Thoughts on religion?

Might depend on where you live. I would agree, but then again, St. Louis county isn't the most religious of places. I think younger people are more accepting, and if the church wants to survive then there isn't much of a choice but to change.

Being an atheist, I really couldn't care what happens to the church; but, I do like where tolerance is headed. But again, that is more of a generational thing due to young people being in a world that is more connected than ever, and the church is just playing catch-up.

 

" i see posts on the internet by respectable religious people"

That's one of the worst parts of the internet though isn't it, you can be basically free from consequence for anything you say. Even with your full name out there you can just blast an inflammatory comment and never look at the page again!

 

I think that organized religion stops the positive evolution of society.

A perfect theist would have a personal god and a perfect religion would be godless.

 

I'm an agnostic. I feel that while religion may give individuals some comfort, as whole it's one of the biggest problems in our world. People that are heavily religious base their whole lives around religion and try to dictate what other people do so it fits in with their religious beliefs.

I used to be a Christian but after living so many years as a pastor's kind in a very conservative Christian environment I have grown to really dislike Christianity. I don't hate most Christians themselves since I understand where they are coming from, but I think the religion itself is very problematic.

 

I'm an atheist. I think that the laws of science 100% disprove any possibility of a god existing. I think that religion is used as a teddy bear by people who are hurting or going through a hard time. As Karl Marx put it, "Religion is the opiate of the masses."

People also turn to religion to give them hope that they'll see their dead loved ones again someday. I wouldn't mind seeing my grandfather again, but I do think that once you're dead, you're dead and that's the end of it. Stephen Hawking once said that Heaven was a fairy tale "for people afraid of the dark." I will concede that there's only one way to find out what happens when you die, and I'm (hopefully) at least a few decades off from finding out for sure.

I'll let Stephen Hawking explain it in his own words:

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I myself am a Christian. I was raised in a pretty liberal Christian household, then I walked away and came back to my faith when I was 17. It was at that age, that I started to believe for myself. I am what some would call a "radical Christian". I am very liberal in my beliefs, I do not believe that being gay is a sin, I also believe in Universal Reconciliation. Universal Reconciliation is when, one believes that all paths will eventually lead to God. I do not believe in Hell, because I do not believe that God will create someone to purposely doom them to Hell.

This belief does get tricky though, because there are some truly, truly evil people out there, that I do not think deserve the award of Heaven, but that is not my place to decide, it is God's. What God does to these people is his choice not mine.

 

At the risk of throwing a canister of gasoline into an open flame...I'll keep my answer short and succinct.

I am a staunch atheist....and aside from the various neo-pagan religious groups out there, I don't believe most other religions are progressing to a more tolerant and accepting mentality. Indeed, I would dare say they are becoming worse in their bigotries.

 

You are entitled to your opinion. I would have to disagree with them becoming worse in their bigotries. Its not they there are becoming worse, it is that it is becoming more and more public. There are a lot of Christian Churches that are becoming Welcoming and Affirming. It is just that their voice is not able to be heard over bigots with megaphones.

 

I grew up in a religious household and was confirmed in the church as a teenager. To put it short, I don't believe there is any rational or logical reason to believe Christianity, or any other religion in particular is true. They're all more or less superstitious stories created by primitive man in attempt to explain the unexplainable in the world and to control others during a barbaric and superstitious society. There are exceptions to this though with certain religions, i'm mainly speaking to the prominent ones in today's society (Christianity, judaism, islam, etc)

In todays world, I feel that people mainly believe for psychological reasons more than anything. Sometimes people want something to be true so much that they're willing to disregard rational thinking and use confirmation bias and circular thinking to justify their beliefs to themselves.

With that said, I don't particularly care if some people choose to follow certain religions or not. When it becomes a problem is when people (usually fundamentalists) try to impose their religion onto others and use it as a tool to negatively affect society. When people start trying to teach creationism (aka bible stories) in schools instead of science, mix religion into politics and justify discrimination with it, and consistently oppose scientific advancement due to their religious beliefs then there is a major problem. There shouldn't be any tolerance for that. It stops becoming one's personal religious beliefs when you start to impose them onto others.

Whether or not religious people are becoming more tolerant is a tough one, I think if anything the growing trend of secularism and liberalism when it comes to LGBT issues effects the religious population being more accepting more than anything. In some cases religious people are able to see outside of their views, and in others they feel threatened and become even more hostile to LGBT people. I have to say i've seen and experienced much more of the latter.

