Dec 7, 2011 5:44:11 AM cite

Organized religion is a human phenomenon that teaches us to not be as tolerable as we could without it.

by Cassifrass

Nov 29, 2011 9:26:43 AM cite

People are the root of all evil. Asking if religion is the root of all evil is like asking if books are the root of all evil. Like religion, book are both good and the evil depending on who wrote them. Principia Mathematica = good, The Anarchist Cookbook = evil. "Religion is regarded by the common people as true, by the wise as false, and by rulers as useful." — attributed to Seneca the Younger, ca. 3 BCE - 65 CE

by chrispalser

Aug 30, 2011 5:08:20 AM cite

Yes, off course it is... Religion has been invented and conveniently re- invented by humans through out history to explain, justify, and support all the major crimes against humanity, animals and nature.

by matzalvukic

Jul 27, 2011 3:51:15 PM cite

All evil? Of course not. But without question plenty. Example: no war has ever been fought where both sides did not claim to have God on their side. Religion has tremendous potential, but not one mainstream religion really lives and practices its own creeds. The biggest irony: people who believe in God blame him for every tragedy. (A young mother is killed by a drunk driver: "God needed another angel" or "We don't understand why He does what He does.") Satan, whom they also presumably believe in, skates every time. Ultimately, there's your root of all evil.

by beeperd

Jul 18, 2011 11:02:32 PM cite

Well I dont think it is the main reason, but religion keeps a lot of people from doing things.... it is certainly on the main roots of evil... but we cannot exclude the fact it has also helped a lot of people.... perhaps from religion, a lot of values were taken from religious books... so.. its a hard situation...

by LuisaSoto19

May 13, 2011 6:02:31 AM cite

I feel that it certainly divides people, I don't think it is the root of all evil. I would reserve that for capitalism. :/

by briannabe

Apr 30, 2011 10:50:36 AM cite

Religion was never meant to be the root of evil. It taught about love and humanity. But people modified religion according to their convenience, made boundaries, limitations and strict rites and rituals to conserve their religion. When religion is headed by a bunch of fanatics who think all the humans expect those of their religion are evil, it causes evil. Those who hate others because of the religion thing, should understand the core meaning of their own religion first. But they don't, cause hating someone is much easier than practicing the sayings in the holy book. Every religion talks about one god, one love. It grew at different places, countries and cultures, doesn't change it's core meaning.

by mansi1511

Mar 18, 2011 1:18:25 AM cite

Man's intolerance to others that are different (religions) is the root of all evil. And with this comes religion, racial issues, sexuality, etc etc

by Bengo234

Nov 28, 2010 6:00:33 AM cite

Interesting choice of words here, love of money is said to be the root of evil. So those who worship money are worshiping evil, if this is true, hmm. It is widely understood that evil exists only in the mind of man, and the location is the psyche. An illness of the psyche will cause people to do evil things such as murder, but there are more significant evils that are unrecognized. An example would be the destruction of the planets life supporting systems not to mention its planetary species. The product of an ill or unbalanced psyche via your personality results in the lack of concern for others, the environment and what is outside of yourself. This is believing that you are not a part of the environment but are a separate entity unto yourself, this is a falsity for you were born from the elements of the planet and your body is nourished by these minerals, vitamins and proteins. So to be a benevolent person all you have to do is care, but when people who have an unbalanced psyche organize in numbers be it for religion, commerce or for whatever purpose evil is multiplied and the result is not the little evil of a single person, this is true evil. To eliminate evil the psyche must be cured, if a person is truly psychopathic a cure may not be possible. This is the reason there are jails and mental hospitals for the criminally insane such as murderers for instance. But those who amass in large numbers who are self centered and care only for their sub culture have unbalanced psyches. They have what are called egocentric personalities and possess the ability to destroy what they don’t care about such as the environment. That this is suicide is unapparent to them for they care only for themselves and do not recognize the logic of this because they have an illness of the psyche. So if those who practice a religion have unbalanced psyches yes this represents evil, but if their psyches are balanced and they have appropriate amounts of self concern and concern for others, they are benevolent. As all true religions teach love and kindness and if their members practice this they have balance psyches, so true religions are not the root of all evil.

by Thai sean

Nov 3, 2010 6:30:27 PM cite

Faith is a good thing. It's comforting to have some kind of idea of what life will be like when this one's over; be that heaven, hell, reincarnation or becoming one with the natural world. People need that kind reassurance since no one can tell us what happens after death. But, its all of these people who are blindly following a bunch of words in old books. There are so many different religions in the world. So many different beliefs and deities. How can only one of them be right? The evil that walks hand-in-hand with organized religion is the perspective we, the followers of these religions, have on others. Who we you to condone someone else's beliefs? Organized religion is evil when its followers condemn others. Organized religion is evil when its followers see only the flaws only in other religions. Organized religion is evil when its followers kill in the name of their lord.

by AshleeNau

Jul 28, 2010 3:19:26 PM cite

No. The root of all evil is fear. We are born into a state of love and innocence, but as we grow older, delusions set in about how the world 'should' be. This causes us to fall into emotional and thinking patterns, causing a rut. As fear builds on, we detatch from the outside world, and get lost further into our heads. As we detatch from this infinite connection of life, hated can form into evil. Organized religion is not evil, it just sets boundaries to follow. It is up to the individual to step outside of those boundaries.

by littlewing