Jan 16, 2007 10:55:37 AM cite

Not all evil, but the majority of murder, torture, war and plain spirit-breaking that humanity has subjected itself to over the course of its evolvement. Religion, in all its various guises, is dangerous nonsense. At best, it crushes free enquiry and blunts joy of life by imposing dogmata unfounded by any ascertainable evidence whatsoever; at worst, it precipitates wars. We need to become free of religion! We need education that enlightens us as individuals and strengthens our human bonds across gender, cultures, races and geographic distance. The natural world, including human nature, is more exciting, varied and full of promise than anything any religion could ever pretend to be the case. "Wonders" are all around us, right in front of our eyes. Stop praying, start thinking!

by duckisschwester

Jan 16, 2007 7:30:50 AM cite

We tend, as civilized beings, to forget how incredibly violent nature is. A bat will catch, dismember and devour 1000 insects in the course of an evening. Mt. Saint Helens destroyed square miles of forest in an instant. Organized religion is a means of attempting to socialize the residues of that tendency towards violence. It does so by creating "moral safe zones" in which inflexible rules are used to guide and control behavior. Unfortunately, where cultures meet, tensions are exacerbated because the risk of negotiating differences at the boundaries is destabilization of the whole. I was recently told by a Catholic priest, in effect, that the major world religions could "no longer afford to ignore each other". The lives of their adherents are simply too deeply intertwined. Unfortunately, he seemed less than confident that we are ready for that engagement. Unfortunately, the engagement is unavoidable. If we were to eliminate organized religion, we'd simply have to invent something else to replace it. As I have explored that territory, however, I have learned that "gods" have interesting physical and psychological characteristics. We might be led down the same roads, when all was said and done... I believe that the leaders of organized religions are doing the best they can, given the limits of human understanding and influence, to solve an extremely difficult problem.

by Trichronos

Jan 10, 2007 9:03:14 PM cite

In my opinion all religion is organized so I could for my own sake drop the adjective "organized" from my own personal discussion of religion. To me religion has become the worst form of "idol worship" humanity could ever fear to attain. Each religious sect, movement, institution, etc., marches under their own rigid banners. Banners based on what? I couldn't begin to say. People don't question them anymore. Generation after generation brought up to adhere to a religious practice that has less to do faith and morality and more to do with the senseless idea that "if I'm right, then your wrong." What makes me right? I see no victory in self-righteousness. I feel religion only serves to isolate people and I believe faith/spirituality are impossible to capture under the guise of any one "organized" religion.

by voltaire26

Jan 7, 2007 11:59:47 PM cite

'Gott ist tot' - Gott sei dank. "Inschallah", bayr. "vergeijts Gott" Der streng bayrische Muslim bzw. muslimische Bayer trinkt dann doch a Hojbe, nach Sonnenuntergang natürlich ! "Luja sog i"

by __anon_70489252

Dec 15, 2006 8:08:22 PM cite

organized religion is not the root of all evil. granted, some people do blame their actions on their religion, it is still far from being the source of all things wrong. religion gives people something to believe in. no matter what "god" you serve, u still put in your faith in something. even aithiests have thier personal beliefs, even though they dont answer to a higher authority. so, to answer your question, no. religion is far from the being the root of all evil.

by cami311

Oct 14, 2006 4:12:07 PM cite

No matter what Sam Harris and Richard Dawkins might claim, religion is simply a manifestation of humanity's need to make sense of the world. Granted, it is often pre-rational, but it is stage in the development of our species. We all move through some variation of this stage, and religion is its most widely-known cultural component. We can't skip stages in our growth as individuals or as a species, so the hope is to make them as healthy as possible. If the question were reframed as: Is organized religion a healthy manifestation of the rule/role stage of development? Then you might have a topic that can be discussed in rational and post-rational ways.

by whraven

Oct 10, 2006 3:34:33 PM cite

Hi, Break the organised religious monopoly. Create our own religion. We are gifted bio computer. Nature proposes and disposes us. Touchable part of our life is somatoware, like skin, bone or blood etc. Untouchable part of life is psychoware, like life energy, emotions, thought, skill, wisdom etc. We can compare our life with hardware and software in computer. Religion, philosophy, tradition and culture are working atmosphere like dos, windows or linex in computer. It is up to we, what we want out of it. All the predictive sciences are diagnostic tools to assess one's configuration for knowing scope or limitation of its upgradeability. Five sensory perceptions are input and out device. Mind works as information transformator, it convert info time and info space in real time and real space. Source of energy is bio electrical charges in our body blended with our emotions. ... Your comment please!!

