Debate Religion - Massive Propaganda or Real?

Well religion is a giant propaganda medium, but it can also be real. It's used all the time to promote different things, much like everything. I don't know what you use religion to advertise except itself. There is no higher force that religion advertises because usually it is the source of everything.

 

The people being murdered because they believe something shouldn't count as a death because of the person's religion. Really its the intolerance for that religion that caused these deaths.

I agree that there is a lot of propaganda, but if you find the religion that's right for you at a time that you're ready to accept it, than you'll find that it is quite real.

 

Religion is usually a means of keeping peace, by passing down stories of good triumphing over evil. However, religion does the exact opposite because it teaches people that they are superior to others. I am not religious. I have never been inside a church. I am very neutral in my opinions because of this. I can think for myself, unlike many people who have had it jammed down their throats by their parents. I've actually read a lot of the bible though on my own and personally, I can distinguish for myself what I think is true or not. Some parts are believable some not. Like the part where it says every animal in the world was put on a boat. That would be an example of where i had the choice to believe that or not. Based on my knowledge of the quantity of animals that live on land, I choose not to specifically believe that. The list goes on and on. Plus, you have to keep in mind what we can and cannot prove. Evolution has basically been proven now, yet the big bang is still only seen as "the more logical" way the earth formed. My question is what created the big bang? You kind of have to ask one question after another to get down to the roots of the tree. Once your there, it's okay to assume that something created it, because then there is nothing to prove anything.

 

Ok, read what you write before you post it. My parents feel by throwing a religion at me, I'll catch it like a dog and be happy about it. They were wrong. I do think for myself. In fact, I think about religion more than anything now. As my parents and at my age, they can force me to do anything, including going to church. I oppose this and often have things taken away for it. So rethink your idea that all kids do what their parents tell them.

 

That was my post in "Religious Problems with Video Games." I still defend my view that religion is a way of convincing yourself that something makes sense just for the sake of being able to say you know the reason something happens. Not knowing or understanding has a tendency to scare humans, so they need to fill in the blanks however possible, aka religion.

I just think it's a shame when good people believe in a religon just because they don't know any better or because that's how their family has always believed. Those people never go out and find out the real reasons for anything, but instead sit there thinking what their religion has stated without ever seeing the other side. (I don't mean to insult anyone who is religious here, but that's my view.)

 

Your last sentence states "all" kids do what their parents tell them. My comment plainly stated "many" kids are forced into religion. Does that mean everyone's parents force them? No. Does that mean they don't oppose? No. The fact that many parents try to make their children religious has nothing to do with whether or not they go down without kicking and screaming or not. My point is that many parents (too many from my perspective) try to make their children chose their religion at the age of like 5. I am saying that I do not have parents that need me to be religious. My mom can recite pages of the bible, yet she has never even taken me inside a church because she wants me to choose for myself when I'm older.

 

what if god wanted you to question your faith by creating these truths (Like all the science and facts that make life what it is) so that he could decifer whether you are worthy of heaven?

Just an idea

we wont know till the very end truthfully
so in a since it will always be debatible

 

not every animal, 2 of every animal, on a boat nearly 2 football fields long and 50 feet wide. also, most of the animal population are water living animals, so he really didnt take 2 of EVERY animal

 

So, God put in proven facts about why things happen to disprove, and quite solidly, His very existence? Not likely. I don't mean to shoot you down, but that seems counterintuitive in the extreme.

Edit: Chief, you still realize that that space is not nearly large enough to house even one of every species of land-dwelling animal let alone two, right? The space may seem large compared to yourself, but we're talking a lot of cargo here. It's not realistically possible.

 

not to shoot down his existence but to sort out the people that even with all this evidence believe in him

there is no evidence that disproves theres a god by the way

 

I know there's no evidence to disprove His actual existence (or Her, Its, or Their for any other religions out there), but there is strong evidence that disproves a divine power is in fact the reason that many things happen. For example, people used to say rain occurred when God was crying, or when He was angry and wanted the weather to be bad, or when He wanted the crops to grow. Now, we know that it is due to the condensation of water droplets from clouds falling to Earth because of gravity. Many of these things that used to be attributed to God have been explained scientifically, and therefore there is no need for a divine power to be related. The basis of religion in general was to explain that which was, at the time, unexplainable. Without the latter being so, there is no need for the former.

