Good and Bad sides of religion

[Darth Wong]

OK, this is a contentious topic, but could anyone please try to list the good and bad sides of religion? Let's try to keep it from becoming a flamewar; we've had enough of those lately.

Good:

1. Useful social engineering tool; people are more likely to obey laws which they believe to be backed up by an omniscient force because they know they can't "get away with it".
2. Comfort, especially for the young: I've thought about this, and if my son was dying of some terminal disease, and he asked me what happens afterwards, I might just tell him that he'll go to Heaven. Even though I don't believe it.
3. Church is a good place to pick up chicks.
4. Church proselytizing activities often involve community work.

Bad:

1. More group identifications, added to race and nation. More divisions between people.
2. Encourages irrational thought.
3. Encourages anti-scientific sentiment (often, but not always).
4. May encourage abdication of personal moral responsibility to the edicts of a higher power, or more specifically, the church claiming to represent that higher power. In other words, people are often not encouraged to develop their own moral code independent of the faith.
5. Some specific doctrines, sects, and cults are downright evil.
6. Some churches accumulate vast sums of money to spend wastefully on their own glorification, eg- 100 million dollar church buildings

Any others?

[Shinova]

I would just like to say that religion was, in a way, human society's first law. Everyone more or less kept the order, or else they'll be struck down by the gods or something depending on the religion.

Nowdays we've managed to set up our own laws and keep the order without the need for religion.

[Arthur_Tuxedo]

Religious people donate and do volunteer work a lot more than atheists.

[The Dark]

Religious people donate and do volunteer work a lot more than atheists.

I think that falls under #4, but I agree that there are many religious service organizations, of which I belong to a few.

[Sonnenburg]

In addition:
Good: Myths and legends can provide snapshots of how a culture views itself and its world, as well as providing interesting stories (examples: Epic of Gilgamesh, Odyssey)

Bad: Can be used by corrupt leaders to further personal achievement/goals (examples: Crusades, Suicide bombings)

[pecker]

I'd pretty much have to agree with everything so far.

[Coyote]

Good-but-Use-Carefully department:

Open minded parents using religious parables can encourage kids to use imagination and think in ethical ways; obviously these would be parents who are of a tolerant and open-minded sect rather than a dogmatic one. Tales like "Noah's Ark", presented as just that, tall tales, can be fun for kids to imagine.

Real good subset of #4:

-- Religious organizations recently (according to an AP release I saw this morning) have approached GM with a compact signed among them-- including groups such as Jewish Conservative Movement, the Korean Presbyterian Church, United Methodists (I think) and others-- stating that ecological responsibility towards God's created world is a duty of the faithful. They proposed that if GM steps up the research, development, and production of fuel-electric hybrid cars, these religious organizations will try to encourage their congregations to purchase these vehicles as a means of expressing responsible stewardship of Earth.

[Darth Wong]

Bad: nihilism associated with belief in impending judgement day. Prime example: James Watt, Reagan's secretary of the environment, saying that we don't need to worry about the environment because the Second Coming is near.

[Durandal]

1. Useful social engineering tool; people are more likely to obey laws which they believe to be backed up by an omniscient force because they know they can't "get away with it".

This is also a bad thing. Thinking that some Big Brother is constantly looking over your shoulder tends to crush somebody's will to act independently, and it discourages non-conformism.

[Joe]

Bad: nihilism associated with belief in impending judgement day. Prime example: James Watt, Reagan's secretary of the environment, saying that we don't need to worry about the environment because the Second Coming is near.

Eh, that's a little bit too sweeping, a belief in an upcoming armageddon is certainly not an aspect of all religions.

[Durandal]

Good: Certain religions encourage good acts as a way of self-growth. Buddhism, for example, teaches that if you're good in one life, you'll have a nicer life the next time around until eventually being enlightened.

[Darth Wong]

Bad: nihilism associated with belief in impending judgement day. Prime example: James Watt, Reagan's secretary of the environment, saying that we don't need to worry about the environment because the Second Coming is near.

Eh, that's a little bit too sweeping, a belief in an upcoming armageddon is certainly not an aspect of all religions.

Point taken. Many of them do, but not all.

[The Yosemite Bear]

My mother, My Current Stepdad, My sister and her Children are all Roman Catholics. My stepdad is a member of a minority (Navajo Indian with some Mexican/Spanish) group that was at one time oppressed by Archbishop Torqumunda. They are all very open minded in reguards to other people. Sure I have had many serious arguements with them.

