(Didn't read the entire thread, just the recent posts)
Quote:
Originally Posted by mr_j
No it is not useful, if anything it is harmful. What role is religion playing in France today? or Sweden, or the Netherlands or Spain or Germany? absolutely nothing, yet they are some of the best countries in the world to live in, meanwhile Saudi arabia, Iran, Lebanon, Israel, US and other religious countries cannot keep their heads out of trouble, the more religious a society is, the more willing its people are to die in a war.
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What the first group has in common is peace, what the second group has in common is war.
You seem to be forgetting that Spain is very religious, and so is Italy, Portugal & Greece. Places where human rights are very respected.
And you're also forgetting that Cuba, a country where religious freedom is restricted by the atheist government, has a very bad human rights record. And that the reason for Mexico's problems is drugs and not religion. And that the reason for China's problems is the lack of respect for the human dignity and not religion.
But Russian put it good, religion is useful. It can be and is being for personal gain instead of the interest of the humanity. But the same thing applies to ideology, morals & law. Do we get rid of these too just because of their potential harm?
I believe there are two reasons that cause most of the evil in the world. They are ignorance and pride.
Combine ignorance, pride and religion, you get Saudi Arabia, Iran & Israel.
Combine ignorance, pride and ethnicity, you get Nazi Germany.
Combine ignorance, pride and ideology , you get the USA and the USSR.