Religion thrives on dysfunctional society

[Telstra]

Societies worse off 'when they have God on their side'
Discuss

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article571206.ece

 

[cyravance]

Religion in and of itself is not the problem. It's a tool, like a hammer. Without a hand to wield it, it can do nothing by lie there. But, the hand can decide to use it to build something, or it can decide to use it to destroy something.

 

[kallipolis]

According to Mr. Paul's study religion is bad for your health. Mr. Paul suggests that democratic societies predominantly holding to a belief in God ( the United States) are socially unhealthy; but democratic societies that are secular and embrace evolution, such as the states of The European Union are on their way to utopia.

There is sickness, social dysfunction in all societies. I doubt whether the United States is any the more dysfunctional than any other advanced country.

Were we to focus only on the inner city areas of large cities, in any given country then we might well interpret that country's society as dysfunctional.

Mr Paul's report does indicate that generalisations might well suit his agenda. That agenda clearly has an anti-religion theme attached to it.

I wonder whether all those Catholics in Italy, or Spain, or Portugal believe that their religion is responsible for the social problems that manifest in their respective societies?

 

[HornyHenry]

After finding out more about religion in general over 2 decades ago and learning even more since then, I swore it off.
It's a multi-billion dollar untaxed racket fleecing more than just their own flocks.
A shame the religions force their dogma on others and try to recruit everyone.

 

[Orlandude]

A belief in God or a power greater than yourself is one thing. Organized religion is another. It has turned into nothing but a mega-billion dollar, tax free BUSINESS that has now crossed all political boundaries. Politicizing from the pulpit was never acceptable. Now it is the norm. The problem with organized religion is that all of it is based on interpretation of beliefs and values. That is why it is being rejected by educated societies. Most organized religions are building their congregations in third world countries. It is far easier to suck money out of the poor and uneducated.

For 3000 years, most of the bloodshed and killing in this world was a direct result of organized religions or their influence...all of whom have a bloody past. Even in the 21st century. It was organized religion that flew two airplanes into WTC. All fanatics believe God is on their side...no matter how twisted their "holy" motives.

 

[zoltanspawn]

“In general, higher rates of belief in and worship of a creator correlate with higher rates of homicide, juvenile and early adult mortality, STD infection rates, teen pregnancy and abortion in the prosperous democracies."

He doesn't say it, but the implication is that religion is the cause of these ills.

Correlation isn't cause.

 

[Telstra]

Just look at Pakistan and Saudi Arabia for example.
They are very religious and very dysfunctional.

Saudi Arabia is a very rich country but they don't have good scientists. Why

 

[EwanSF]

Because they have people dictating public policy that think the world is flat. Seriously. Look the fucker up. Theocrats need a monopoly on reality and once they've got it, it makes their dellusions seem real.

 

[chrisw87]

Its a very complicated situation, but I would say "kind of sort of yes, but maybe".

If your life is a shithole, you seek an escape. "when you die, you will be in a place with only pleasure for every one of your senses, no suffering, no darkness"

When everyones life is a shithole, they can get rowdy, organised religion is great for controlling people "do this and this, stay in line, you will get that life after death, if not you will get worse than your in now"

I am a Christian, but I think religion should just be used as a way to guide you to making morally correct decisions, however its a dangerous game.

 

[Kulindahr]

I strongly suspect that if they could sort out the effects of religious folks who don't think it's their job to hammer the rest of society into their image from those who think they're supposed to turn their country into a theocracy, the result would be that religion is a net benefit.

I also strongly suspect that if they looked at countries from the point of view of having fanatic ideologues striving to remake the country in their image, whether or not the ideology had anything religious about it, the result would be the same. The problem is not religion, but any set of people with the attitude "we're better than you, you should be like us, and we're going to force you to be".

 

[kallipolis]

The problem is not religion, but any set of people with the attitude "we're better than you, you should be like us, and we're going to force you to be".

Has always been so.

Blame not religion, or a political ideology, rather the human person who believes that they hold a monopoly on all the right answers.

 

[Dolmance]

Has always been so.

Blame not religion, or a political ideology, rather the human person who believes that they hold a monopoly on all the right answers.

Or rather, blame any ideology that proclaims itself universally applicable and fundamentally correct, furthermore, blame the biologically entrenched, idiot tribal inclinations that produce such and make us susceptible to them. Blame the stunted imaginations and resultant lack of empathy that disallows advocates of such from perceiving, much less comprehending, that the narratives that resonate with their experiences of existence, are not everyone else's, that they are the authors of their own tales whether they like the responsibility of holding the pen or not. Blame the cultural constructs and assumptions of tradition whose parameters so few have the wit, courage or will to look beyond and see: each human being is a mythos unto itself, an experiment in personality development that begins with the first conscious thought, ends with the last (perhaps) and is no more slave to ideology than it decides to be.

 

[PickYrPoisn]

Religion not only thrives in a dysfunctional society, it perpetuates it.

 

[Telstra]

Hitchens at his best, no one can beat his comments in this video:

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5b1aIuoCq4w&feature=related[/ame]

 

[Kulindahr]

Hitchens fights against a caricature, an image drawn from only one part of the religious spectrum. He's right that it's a danger, but by classifying all religion and all religious people as evil he's doing a good job of seeing that not very many people listen. Like a conservative Baptist preacher, he draws almost exclusively those who just want to hear someone else saying things publicly that they say privately.

 

[kallipolis]

Hitchens fights against a caricature, an image drawn from only one part of the religious spectrum. He's right that it's a danger, but by classifying all religion and all religious people as evil he's doing a good job of seeing that not very many people listen. Like a conservative Baptist preacher, he draws almost exclusively those who just want to hear someone else saying things publicly that they say privately.

..........and were society in general to view we gay males, solely from the perspective of the promiscuous gay male, who changes sexual partners every day just imagine how aggrieved many of us would feel for being misrepresented.

 

[Kulindahr]

^
What of being promiscuous was part of your religion?

 

[kallipolis]

^
What of being promiscuous was part of your religion?

I am religious about everything I do; including not being promiscuous.

 

[Telstra]

Hitchens fights against a caricature, an image drawn from only one part of the religious spectrum. He's right that it's a danger, but by classifying all religion and all religious people as evil he's doing a good job of seeing that not very many people listen. Like a conservative Baptist preacher, he draws almost exclusively those who just want to hear someone else saying things publicly that they say privately.

that "only one part" get taught to kids alot in Sunday schools is it not ?

 

[opinterph]

Societies worse off 'when they have God on their side' Discuss

It seems to me that the “first look” is a somewhat less-than-scientific demonstration of perceived correlations. I applaud the author’s effort, but find the report more of a rough draft than a finished product. In addition, the report’s author is notorious for his criticism of religion, so perhaps his approach is somewhat tainted. If this topic were of interest to legitimate researchers, I would expect there to be more recent efforts by other individuals or groups that attempt to better refine the presentation.

Cross-National Correlations of Quantifiable Societal Health with Popular Religiosity and Secularism in the Prosperous Democracies: A First Look