However, your view is still interesting, though not appealing to me. There are religous people for precisely the reason you have stated, so it is valid in some sense I suppose.

 

See theres nothing to say to that because we will never know till the end like i said

I see the scientific side too



but whether or not god is there it has helped people
in a since its been a sort of govt which have kept people in check throught history and helped inspire people to do good in this world

 

Let me point out this incredibly stupid part of the OP, only idiots would generalise like that. Firstly, you never even mentioned the word extremist, only the extremists do that, there's Christian extremists who do things like that as well.

I'm going to leave this stupid argument now.

 

I can't say this is much of a debate on my half. Because I've studied many religions. (The one I spent most time with is Buddhism) At this point in my life, I've come up with my own beliefes. But for the sake of argument... I think it's rather clear that in most cases that religion is a massive propaganda. I'm not saying that it isn't real. Religion is very real. But it tends to get abused by not all, but some of the people that believe in it.

Oh, if you read the book Survivor you'll see what I mean.

 

The point of religion is not to prove whether it is true or not, whether God exists. A follower of a religion has to believe that God exists. I'm a Catholic, and not just because my parents are. I agree with what the Catholics believe. Do I have absolute, inconclusive evidence that there is God out there? No, of course not, but I believe that He's there, and that's what religion is about.

 

Believe me when I say this: There will always be an excuse to go to war.

Whether it be religion or safety, people will always find a reason to go to war. Often times the real reason (greed) is masked behind another reason (religion).

Religion in its purest form is a good thing. It teaches morals and helps individuals become better people. Organized religion also generally focuses on helping the community around you.

Now of course there are always problems with large organized groups. Corruption can be found in any group of an unsurmountabel size.


Now while I hate to "bash" Christianity, there once was a time when you could litterally "buy" your way into heaven. For a fee, you could be guaranteed your spot in heaven, no matter what you did on earth. Not a bad deal if you ask me. While this is an extreme example, it can just go to show you how a group with good intentions can be corrupted with greed.

The same can be said about ANY large group, reguardless of religious influence. So the problem isn't just within religion, it's within human nature itself.

 

I can't believe you are even questioning whether or not you could fit 2 of every land animal on the planet earth on 2 football fields. It's impossible. Do you have any idea how many land animals that is? The insect species would take up two football fields alone. What about all the animals that don't live around where he was? How long do you think it'd take him to find them all? In the meantime he had to tend to all the ones he already had, by feeding them, containing them, and making sure they don't eat eachother. 2/3 of them would be dead within a few days.

 

zander first off most old testament stories are just that stories however there is evidence of a massive flood in that region which to the people of the time was the whole world and countless others have been scientifically proven Ive quoted it before and ill quote it again "religion without science is blind an science without religion is lost. im a christian and i don't believe im any better then anyone else. the main thing is is that religion is something that can be forced which is where you get things like shaheeds who believe that as long as they are killing none Muslims its fine also i have no problem with Muslims some of the coolest people i know are Islamic. but back to the subject religion is some thing that can be taught it is something that you have to discover i don't believe half bible but i still consider myself a christian and to truly understand that you would need a conversion experience and that doesn't mean some cheesy priest thing or class its just a change in your life that both body and mind experience it really is amazing
ps sorry if i rambled i get over zealous sometimes

 

That's not a very good argument. I personally believe in God, but saying that the fact that you can't disprove Him counts as evidence doesn't really work. You could say Bigfoot exists because you can't disprove it, or that monsters sneak under my bed at night and leave by the time it's morning.

As for the actual topic I believe that religion is inherently a good thing because it urges people to be good. It's when the powerhungry get their hands on it that it turns into a bad thing- but you could say that about any idea. Communism, for example, is a pretty good idea- create a society in which everyone is equal. There'd be no poorness and no class differences. Of course, when a powerhungry dictator (such as Stalin) gets his hands on the idea, he twists it to suit his purposes, rather than sticking to the ideals upon which it was founded.