Quote:
Originally Posted by flamesfever
I used to focus on all the evils that were done in the name of religion, until I thought in fairness, I should also give credit for all the good that religion has done.
When you consider the astronomical number of people in the world i.e. 6.5 billion people, it seems to me that we should be marvelling at the amount of stability, rather than focusing on the instability in the world.
In my view, Religion plays a huge part in maintaining that stability. To expect to displace religion throughout the world with atheism IMO is not only unrealistic but may have disastrous consequences.
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Here I have to disagree with you. Religion can sometimes provide local stability, but in a global sense it tends not to. Look, as just one example at the cultural war that is now being waged between Islam and the West, whether we like it or not.
And I don't think we should really be "marvelling at the amount of stability" in the world. There's not much to marvel over. Most of the world's children live in crippling poverty, and can't even get a clean glass of water to drink. Every year of the last century saw a war somewhere in the world. Much of the world is a complete disaster, actually--and when we live in our Westernized, developed-world bubble, it's really easy to forget that not only are we the lucky ones--but we are also the exception rather than the rule.
I don't think all of those problems are caused by religion either--but religion isn't going to solve them. The implied corollary to Christ's remark that "man does not live on bread
alone" is that man must
at least have bread--before he can nourish the other parts of him that crave nourishment.