Without Christianity to balance out the people, the world would be rampage...

I wouldn't go that far...but yes, Christianity isn't a bad thing.ShadowsDemon

[QUOTE="ShadowsDemon"]I wouldn't go that far...but yes, Christianity isn't a bad thing.DirigiblePlums

Now it is, because it serves no purpose.It actually served a purpose back in the day. It also established moral principles and made "being good" a general consensus and something to strive for. I'm an agnostic, but also a history enthusiast. Having read plenty of history , I've made observations which are seen by many other history enthusiast and historians. Things like empathy and being "the good samaritan" were extremely rare during the ancient times.

[QUOTE="DirigiblePlums"] A placebo that divides the people and causes violence.SNIPER4321

Exactly, funny enough, during the dark ages, the church which was trying to educate the Germans and the remaining people after the fall of the Western Roman Empire, tried to teach them about God, and religion, and also tried to teach them about peace, love, kindness and care for the fellow human being. The Germans instead, being the warmongerers they were in the ancient times, just used religion for more war and instead of conquering for themselves, they conquered in the name of "God". Of course, later on the church itself became extremely corrupt and caused many bad deeds but much human suffering is not  only because of religion but mainly human nature.

religion is just another wedge people can use to see difference in one another and use those difference as an excuse to not treat the others as people too. take away religion and we'll just use something else.. skin color, arbitrary lines on a map, etc....

[QUOTE="SNIPER4321"][QUOTE="DirigiblePlums"] A placebo that divides the people and causes violence.RadecSupreme

Exactly, funny enough, during the dark ages, the church which was trying to educate the Germans and the remaining people after the fall of the Western Roman Empire, tried to teach them about God, and religion, and also tried to teach them about peace, love, kindness and care for the fellow human being. The Germans instead, being the warmongerers they were in the ancient times, just used religion for more war and instead of conquering for themselves, they conquered in the name of "God". Of course, later on the church itself became extremely corrupt and caused many bad deeds but much human suffering is not  only because of religion but mainly human nature.

[QUOTE="RadecSupreme"]

[QUOTE="SNIPER4321"] Oh really? what about WW1, WW2, Cold war, Vietnam war, etc etc. what does religion has to do with it??DirigiblePlums

Exactly, funny enough, during the dark ages, the church which was trying to educate the Germans and the remaining people after the fall of the Western Roman Empire, tried to teach them about God, and religion, and also tried to teach them about peace, love, kindness and care for the fellow human being. The Germans instead, being the warmongerers they were in the ancient times, just used religion for more war and instead of conquering for themselves, they conquered in the name of "God". Of course, later on the church itself became extremely corrupt and caused many bad deeds but much human suffering is not  only because of religion but mainly human nature.

It was a requirement for the advancement of civilization. From the early years of humanity, it was necessary to have religion to establish some sort of civilization. You're right about it being a tool, it's a tool needed to establish a form of government and a stable society. It has it's faults just like everything else does. It's only an enabler BECAUSE we make it so. Religion on itself doesn't do harm, it only does it because we make it so. It's no longer something we need but there are far more threatning things out there than religion. We should slowly get rid of it and establish moral principles on what we think is right, not what some fictional divine being does. I do agree with that. Things need to change, but to claim that religion has always been bad for humanity is a very ignorant and biased claim.

you are wrong. Islam is fastest growing religion. proof inside http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I0-CBL8IHq0SNIPER4321

Christianity was an very violent religion hundreds of years ago. People were killed and tortured for hundreds of years for blasphemy. There was no guilt and everyone truly believed it was justified.

European witch trials wiped out over 50,000 people in europe because Christians were purging villages they thought/speculated weren't christian or were influenced by the devil.

Religion gave people a justification to kill. They thought it was what God wanted and didn't feel guilt for their acts.

It also helped justified the genocide commited on the native americans.

Hasn't religion caused more problems than it's solved?MonoSilver

As people started seeing ways to worship their own way, but still followed the core bibleImJESUS-PROam

I don't know a single Christian who follows core Biblical beliefs, and I live in the Bible Belt.

For instance, a Christian woman has gone against Biblical doctrine if she's ever:

-Argued with her husband

-Worn pants

-Leaves the house without her head covered

-Talks in church

-Gossips

-etc.