 

I never take those rules literally. If two men or two women love each other sincerely, there's no problem, it's just great. I believe in good things and bad things and I believe in karma.
Personally I don't think that "believing" is a way to deal with the toughness of life. I try to believe that there's life after death, that I'll see my deceased loved ones again. Something tells me it's just impossible that everything is gone after you die.

I've been in touch with people from many other countries and found out that people from my country ( Belgium) mostly believe in nothing but also turn out to be very negative and depressed people ( we have the highest number of depression and suicide). So in a way I don't think it's all make believe. I even found some studies:

People who are religious or spiritual have 'thicker' brains which could protect them against depression | Mail Online

 

I agree with you about religion and spirituality not being mutually exclusive! I'm Pagan, but I grew up in a very religious, if not necessarily observant, Lutheran household. My family's church(es) tended to err on the more liberal side of that, but were still quite conservative. I was confirmed into the church when I was twelve after two years of after-school confirmation classes and about a year later began studying any religious book I could get my hands one. My dad's reaction when he got back from Iraq and saw the Koran I'd checked out from the library on my bed was... interesting.

My opinion is that people, not religion, are more tolerant. Religion is a creation of humanity, and it reflects the thought of its leaders. Considering that its leaders are elders, their prejudices will be reflected in the dogma of their religion.

As younger people get older and current religious leaders die and/or are replaced, so will their religion's teachings. That's why I think a lot of Neopagan religions tend to be more open-minded and accepting - their leaders aren't as old, in general, and the ones that are, are used to being an Other, and are thus not quick to condemn someone else for being the same.

 

I only believe in things that are scientifically proven by reliable observations/experiments.

My thoughts on religion are neutral. I have no problems with people believing in a deity, however the people that are against equality or assault people and use religion as a shield for the horrendous behavior I'm no fan of.
It's like technology. The person wielding it can commit horrible acts but it's still their fault, not the tools fault. It's these acts I judge them on, not their religion.

The definition of a deity is a bit questionable, but an advanced enough society may be able to technically be classed as a deity. Though the opposite could also be true, which is why I'm neither a theist or an atheist.

And those are my thoughts on religion.

 

I have no qualms with religious people - I only take issue if they either a) try to force their beliefs and opinions onto me, or b) preach hatred and intolerance. Thankfully, both are rare - religion is very much a private matter in the UK, and even though the majority of people identify as Christian, very few are practicing, so a 'live and let live' attitude is prevalent - you can believe in God, and follow a lifestyle based on the teachings of the bible if you are so inclined, and I will not - no harm done.

Whether religion has become more tolerant or not is a difficult question to answer. Religion is so rarely discussed or brought up in any particular topic that it's hard to gauge people's opinions.

 

I consider religion a tool of sorts.
It can be used as a catalyst for good, can inspire someone to improve, and most religions have members who have contributed to society at large and made this world a better place. Most things were invented by the religious. You know that, right?

It can also be used as a shield to hide prejudices, an excuse to not listen to others, and a license to be a jackass.

Religion has both helped society evolve and caused it to regress.
I'm an agnostic atheist who watches all this from afar, and I say that religion isn't the problem.

 

My opinion is that most religion is a denial of all that is natural in man. I am a strict Satanist and do not believe in any god. In my opinion it is this denial of self that causes most of the issues we face today. If we accepted the fact that man is an animal no better and more often worse then those that walk on four legs we might be a lot better off.

 

I believe in God, have christian beliefs, and label myself as Christian but most of the Christians I know wouldn't consider me one so I'm not quite sure where I stand. I do believe, however, that some maybe all religions have grown and evolved and are excepting. It really just depends on the individual in my opinion.

 

One of the greatest minds in the history of the world. However, in that segment, he just states his opinion, with a minimum of background reasoning. I'm not about to argue that time did not exist before the Big Bang. But how, then, did the primeval atom in question come into being? It's an accepted truth in nature and science that you can't get something from nothing.

This isn't my "come to Jesus" speech, but how the universe began and how the natural laws that maintain it were established (touched on by Richard Dawkins) leads me to look past assuming "There's probably no God" and consider that some forces far beyond the human imagination are responsible for everything.