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Are all religions equally bad?
Do you view all religions as being equally bad/dangerous/stupid or is Christainity the main culprit? I think I know what the answer will be as this is a predominantly western website but I am prepared to be surprised.
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Ralph Dumain on -
Buddhism. Today I was informed of a reference I've not had a chance to check.
SOURCE: LOPEZ, Donald S., Buddhism and Science: A Guide for the Perplexed, The University of Chicago Press, Chicago and London, 2008, pp. 73-74.
Reportedly on 11 August 1937 Chinese Buddhist leader T'ai-hsü wrote a letter of support to Adolph Hitler. Perhaps someone could check on this.
Buddhism seems to be as backward and nutty as anything else. Here's a very peculiar esoteric interpretation of Hitler's rise to power:
Adolf Hitler and Tibetan Buddhism
www.theravada.ca/Pages/hitler.html
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Permalink Reply by William Young on -
Bad & dangerous: Fundimentalist Christian & Muslem
Stupid: all of them since they view mythology as truth/history.
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Permalink Reply by Carrot Hare on -
I was actually a Buddhist for almost 7 years. When I was 12 my mom told me to stop being a part of a religion I thought I needed to be part of, and start doing some research to find my own. I dunno what it was that made me think I HAD to be part of one at all, but I eventually settled on Buddhism.
My take on religion as a whole is that's its main purpose is for you take what you need from it to enrich your life and nothing else. Depite what they've all become today, I found that Buddhism kept that basic belief in its teachings...actually it's prettymuch the only religion that doesn't require you to believe that some invisible man created all world order. I eventually decided to just drop the whole idea of religion all together but I can't say I think Buddhism is totally bad. At least its not nearly as bad as I consider every other to be.
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Permalink Reply by max koenig on -
Theologically, I'm inclined to say all of them. The whole theist thing just doesn't work for me - it's illogical and to me unprovable. Might as well believe in the tooth fairy.
Philosophically, slightly more difficult. Can't deny that there are elements of Sufism and Buddhism that, taken in a more philosophical / moral context, can have some relevance in the modern world. I certainly find that there are many pretexts of Buddhism that I fall back on when faced with difficult life decisions; not from a theological perspective ("Buddha says to do this") but more from a "that seems a reasonable way to behave as a human being"
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Permalink Reply by Prog Rock Girl on -
I get kind of tired of atheists tendency to dwell on Christianity. I can say what is illogical about it and of course I am against Christian fundamentalism that takes away the rights of others, and if some Christian is saying or doing something stupid, yeah I'm going to make fun of it too. It's just that constant Christianity bashing is so high-school, and some people who only care about bashing Christianity, and yet make excuses for Islam, or think that other religions (like new age or paganism) are benign, would be better described as anti-Christians than atheists. If I had an anti-cross as my avatar, no one would blink an eye, but an anti-pentagram? I'm sure that offends some people, despite this being an atheist website.
Christianity and Islam are pretty closely tied. Right now Islam is in the lead for worst religion. Christianity has been about the same, though, in history. It's just that the West went through things like the Renaissance that castrated Christianity, so that today Christians rail against gay rights and think a woman should be a 1950's housewife, meanwhile in Muslim societies women are confined to the home and gays are executed. We should always remember history, esp that it can repeat itself, but I still am more concerned with what is happening in the present. People debate whether Islam can be reformed. Some think it is impossible b/c of the commands in Islam, but I say it is possible. If Christians can pick and choose, so could Muslims, and some do already.
But any religion, no matter what the original teaching, has the potential to be oppressive. Almost all religions come up with ways to blame the victim, whether it's "you must be a sinner" or "you were attracting negativity with your thoughts". Feelgood religions and spiritualities like to think they are above the judgmentality and narrow-mind of "traditional" religions, but it usually turns into an "I'm more openminded than you are" thing. "Open-minded" religions have more cognitive dissonance, in saying that there is no One Right Way, yet also unconsciously believing theirs is the right way. (Otherwise, why do it that way at all??) Hindu fundamentalism also exists although it is not well known to some Western countries. Some pagan publications have also said that their religion is the only good religion and that non-pagans should leave the Earth (by dying). I have no doubt that many less prominent religions also have the potential to be oppressive if they had the power that the major religions do.
Basically, there is the religion in writing, and the religion in reality, and whether a religion in writing sounds bloody or utopian, it could be vastly different in practice.
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Permalink Reply by Black Magick Woman on -
Couldn't have said it better. Can't even think of anything else to say lol
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Permalink Reply by Sonny Mobley on -
Your anti-pentagram doesn't bother me! And I have this bitchin' pentagram tat on my right arm. :D An ouroboros is soon to be added to my left. Pent=space, ouroboros = time is the general idea ^_^
But, yes, all religions are bad. All religion is pessimistic, especially when coupled with the afterlife (which is the most disgusting and hurtful idea man has come up with). And all religion and mystic thought requires constant cognitive dissonance. There is no if and or but about it. I'm an anti-theist to the core!
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Permalink Reply by Ralph Dumain on
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I pretty much agree with this.
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Permalink Reply by katalyzt on -
I did not see the movie yet, but it is a shame what the christians(of that time) did to Hypatia, and the Library of Alexandria. :O/
Katalyzt
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Permalink Reply by katalyzt on
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I think that any religion/belief system that has people indoctrinating children into believing things that are not demonstrably true; as if they were real is bad/dangerous/stupid.
Katalyzt
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Permalink Reply by Adia Lynette on -
I can't say if all religions are equally bad because I'm not educated enough in all of them to make such assertions. But out of the Big Three, I would say Islam is the worst. The Bible is actually more violent than the Quran, but Christians don't take their texts as seriously as Muslims do. They are much less unified as a group since Christianity is not a full way of living like Orthodox Judaism and Islam. Something about living such a detail, restricted, and closed lifestyle really bonds people. Maybe because outsiders don't understand them. Anyway, Judaism and Islam are on equal terms as far as how poorly women and non-belivers are treated, but Judaism isn't obsessed with converting people like Islam, so it ends up being more tame in practice. Therefore, Islam wins for the worst. It's oppressive, it's aggressive, it's main goal is to spread as far as possible, and the believers tend to be pretty well-versed in their holy texts. If you know the Quran and Hadith well and are still certain it's the truth and worth dying for then that's scary.
Sorry for any muddling or mistakes. The medication is starting to make me feel woozy.
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