"For a man is the image and glory of God; but the woman is the glory of man." 1 Corinthians 11:7

[QUOTE="MonoSilver"]Hasn't religion caused more problems than it's solved?ImJESUS-PROam

umm what? I can't even being to comprehend your logical reasoning. I'm a Christian myself but man, you wack. ferrari2001

[QUOTE="ImJESUS-PROam"]As people started seeing ways to worship their own way, but still followed the core biblebr0kenrabbit

I don't know a single Christian who follows core Biblical beliefs, and I live in the Bible Belt.

For instance, a Christian woman has gone against Biblical doctrine if she's ever:

-Argued with her husband

-Worn pants

-Leaves the house without her head covered

-Talks in church

-Gossips

-etc.

"For a man is the image and glory of God; but the woman is the glory of man." 1 Corinthians 11:7

[QUOTE="br0kenrabbit"]

[QUOTE="ImJESUS-PROam"]As people started seeing ways to worship their own way, but still followed the core bibleImJESUS-PROam

I don't know a single Christian who follows core Biblical beliefs, and I live in the Bible Belt.

For instance, a Christian woman has gone against Biblical doctrine if she's ever:

-Argued with her husband

-Worn pants

-Leaves the house without her head covered

-Talks in church

-Gossips

-etc.

"For a man is the image and glory of God; but the woman is the glory of man." 1 Corinthians 11:7

nations that do not like religion for example, North korea,ImJESUS-PROam

North Korea might be the most religious nation in the world

They're the only country with a dead guy as president

[QUOTE="ImJESUS-PROam"] nations that do not like religion for example, North korea,-Sun_Tzu-

North Korea might be the most religious nation in the world

They're the only country with a dead guy as president

[QUOTE="DirigiblePlums"][QUOTE="RadecSupreme"]

Exactly, funny enough, during the dark ages, the church which was trying to educate the Germans and the remaining people after the fall of the Western Roman Empire, tried to teach them about God, and religion, and also tried to teach them about peace, love, kindness and care for the fellow human being. The Germans instead, being the warmongerers they were in the ancient times, just used religion for more war and instead of conquering for themselves, they conquered in the name of "God". Of course, later on the church itself became extremely corrupt and caused many bad deeds but much human suffering is not  only because of religion but mainly human nature.

RadecSupreme

It was a requirement for the advancement of civilization. From the early years of humanity, it was necessary to have religion to establish some sort of civilization. You're right about it being a tool, it's a tool needed to establish a form of government and a stable society. It has it's faults just like everything else does. It's only an enabler BECAUSE we make it so. Religion on itself doesn't do harm, it only does it because we make it so. It's no longer something we need but there are far more threatning things out there than religion. We should slowly get rid of it and establish moral principles on what we think is right, not what some fictional divine being does. I do agree with that. Things need to change, but to claim that religion has always been bad for humanity is a very ignorant and biased claim.

Wrong. Christianity itself never brought stability, quite the opposite actually (crusades and thirty years war anyone?). The ideas of Christianity and other religions on the other hand, had profound impacts on the idealogies that helped form out current world. 

[QUOTE="RadecSupreme"]

[QUOTE="DirigiblePlums"] Religion is a tool born from the faults of human nature. It isn't the only cause of violence, but it is an enabler. And so it is poisonous to mankind and can only bring further destruction.DirigiblePlums

It was a requirement for the advancement of civilization. From the early years of humanity, it was necessary to have religion to establish some sort of civilization. You're right about it being a tool, it's a tool needed to establish a form of government and a stable society. It has it's faults just like everything else does. It's only an enabler BECAUSE we make it so. Religion on itself doesn't do harm, it only does it because we make it so. It's no longer something we need but there are far more threatning things out there than religion. We should slowly get rid of it and establish moral principles on what we think is right, not what some fictional divine being does. I do agree with that. Things need to change, but to claim that religion has always been bad for humanity is a very ignorant and biased claim.

If Christianity didn't exist there would have been another religion in place with the copied elements of other ancient mythology.

bad thread, silly account

[QUOTE="br0kenrabbit"]

[QUOTE="ImJESUS-PROam"]As people started seeing ways to worship their own way, but still followed the core bibleImJESUS-PROam

I don't know a single Christian who follows core Biblical beliefs, and I live in the Bible Belt.

For instance, a Christian woman has gone against Biblical doctrine if she's ever:

-Argued with her husband

-Worn pants

-Leaves the house without her head covered

-Talks in church

-Gossips

-etc.

"For a man is the image and glory of God; but the woman is the glory of man." 1 Corinthians 11:7

Everything I posted is in The New Testament. Like MOST Christians, it seems you don't know your Bible very well.