by bhaskarshodh

Oct 6, 2006 4:55:22 AM cite

Any 'thing' that you can't take with you and the love of it, is the root of evil. It might be better said that "obsession" often leads to evil doings. It doesn't always lead this way, as some go there and learn from it, come back fine, but much wiser. Everyone has a soul, it is this soul that has all these desires, wants, needs that can get us into a path that we may eventually want to get off of. But, to deny these desires, wants, etc., often leads to other problematic issues. This is not to say that we should pursue things that are illegal to satisfy our souls needs. In the context of religion or government (historically representative of where power has been abused, mostly)...it can be said, as was said by Lord Acton; "Power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely." So, the advent of democracy (not to get off topic). The problem with most all organized religions is rooted in the founder of that religion, in that 'they' never established a "true" community of followers/disciples/devotees. But, as truth be told, it is the hunger for truth, compassion and love that mostly motivates 'us' in becoming involved with a particular religion. Both the founder and the follower are responsible for corruption. There is no "one" human being that should be allowed to stand up and say they are the "only one". And as a follower we should not revere them to the point of giving up on our free will (it is God that gave us that gift). Community is probably one of the most important aspects in human life. Feeling like we belong to 'a' community is just as important. If a organized religion provides this, and I believe is best suited for it, then we would do well to become a part of it. But, it’s important to be knowledgeable of all or most forms of religion that express spiritual truths. It is this discernment that helps us as humans to feel like we are making a wiser decision. Blind faith should only be considered when there is no other choice, or when we have reached major spiritual growth; because at some point, words, concepts, etc., will not be adequate to continue our experience. I believe that anything that tries to make me feel separate from others, that uses its power to separate me from others, is truly evil (not the root of it). What I mean is, it’s the 'knowing', in your body, heart and soul that we are NOT separate. What we do or say has an effect on everything. It can affect our own future as well as the future of another. So, respect, responsibility and love may be the primary ways to become a part of a community, and for that community welcome us to it. Finally, we live in a world of opposites or dualities. You cannot live very long, in harmony, when there is only goodness. Utopia does not support motivation, for if you have all that you need, it would lead us to sloth-ness. That doesn't mean we should intentionally commit acts that are contrary to goodness. It means to understand that the only absolute truth is change. We know not when it will come, what will come from it, nor how everyone might react to it. Your future is not predictable, but choices enable us to become something other than what we are not. It is this way of being that supports us in becoming truly happy.

by ghodges

Oct 5, 2006 8:14:38 PM cite

In my oppinion not religion is the root of all evil. religion gives men help, safety, spiritual satisfaction and more. It does not animate people to kill or be evil. no religion does. it animates to live. but as it was allready sayd, religion has a lot of power and it is used by people, because of its power and effect on humans. It is used for the own greed for more power of those people. But this happens not because of religion, this happens because of live, because of being human. One of the biggest tasks in live is to learn to deal with power. and killing or being violent in a name of religion, as it happens in this world, is the greatest prove how many people fail to this task.

by Ernest B.R.

Oct 4, 2006 5:50:35 PM cite

I think that organized religion is created in the fear that without it humans are immoral and that there will be complete chaos in the society. It is taken in a historical factual sense instead of a mythological sense so that people destroy over its historical value instead of learning moral lessons from the stories. It also creats unconciousness in the masses. It is also created as a tool to prevent evolution and new ways of thought. It has been abused for centuries to grasp power and for domination. But religion is also a very valuable way to learn morallity and to take these myths as powerful stories. It is also important to question these stories as we question ourselves.

by rayman

Oct 1, 2006 8:44:52 PM cite

Perhaps when we organize things, as humans we tend to create structural pyramids, with some person(s) at the top. In doing so, we are giving that topmost entity the most power. Power has a tendency to corrupt, and this perhaps is closer to the root of all evil. Not that I am a fan of organized religion; historically it has certainly done some ugly things to the planet and the beings that inhabit it.

by Kidden