Quote:
Originally Posted by Flames Draft Watcher
Some would argue that religions that put forward the concept of heaven are in fact devaluing this life in favour of an afterlife that may turn out to be a fantasy/myth. If I base my life on the belief that I am doing certain things to get into heaven there's a chance I may not make the most of THIS life and there's a chance that this life is the only life I have.
There are many passages in the Bible that suggest striving for great things is not what you should be doing. The meek shall inherit the earth, the last will be first, etc. The Bible at times legitimizes servitude. I think several things about the Bible encourage mediocrity and hamper ambition to do anything great on this earth.
Some would also argue that the Biblical model of humans being granted dominion over the beasts/land has in part led to a destructive and exploitive relationship with nature.
Some would also argue that the belief in the imminent return of Christ lessens any responsibility for leaving the Earth in good shape for future generations. If you believe Christ may return in your lifetime you aren't going to prioritize sustainability, leaving the Earth in good shape for your children, for their children, for 100 generations from now. Many Christians have thought they were living in the endtimes for the last thousand years. You can find a multitude of Christian literature on our current times being the "end times."
Cults are seen as more obviously insidious with their brain washing but some of the principles they use are not so different from the larger religions. And in fact various religions consider each other to be cults, I know many Christians consider Mormons and JW's to be in a cult.
These are but a few of the interesting arguments as to how religion is actually a destructive influence on life, on the environment, on people's lives. If people are interested in arguments like these I'm sure I can think up/research a few more.
I've certainly take a few classes on subjects like these including a class called "The Critique of Christianity" and one called "Humanities and the Natural World" in which causes for our destructive relationship with nature were explored. Good ol Liberal Arts education. In the Critique course our reading included Marx (including the paper his famous religion is the opiate of the masses is quoted from), Freud's Future of an Illusion, Nietzsche's Anti-Christ and Twilight of the Idols and Schopenhauer's Essence of Christianity. If anybody wants any further reading I'm sure you can those on the web in mediocre translations. I think a lot of their arguments are more sophisticated that the current militant atheists like Hitchens.
Turns out people have been arguing that religion can be a bad influence for the past 200 years. Perhaps more successfully in the 19th century than in the 20th for some strange reason.
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I was raised an atheist long before it became popular, where 'religion is the opiate of the people' was an oft mentioned statement with a lot of communist philosophy thrown in, still it wasn't in an antagonistic way and we were encouraged to find our own ways. I'm not interested in exploring the vices of the various religions, I know they've been compromised by greed (promises of heaven after death, re-incarnation etc.) but their original basis and some of their aims can still viable. If someone becomes closer to their god or finds a certain peace, who am I to judge them.