[QUOTE="ImJESUS-PROam"][QUOTE="br0kenrabbit"]

I don't know a single Christian who follows core Biblical beliefs, and I live in the Bible Belt.

For instance, a Christian woman has gone against Biblical doctrine if she's ever:

-Argued with her husband

-Worn pants

-Leaves the house without her head covered

-Talks in church

-Gossips

-etc.

"For a man is the image and glory of God; but the woman is the glory of man." 1 Corinthians 11:7

br0kenrabbit

Everything I posted is in The New Testament. Like MOST Christians, it seems you don't know your Bible very well.

There's nothing new under the son :P

There's nothing new under the son :P

wis3boi

Hah. But I've been meaning to jump on that quote the next time I saw it...

...so uuhhhh....when have men previously walked on The Moon before our modern era? Or used an iphone? Or the interwebs?

Nothing is a very strong word, and in this case it invalidates the whole passage.

[QUOTE="DirigiblePlums"][QUOTE="ShadowsDemon"]I wouldn't go that far...but yes, Christianity isn't a bad thing.RadecSupreme

Now it is, because it serves no purpose.It actually served a purpose back in the day. It also established moral principles and made "being good" a general consensus and something to strive for. I'm an agnostic, but also a history enthusiast. Having read plenty of history , I've made observations which are seen by many other history enthusiast and historians. Things like empathy and being "the good samaritan" were extremely rare during the ancient times.

[QUOTE="RadecSupreme"]

[QUOTE="DirigiblePlums"] Religion in general is a bad thing. A placebo that divides the people and causes violence.chrisrooR

Now it is, because it serves no purpose.It actually served a purpose back in the day. It also established moral principles and made "being good" a general consensus and something to strive for. I'm an agnostic, but also a history enthusiast. Having read plenty of history , I've made observations which are seen by many other history enthusiast and historians. Things like empathy and being "the good samaritan" were extremely rare during the ancient times.

[QUOTE="RadecSupreme"]

[QUOTE="DirigiblePlums"] Religion in general is a bad thing. A placebo that divides the people and causes violence.chrisrooR

Now it is, because it serves no purpose.It actually served a purpose back in the day. It also established moral principles and made "being good" a general consensus and something to strive for. I'm an agnostic, but also a history enthusiast. Having read plenty of history , I've made observations which are seen by many other history enthusiast and historians. Things like empathy and being "the good samaritan" were extremely rare during the ancient times.

You're not understanding me. It did establish moral principles by making it widespread. No one went around saying be good because "IT'S THE RIGHT THING TO DO". People said be good because it's what GOD wants. Empathy and sympathy became a universal requirement because it was required by the religions. It didn't change human nature and we still acted against those morals but at least it set them in place. Even then empathy and sympathy are still missing in many cultures around the world. Just look at Asia and Africa. You're right that these moral principles are evolutionary, but it doesn't change the fact that religion established them as the role model for morals and society. Religion in itself is part of our evolution. It's like a vestigial organ at this point. No longer necessary since those moral principles have been established and some of those rules are outdated and need to change.

You're not understanding me. It did establish moral principles by making it widespread. No one went around saying be good because "IT'S THE RIGHT THING TO DO". People said be good because it's what GOD wants. Empathy and sympathy became a universal requirement because it was required by the religions. It didn't change human nature and we still acted against those morals but at least it set them in place. Even then empathy and sympathy are still missing in many cultures around the world. Just look at Asia and Africa. You're right that these moral principles are evolutionary, but it doesn't change the fact that religion established them as the role model for morals and society. Religion in itself is part of our evolution. It's like a vestigial organ at this point. No longer necessary since those moral principles have been established and some of those rules are outdated and need to change.

RadecSupreme

So what you're suggesting is that religion was framed around morality, not vice-versa? I can get on board with that, but that means exactly that religion was a convenience, not a necessity.

Morals don't come from a book, they come from inside. That being said, Christianity aint that bad.

Morals don't come from a book, they come from inside. That being said, Christianity aint that bad.

redstorm72

[QUOTE="wis3boi"]

There's nothing new under the son :P

br0kenrabbit

Hah. But I've been meaning to jump on that quote the next time I saw it...

...so uuhhhh....when have men previously walked on The Moon before our modern era? Or used an iphone? Or the interwebs?

Nothing is a very strong word, and in this case it invalidates the whole passage.

Morals [...] come from inside.redstorm72

I think Christianity can be beneficial in that there are believers who feel their character has been changed for the better, people experienced healing from sicknesses, etc.