Religion: Concept itself good or bad?

[Roark]

I think you’ll find that if religion was abolished tomorrow, people would immediately find some other excuse to kill each other for.

Agreed.


Religion itself is a good thing, IMHO, or, at least, the principles behind faith. All the major belief systems in the world teach love/compassion as being paramount. All of the main scriptures of these faiths contain the message.

It's only when human beings apply their efforts to promoting personal interests, within the man-made structures of religion, that things get really ugly.

I feel that too many people fail to make that distinction and write all spirituality off as the "cause of most wars in history etc etc etc".

[JAG]

Negative. It greatly distorts many peoples views of their own responsibility and the realisation that they are completely free beings able to make their own choices on all issues.

For this alone it is a negative concept.