as they do. I don't believe just because I was raised that way or it is my culture or something. It makes sense to me. And that is all that matters. Can I "prove" it to you? No. Do I have to? NO - because I am not actually making any statement, I'm not telling you such and such is true, so I am NOT actually beholden to any burden of proof to you for my unstated beliefs. My beliefs are my own. On the other hand, it is a fact that no one has absolute perfect knowledge, and it is a fact that anyone who thinks they do is wrong - and everyone needs to be mindful of that to make life easier, that is all I'm saying.

 

[Jeffwhosoever]

dingdong,

Have you ever read the New Testament to actually evaluate for yourself if the claims about Jesus Christ are true? I'm reading the Qur'an, and I've studied other religions as well. If not, why?

 

[dingdong]

Actually there is a lot to get. I'm not even talking about god AT ALL, I'm talking about putting your self in anothers' shoes - to see that we each have our own experiences and knowledge, and none of it is absolute or perfect. Which is a FACT. I'm not talking about beliefs or dogmas, or anything visible or invisible.

You started out by saying there is a lot to get but you forgot to tell me what.

I am an Atheist not because I want to be an Atheist, I am an Atheist because my brain will not allow me to believe something that my brain tells me is not true, I need more than that.

I have said this before, could you make yourself believe something your brain tells you is not true? answer? no you can't,
I will guess that you do not believe that Mormonism is true, if you don't, try making yourself believe that it is,
then perhaps you will better understand why my brain makes me an Atheist.

 

[dingdong]

dingdong,

Have you ever read the New Testament to actually evaluate for yourself if the claims about Jesus Christ are true? I'm reading the Qur'an, and I've studied other religions as well. If not, why?

No I haven't, but what good would it do? you only believe it because someone introduced you to it and told you it was true, apparently it's a lot of books that were written a long long time ago by a lot of different people, it has since been changed a few times via translation (not intensionally) by different translators, also I am told that there are different versions of NT depending on what has been decided should be believed by different sects, I think the Catholic version is different as well but I don't know.

 

[RedRaven]

No I haven't, but what good would it do? you only believe it because someone introduced you to it and told you it was true, apparently it's a lot of books that were written a long long time ago by a lot of different people, it has since been changed a few times via translation (not intensionally) by different translators, also I am told that there are different versions of NT depending on what has been decided should be believed by different sects, I think the Catholic version is different as well but I don't know.

What good would it do? You might gain something from it. Something like knowledge, or understanding. You might have a grasp of one of the religions you speak against, something more than comparing God to Santa.

Do you only read things that fall into your world view?

 

[SithDoughnut]

Losing religion will be the single most advantageous thing humanity will have ever done for itself, just as children start to grow up when they stop believing in Santa Claus so humanity will start to move forward.

[Citation Needed]

Most of our modern knowledge is based upon the findings of religious people. Without the Islamic Middle East, we would not have received many pillars of modern maths when we did. That doesn't make religion the foundation of knowledge, but it does show that it hasn't been much of an impediment in many cases.

 

[SithDoughnut]

How many countries are there today where most of the population live in poverty because of religion?

Somewhere between none and very few, but I'm edging towards none.

 

[jpcedotal]

How about this for a twist, dingdong?

Is there anyone on this earth that you would sacrifice your life for in order for them to continue living?

 

[dingdong]

[Citation Needed]

Most of our modern knowledge is based upon the findings of religious people. Without the Islamic Middle East, we would not have received many pillars of modern maths when we did. That doesn't make religion the foundation of knowledge, but it does show that it hasn't been much of an impediment in many cases.

I think you have got that a little bit wrong, I think all of the creativity stopped when Islam came along,
I could be wrong perhaps someone with a better knowledge of the middle east could answer that one.

 

[dingdong]

How many countries are there today where most of the population live in poverty because of religion?

Somewhere between none and very few, but I'm edging towards none.

Saudi Arabia has only just arrived in the 20th century, India has more religions than you can shake a stick at and most of it's population are living in slums, Afghanistan was run by the Tali ban for the benefit of it's religion, Ireland was run by Catholicism.
Religions have been responsible (or the people who were leading them) for more poverty and pain than most diseases.
Religions were there not to help people but to subjugate them, slavery was backed by religions.
Religions were used to control people, read your history books.
More people hated religion than loved it because they feared it, it could ruin their lives if they fell out with it.

 

[dingdong]

Is there anyone on this earth that you would sacrifice your life for in order for them to continue living?

Yes my family, how about you?

 

[sidhe]

Saudi Arabia has only just arrived in the 20th century, India has more religions than you can shake a stick at and most of it's population are living in slums, Afghanistan was run by the Tali ban for the benefit of it's religion, Ireland was run by Catholicism.

I was unaware the majority of the Irish population lived in poverty. So [citation needed].

Also, [citation needed] on the financial issues of India being related to religion and not to the lingering effects of colonialism and the caste system.

Religions have been responsible (or the people who were leading them) for more poverty and pain than most diseases.

[citation needed]

Religions were there not to help people but to subjugate them, slavery was backed by religions.

Religious reasons were used to justify slavery, but I'd say that it's more that people tend to view the "others" as inferior that leads to slavery.

Religions were used to control people, read your history books.

Read Machiavelli - you don't need religion to control people, only some clever tricks and utter ruthlessness.

Stalin, for example, did a fine job of controlling people using information gateways, brutal violence, and paranoia. No religion needed.

More people hated religion than loved it because they feared it, it could ruin their lives if they fell out with it.

[citation needed]

You can't just make sweeping claims like that without evidence. That's called "blind faith," and blind faith sucks.

 

[sidhe]

I think you have got that a little bit wrong, I think all of the creativity stopped when Islam came along,
I could be wrong perhaps someone with a better knowledge of the middle east could answer that one.

Nope. Mathematics in the Mideast during the Ottoman Empire was far more advanced than that in the west...concepts like "zero" came out of there. The influence of Arabic mathematics was such that the numeric characters used in Western society are based on Arabic numerals.

 

[Aibrean]

Didn't Jesus already do that? Except he did it for free and came back.

 

[Wicked Willow]

Saudi Arabia has only just arrived in the 20th century, India has more religions than you can shake a stick at and most of it's population are living in slums, Afghanistan was run by the Tali ban for the benefit of it's religion, Ireland was run by Catholicism.

Gosh, did you even hear of colonialism? Look it up, will ya?
Funnily enough, your rationalization comes awfully close to how the colonial powers justified their exploitative politics to begin with.

 

[dingdong]

Nope. Mathematics in the Mideast during the Ottoman Empire was far more advanced than that in the west...concepts like "zero" came out of there. The influence of Arabic mathematics was such that the numeric characters used in Western society are based on Arabic numerals.

I know a lot of maths started in the Middle East, I just didn't know if it was before Islam or during.

 

[sidhe]

I know a lot of maths started in the Middle East, I just didn't know if it was before Islam or during.

Islamic Golden Age - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Read and learn. Wikipedia is your friend. If there aren't multiple flags for incorrect/unsupported info on a page (that is, the big alerts at the top), the information should be good.

 

[dingdong]

Gosh, did you even hear of colonialism? Look it up, will ya?
Funnily enough, your rationalization comes awfully close to how the colonial powers justified their exploitative politics to begin with.

What colonialism was there in Saudi or Afghanistan?

Sufficed to say, religion has never been all sweetness and light, it was a dark and dirty business for millions for a long long time, torture was usually the order of the day, if they could get you to confess your sins no matter what the cost was to your body your soul would benifit, which was the main thing.