[Rhadamanthus]

Religious people donate and do volunteer work a lot more than atheists.

You have something to back this up? Didn't think so.

If you mean there are more Church organizations than you would be correct, because how many Atheist organizations do you know of?

[Durandal]

The government already has secular programs for helping people out. Tax dollars go to funding them. That's my contribution. I see no reason to give money to a religious organization. Hell, I refuse to give money to the Salvation Army because they won't help single mothers, and I don't give the Boy Scouts anything because they're religious bigots.

[lgot]

Good:

1 - Some, Religious encourage hard study and research. Huge Cultural developments inspired by the religion's intervention

bad:

2 - They actually hold a lot of monetary power (catholic meanly) and all this stuff is not used to actually help out the society they belong too.

[XPViking]

Good: Is able to offer support to its members either emotionally, physically, or financially. As well, it's an opportunity to develop new friendships and possible networks. Speaking from experience as an expat in a foreign country, it's nice to know that there are other English speakers that I can turn to.

Good: some charitable programs that churches run exist outside of the government which can "fill the gap", as it were. That is, the church can reach out to people and help where the government fails.

Bad: The above Good elements of course can sometimes result in an "us" vs "them" mentality, as already pointed out. Example: someone getting a job because the candidate and the employer both go to the same church.

Bad: Sometimes charitable efforts have an evangelical (possibly forceful) element attached to it.

That's all I can think of for now.

XPViking

[haas mark]

Religion helped along a moral code.

It also proved that superior beings would be exepmt fromhuman morals, and that humans have to fear them.

[Mr Bean]

Pretty good so far...

though with religions in general its hard to nail down anything else than what we already have

[The Dark]

Pretty good so far...

though with religions in general its hard to nail down anything else than what we already have

True, one would have to get more specific about which religion they mean. Hinduism is one of the most open-minded religions, willing to absorb any belief structure into their own (usually by making the supreme being an avatar of Vishnu). Buddhists are among the most peaceful, Shinto among the most respectful. It all depends on which religion you speak of.

[haas mark]

Pretty good so far...

though with religions in general its hard to nail down anything else than what we already have

True, one would have to get more specific about which religion they mean. Hinduism is one of the most open-minded religions, willing to absorb any belief structure into their own (usually by making the supreme being an avatar of Vishnu). Buddhists are among the most peaceful, Shinto among the most respectful. It all depends on which religion you speak of.

Paganism, as well, is quite open-minded.

[The Duchess of Zeon]

1. Useful social engineering tool; people are more likely to obey laws which they believe to be backed up by an omniscient force because they know they can't "get away with it".

This is also a bad thing. Thinking that some Big Brother is constantly looking over your shoulder tends to crush somebody's will to act independently, and it discourages non-conformism.

No, it isn't. It only becomes bad in an advanced society. Have you ever heard of the Taiping Rebellion? Had it succeeded, despite being as bloody as it was, it might have brought considerably advanced societal concepts to China, far beyond those in Europe at the time, even, and completely reinvigorated that nation.

Religion can indeed be a powerful motivating force for good in a society. Gibbon argued that Christianity "Hastened the decline, while it cushioned the fall," to paraphrase, of the Roman Empire - Of course, by aiding in the transference of Roman secular ideas to the Germanic tribes, through the common language of Latin which was used by the Church, and through the common structure and body of the Church, which was organized as a universal institute, a shadow Rome.

There are, of course, still other examples. For all that Islam is static, locked in the middle ages, the fact that Arabia got to the middle ages at all is to a large degree thanks to Islam. Otherwise it would have just been another tribal region for Europeans to conquer when our industrial revolution - which probably would have happened anyway - gave us the boot up.

[Drewcifer]

Good: emotional fortitude
I've seen several extended family members get through incredible trials and tribulations by praying and "leaving it God's hands". Although the underlying factors may be the 'power of positive thinking' and the rational act of not continuing to obsess over a problem, in my limited experience it seems that people with strong religous convictions are more apt to let a problem go rather than wallowing in it.

[Darth Wong]

On the bad side, however: expecting God to solve problems for you. This is a particular problem with fundies, who are more apt to pray for solutions to concrete problems and expect miracles. I actually spoke to a fundie once who laid hands on his car's air conditioning unit and prayed to God to re-energize it; he swore that it was more powerful afterwards, but no measurements were involved. Why couldn't he just take it to the garage?

[XPViking]

Darth Wong,

Funny you should mention the laying of hands on automobiles. In Korea, some folks still bless the family car.

XPViking