Religion Is Poison
Jim Meyer
Personal Research
4.12.2014
Religion has Proven Itself Poisonous and a Danger to Mankind
Everybody knows what religion is before you ask them. But if you ask them what religion is, they will find it very hard to define! By definition we might also say religion is for people who feel that lack a core guidance system and need to have higher rules and guidelines to live their life to the fullest. Appropriately, this is identical to the definition of control. That is because religion is a complex subject and "religion" is only a word. Like all words, it can mean anything we want it to mean, but in a discussion, it is important that we understand how the word is used. I believe it is impossible to give a satisfactory universal definition of religion. Because it crosses so many different boundaries in human experience, religion is notoriously difficult to define partly due to two problems: they are too narrow and omit numerous belief systems which many agree are religious, or they are too broad, suggesting that everything is or can be a religion. Ideologies can exist in the form of religion or secularism. What they have in common are followers who do not question the ideology based on their belief (or fear) that their leader is infallible (whether God or human) and abandon their ability to reason... and therein lies the danger.1 If religion has to do with how we relate to God, then Buddhism, Confucianism is left out because they have little to say about God. We may look at the language below to see the conundrum. Muehlhauser2 noted an ideal type of religion includes:
1. Interaction with the supernatural
2. A diagnosis of something essentially wrong with the human condition, and a prescription for salvation or liberation from it.
3. Regular, repeated behavior (ritual)
4. Community practice
Some forms of Jainism don’t fit with (1), but they fit with all the rest and so they qualify as religion. Some forms of Taoism don’t have any particular rituals, but
Personal Research
4.12.2014
Religion has Proven Itself Poisonous and a Danger to Mankind
Everybody knows what religion is before you ask them. But if you ask them what religion is, they will find it very hard to define! By definition we might also say religion is for people who feel that lack a core guidance system and need to have higher rules and guidelines to live their life to the fullest. Appropriately, this is identical to the definition of control. That is because religion is a complex subject and "religion" is only a word. Like all words, it can mean anything we want it to mean, but in a discussion, it is important that we understand how the word is used. I believe it is impossible to give a satisfactory universal definition of religion. Because it crosses so many different boundaries in human experience, religion is notoriously difficult to define partly due to two problems: they are too narrow and omit numerous belief systems which many agree are religious, or they are too broad, suggesting that everything is or can be a religion. Ideologies can exist in the form of religion or secularism. What they have in common are followers who do not question the ideology based on their belief (or fear) that their leader is infallible (whether God or human) and abandon their ability to reason... and therein lies the danger.1 If religion has to do with how we relate to God, then Buddhism, Confucianism is left out because they have little to say about God. We may look at the language below to see the conundrum. Muehlhauser2 noted an ideal type of religion includes:
1. Interaction with the supernatural
2. A diagnosis of something essentially wrong with the human condition, and a prescription for salvation or liberation from it.
3. Regular, repeated behavior (ritual)
4. Community practice
Some forms of Jainism don’t fit with (1), but they fit with all the rest and so they qualify as religion. Some forms of Taoism don’t have any particular rituals, but
References: Brahm, Eric. "Religion and Conflict." Beyond Intractability. Eds. Guy Burgess and Heidi Burgess. Conflict Information Consortium, University of Colorado, Boulder. Posted: 11-05 Christina, Greta, “The Armor of God, or, The Top One Reason Religion Is Harmful” 11-25-09 Krauss, Lawrence M. “Faith and Foolishness: When Religious Beliefs Become Dangerous,”7-1-10 Moggach, Douglas, "Bruno Bauer", The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Summer 2014 Edition), Edward N. Zalta (ed.), http://plato.stanford.edu/archives/sum2014/entries/bauer. Paine, Thomas, “The Age of Reason” Published in 1794, 1795, and 1807. Reiss, Steven, “Who Am I? The 16 Basic Desires that Motivate Our Action and Define Our Personalities” published 2000 (Tarcher Putnam). Russell, Bertrand “God and Religion” published by Prometheus Books, 1986, 1952, p. 283 Smith J. F. (1887). "Strauss, David Friedrich". In Baynes, T.S.; Smith, W.R. Encyclopaedia Britannica, Leo Strauss Smith, George, “Atheism: The Case Against God,” published 1974