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I debate and reasoning I have seen so widely debated and so widely accepted by some even in the religious crowd.
I wish to refrain from voicing my opinion until a bit in the thread.

Basically, is faith in general, or specific faiths, the cause of many or even a few of the worlds problem in general?

No. U.S.A. is.

Brace for impact.

*sigh* Great another one of THESE threads. I don't think that you can say that religion is the sole cause of the worlds problems. I say that because there are so many diffrent circumstances and diffrent people. I won't say that religion has never been a cause, because it has. If there was no religion then there would be problems none the less. The main problem is people. Just for the refrence I am an athiest.

And I'd forgotten, also add why or why not.

Seconded because hell if I write that much myself.

Religion by itself -- no. For instance, I believe that if the true face of Christianity were to be shared by all the world's people, there would be much fewer problems.

What does cause problems may be the vast gap in cultural and economical standards across the globe. The reason I wouldn't get along well with a Chinese rice farmer is the same reason a native Russian wouldn't have much in common with a native Brazilian -- there are just too many differences (spiritual, financial, and otherwise) that set us apart. It's not that I (or anyone else) is inherently distrustful or hateful against other cultures, but we just have little to nothing in common.

If people were able to share and understand a common belief, that alone may decrease the amount of turmoil between us -- something I gladly welcome.

Doesn't imply that religion causes it. In my opinion, religions are made from the fact that someone (or a group of someones) wanted to create a religion, thing that you would pray for a better life, depending of what the country was/is lacking. So, the reason for the terrorists to attack USA may be because they wanted what the were in need and it was there.

My point is, I don't think it's the religion that causes problem, it's the people that can use it as an excuse to do something wrong.

That wasn't terrorism. At Columbine, I mean.
Terrorism is acts meant to solicit fear.

Oh god, it begins. This is why I prefer silly topics over serious debates. It's just not groovy, man.

Because of deep seated emotional issues and most likely problems at home, they came to school one day with the intent to murder some of what they felt were there tormentors. Terrorism is doing something for the specific purpose of causing fear to further a goal.

I think y'all are arguing result vs. intent...the result was indeed terror on some scale...but the intent was not something so grandiose...

You're both right.
:3

As for religion...it has simply been a tool some have used to advance their own agendas...many horrible things have been done in the name of religion, but religion itself has rarely, if ever, been the root cause of terrible things.

Generally, it comes down to the human weaknesses of greed and ambition: someone with influence within a religion wants to fill the coffers (and their own pockets, by association), so they whip up a nice crusade, and a-plunderin' they go...or some lower-eschelon church official wants more power, so they throw things into chaos, intending to come out on top...in the meantime, all of the followers are used as pawns, often against each other...

The same issues ring true with governments...and pretty much any other powerful social structure...it all comes down to some very specific weaknesses concerning those in power...those with the capability to mobilize large numbers of people to carry out their whims and ambitions...

That was an act of revenge. A lot of things elicit terror but are not terrorist acts.

Religion is not the cause of any major problem in the world. The conflicts regarding religion are created by an unwillingness to compromise and natural hostility towards others who disagree with your views. Those issues may arise because religion was the cause for disagreement, but it's human nature that causes the problems. If you are born and raised with someone telling you "There is an invisible man in a place called Heaven and that man is called God, he acts this way and does these things and does or doesn't like those things. Also, this is how you worship him, and these are ways you can appease him", then that is what you will probably believe. Blind faith is the easiest method a human has to reach his instinctive goal of purpose. Same goes for a lot of things that can indirectly create problems - politics, world issues, views of race and gender, ect. It's the psychological act of believing you to be right and everybody who disagrees with you to be wrong that creates the problems.

In religion's case, the argument is - "The God in Heaven I believe in is the right kind - your views of him are incorrect". But religion is just one of many outlets for arguments of "I'm right, you're wrong". Religion is the cause of absolutely no problems when viewed like that; the problems all arise from the issues religion spurs in the human mind, not religion itself. Most religions practice living a good life and being faithful, and that in itself does not cause problems, does it?

So if you eliminate two things, nationalism and religion, God and country, then you could have world peace? The problem is that it's been tried, and it doesn't work. If you get two people together, they're going to figure out how things work -- somebody's got to be in charge. People who are stronger and selfish will squash the rights of those who aren't.

If you eliminate religion, well that’s been tried too. In fact, during the 20th century, there was great effort by secular societies to eliminate religion. And did world peace come from it? No. Hitler tried to squash religion, and six million people died. Stalin, in the Soviet Union, tried to squash out anything that was opposed to secular thought -- 10 million, 20 million maybe were exterminated in the process. Mao Tse Tung tried to do the same thing in China, and now you've got 10 million people disappearing, and Pol Pot doing a similar thing for secular society and a million people are gone.

Interesting. More people killed and destroyed during the 20th century for a secular society than are killed in all the religious wars of the 19 centuries before.

*Warning, beware brainwashing Christian mumbo-jumbo*

Now, has the church and religion done bad things? Absolutely. But Christianity isn't at war with anybody right now -- nobody. In fact, in a book by Alister McGrath, The History of Atheism, he says this:



The Christian religion has the tools available to make it's followers agents for peace -- and I'm buying into that. I think that if we try to become like Jesus, and try to live his life, we can make the world a better place. It starts in our hearts, and then in our families, and then our communities, our states, and the world… and world peace, perhaps, is possible if we live how Jesus tells us to live.

The biggest problem in the world today's isn't religion, government, or anything like that -- it's and evil heart.

Mathew 12:35 -- The good man brings good things out of the good stored up in him, and the evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored in him.

The problem is, our hearts are evil. Everybody starts out evil. In Psalm 51:5, it states that "Surely, I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me." We're born with evil tendencies, and the new heart must come at a later time. They're not terrible children, they just have an evil heart. If we're born good, then why do we have to teach our kids how to behave -- not to be rude, not to say that, not to do that . The evil doesn't stop, it just gets worse. Some of the things I've done, well…this post is long enough as it is.

Some of you are about to get really made at me. But it's going to get worse. In Romans 3:23, it says that most have sinned, and fallen short of the glory of God. Wait, I'm wrong, It says that all have sinned. Why do we sin? An evil heart. Oprah has lied to you, you are not inherently good, nor are you born morally neutral, and other tell you the same thing. As long as you have an evil heart, you will do evil things. If we never get the problem right, we will never get the solution right. The problem is that nobody on Earth is righteous. And the solution is a spiritual heart transplant.

Gee, as far as I have seen people write down, nobody has even once mentioned this little factor. I think most of the worlds problems come from the fact that we seperate ourselves into races. I can see the reason why this is, but if you ask me it's kinda stupid. Even though people are different, and a lot of us may not see eye to eye, we are all still humans. Many people have that fact stuck in their heads. Probably one of the things that I like most about the forums is that we forget that, and talk openly to one another.

Now religion on the other hand is something that's has caused some of the worlds problems. You can be certain that if you put an overexcentric christian in a position of power, lets say President of the United States, that person would use the power to turn the world upside-down. You would see wars being declared left and right, and the only reason would be 'They don't follow our beliefs.' When I talk about overexcentric I'm talking about those few people who take the religion they are devoted to a step too far. If that comment offended anyone I'm sorry.