Comments on: What give atheists the idea that there is not a religion that could be good?

By: transhumanist eupraxsophist

transhumanist eupraxsophist — Sun, 29 Jun 2008 09:14:49 +0000

There are two questions here: whether religions are good, and whether religions can be believed in rationally. I think most atheists view religions as being a mixture of both good and bad, with the bad outweighing the good. (I’ll spare you a lengthy anti-religion rant.)

Beyond good or bad though, is simply whether it can be believed in. I for one have a hard time finding anything truly bad about Buddhism, they don’t believe in killing others for their religion or in forcing their beliefs down others’ throats. But it’s still not a religion I could accept, because they still believe in various supernatural things and superstitions like all the other religions. Reincarnation, karma, the mythologies surrounding lord Buddha, it’s all wishful thinking as utterly unsupported by evidence or logic as anything supernatural or mythical in any other religion.

Personally, I think Buddhism has been quite beneficial. It has brought a level of civility and compassion to its adherents that judeo-xtianity has only realized in the recent historical past and which islam is still struggling to find. But as an atheist I am incapable of believing in its supernatural components, nor do I need to be an adherent to be a good person.

By: sgh.grandalf

sgh.grandalf — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 03:45:25 +0000

Common logic gave them the idea. Walking on water, Virgin birth, Flying, Resurrection, sound like fairy tales to me.

By: The Austrasian

The Austrasian — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 12:47:29 +0000

“To the Christians who say that Christianity is a good thing: what has religion ever given us besides more to argue about and a more divided society? What has it ever given us besides more wars, discrimination and suffering? What has it ever done for us besides give us more to do, less time to work and more resources wasted on churches, books and guides? Really, has religion improved your life at all – or has it just made everything more complicated? In my point of view, religion is just another way humans have overcomplicated the workings of the world, by introducing new ways of life that have almost no benefit at all besides the brief religious feeling you may or may not have. It provides careless answers to complex, impossible questions. It spreads throughout the world and eats its way through people’s lives, until they realize that they wasted all their time on something that they shouldn’t worry about so much. Religion is a lie, a scam to make the world seem more explainable when it just becomes so much more complex, so much angrier and darker. Maybe in the future people will come to their senses. But until then, the world will remain shattered and torn, lying in pieces thanks to religion, the idea that has torn society apart.”

Anything else you want to say? That was just one answer.

By: red

red — Sat, 21 Jun 2008 01:41:26 +0000

…religion was created by man to control man!!!
…the atheists saw through this and called it false…

By: Quintessential

Quintessential — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 04:19:27 +0000

Because Atheists are lazy and don’t want to work that hard… They’d rather sit on the couch and believe they’re going to be worm food when they die… lol

By: superdawg42091

superdawg42091 — Sun, 15 Jun 2008 06:14:57 +0000

who said that atheists think religion cant be good?
im atheist and i think religion can be very good; i also think it can be very bad.
its good because it gives people a set of rules to follow, something other than law to prevent them from doing wrong
its bad because they use religion to justify bad things, such as wars or in some cases just being an @sshole

By: Skeptical Bob

Skeptical Bob — Sat, 14 Jun 2008 03:11:04 +0000

In professing a belief in religion, a person admits to endorsing a stunted version of the scientific method.

Remember this from school?:
1. Problem
2. Hypothesis
3. Experiment
4. Conclusion.

Scientists really do use that. Religion, unlike science, works like this:

1. Problem.
2. Hypothesis…

And that’s it. Stick with the hypothesis no matter what. No testing. No experiments.

Experimenting separates witch doctors from 21st century civilization.

By: Him ThatIs

Him ThatIs — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 06:23:00 +0000

Religions were originally created as a way to explain things. “how did we get here?”, “why is this so”, “why are things the way they are?”
Also, they gave us a reason to do right when we could do bad and get away with it (punishment). And quite necessarily, the belief that it’s all for some reason (heaven/hell).
Atheists, generally in my experience, believe you don’t need punishment or a reward to do right versus wrong, and that doing so for Being(s) that may or may not exist is wrong/foolish. I say “may or may not” because there are people who fall into our bracket of atheist who “just don’t believe” and are not adamant about it.(prove it)
As to saying no religion is beneficial, well, one must consider what religions as a whole have DONE. No country, no lust for money, no drug can compare to what we and our fore-bearers have done in the name of God. Slavery, genocide(several times in American history alone), torture(how-to books were written BY clergyman), oppression, subjugation, etc. Weighed against the good done IN THE NAME OF …, and not all good, for we may naturally do right because WE believe it’s right and not for our treasures in heaven. There is cannon fodder on both sides. Let’s take a breath before we shout.

By: Chef

Chef — Mon, 09 Jun 2008 01:28:56 +0000

Think about it, why do people believe in religion? They want purpose. They want to feel special. They want to live after they die. They are afraid of the unknown. They feel alone in the universe.

All these things are based on desires and the root of all evil is desire. Religion is chosen based on what makes a person the happiest. It has nothing to do with being good, or worshiping god, or the truth. Religion at its care is a selfish desire to feel special or better than what we are. There is no need for that.

I know I’ll get a ton of thumbs down for this. But hey remember, at one point in history. Slavery was considered ok despite the fact that it was clear as day that it was wrong.

Edit – I wanted to add that there is nothing wrong with searching for happiness, everyone does it and it is my opinion that the purpose of life is to be happy. But it is wrong when you use your happiness to justify your spiritual superiority over others.

By: fdrc

fdrc — Sat, 07 Jun 2008 11:04:23 +0000

It is the issue of “good” that argues for aetheism; if God is all knowing and all good, why is there evil?
If you have to answer that question by saying “because it is God’s way” you are missing the point.

Who is more religious an aetheist who spends his entire life studying and making a sincere informed choice not to believe, or a person of faith who also spends his entire life coming to his faith? Both, I think are more religious than people who make claims based on hearsay, or because someone told them to believe.