Quote:
Originally Posted by jammies
The problem isn't with religion in itself, but with the idea that belief is a valid basis on which to guide your actions. Yes, most beliefs are harmless or even benign, but there is no difference in plausibility between the belief that you should be kind to others and the belief that anyone who doesn't share your religion can be killed as a righteous act.
That's what most atheists/agnostics are against - the authority of world-views that are inconsistent within themselves and observed reality, and that dismiss this inconsistency with the tenet that faith explains all. Since almost every religion (and pseudo-religious movement, like fascism or communism) shares this tenet, almost every religion is flawed in the exact same way, and is open to the exact same extremism.
You can't permanently solve that issue by replacing one faith with another. You can only solve it by discrediting faith itself.
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The problem with religion is not religion itself. It is an invention by man to explain what we could not by any other reason. The fact that we invent gods in our own image is merely a sign of human arrogance.
The problem with religion is that, as an invention of man, it is just as flawed and just as prone to corruption as mankind is. Religion has become a means of controlling man and one of its most important tools is ignorance. Therefore, it is also true that support for religion is higher where quality of education is lower, and where people are poorer.
And while we frequently lose sight of it - especially on days like today - it is also true that the world of today is a far less brutal place than the world was just one century ago, or two. Or ten. Or twenty. Given more evil has been committed in the name of religion than perhaps any other thing in human history, it should come as no surprise that, as mankind becomes increasingly educated and increasingly rejects faith as an argument, it likewise has become less violent.