That depends. If religion is used to enrich people's lives and for personal spiritual sustenance, it's good. Religion is bad if it's forced on people (prayer at football games), or when it's in the law (Bush's ABC [abstinence, be faithful, condoms] program for AIDS.)

It depends on which end of the gun your standing on. A word of advice, pick the trigger end. Name three. you named the one that is the most annoying.Since most wars are religious one, it does answer the question. A bullet in the brain is not good for society.

This is sort of in response to the Anonymous user who answered: It depends on which end of the gun your standing on. A word of advice, pick the trigger end. Name three. you named the one that is the most annoying.Since most wars are religious one, it does answer the question. A bullet in the brain is not good for society. My response to the question and Anonymous: No, being dead isn't good. I still feel your answer is too brief to make a case that all religion is bad. There are good and bad parts about religion. For the most part if people actually adhered to what their dogma stated they should do, well, there would already be peace on earth. That's a major thing to consider. Do you actually know what the Christian God wants of his people or the Hindu God or Muslim? I'm only pretty sure of what the Christian God wants us to do and the majority of so called christians aren't doing it. So, who's to blame? God's standards? I don't think so. People are responsible for their own actions. There are some, like religious leaders, who have distorted truth to sway the masses. To incite them for war or mob action or whatever. But again, if you actually learn what these 'sacred' writings say then you'll know that what they do is condemned by their own beliefs (or what they should be believing). So, I would say that religion is only good as long as its followers adhere to the 'truth' of its writings. Of course this totally depends on what these writings say. If it was a Satanic Cult than I would bet they wouldn't be beneficial. The only real way is to learn first what should be and not what you only see.

Its not as bad as money I guess it depends on the society itself

I honestly consider it a bad thing now. Because of relgion, science cannot progress as it should because "we might anger god" or some such rubbish. Due to relgion, we have wars, where people kill eachother for really no reason. Because of relgion, people think there is an afterlife. Because of that, people go to war and throw their lives away. Without relgion, we can progress. These 'holy wars' will stop. Wars in general might stop, I don't beleive as many people would go to war from /any/ country, knowing that there isn't anything after death... We can progress to greater things...

Religion is the root of all evil. It causes wars and, therefore death. I wish everyone could be spared the biggest lie in history. "Imagine all the people, living life in peace"...

I consider it to be a very bad thing in society.

"I put no stock in religion. By the word religion I have seen the lunacy of fanatics of every denomination be called the will of god. Holiness is in right action, and courage on behalf of those who cannot defend themselves, and goodness. For what God desires, and holiness is in your mind, and heart. And what you choose to do every day you will be a good man, or not."

It depends on where you are and how people use it. Right now there are hundreds of religious organizations helping feed poor people, setting up orphanages, setting up schools, etc. All in the name of God. This is religion used for good. Of course if you start a Jihad and are violent and try to spend your days killing Jews because they are there, then of course then religion can be bad. It can be used for both good and bad.

I think its a very good thing. Even if you dont believe, you still have to agree that it keeps people more docile, and nice. Its nice to believe in something like that.

Religion is bad because 1) It causes lots of controversy, and has been the start of wars. 2) It is an opening for anyone who wants to put people down for being different. They use religion as an excuse. 3)People refuse things such as medical assitance because it's "in God's hands." It is good because 1)It provides us with a set of morals. 2) It gives people a little hope, and helps them out of hard times. 3)Being in a religious group makes people feel like they are part of something larger. Though, I personally think it's a bad thing (even if I'm contradicting most of what I said here). I think it would be better if we believed at first, just long enough to get a sense of what's good or bad. A little like a Santa Claus kind of thing. You religious people can rate me down if you like. It's my opinion, and if you don't like it, that's fine with me.

There is no right answer. Some people think religion is good, others think it's bad. I think it can be both good and bad... though overall its a good thing.

Alright I'm going to do what the atheists here are doing. If everyone was a bloodly Lutheran then we wouldn't have these problems. All the atheists are doing is saying "Well if everyone had the same beliefs as me then we might not have these problems" WELL IF EVERYONE HAD THE SAME BELIEFS AS ME THEN WE WOULDN'T HAVE THESE PROBLEMS EITHER!!!

It is not religion that is bad, or that starts wars, or discriminates against some people. It is people, and their "interpretation" on what religion says, that causes all of these problems. Those that follow (supposedly) the teachings of Jesus - aka Christians - actually follow scriptures written up to 100 years AFTER his death and not necessarily what he taught, otherwise they would honor and observe the Jewish Torah and other Jewish customs, so again they follow what some person interpreted as what Jesus said rather than what he actually said... A good religion, in my humble opinion, is one that encourages the individual to have a personal "relationship" with the deity, and allows some 'customisation' of how, where and when to worship. It is a religion that teaches responsibility for your own actions rather than allowing you to do what you want, as long as you repent before you die! It is a religion that promotes acceptance of others, regardless of what they do (or don't) believe or how they live their life. For many thousands of years religion depended on where you came from, and it paid respect to nature - that which keeps us all alive. Even in ancient Rome religion from a newly acquired region was incorporated and absorbed into the existing beliefs, rather than replaced. It is only in the last 2000 years that we see religion forced on people and people persecuted and even executed simply because they hold different beliefs. Religion is indeed a good thing, it is only the interpretation of man that has made it bad.

It's so amazing to me that many of the wars that take place around the world are based on religion. Shouldn't religions promote peace?

that depends, religion is somthing people can turn to, in times of doubt or comfrot, but people also use it to classify others and as an excuse

i say for society no way thats a terrible thing for society cuz everyone thinks diffrently but for private life yes it is good

Generally OK, but, there is definitely a very valid reason to ensure that matters of religion and state are legally kept apart.

Wars really aren't started over religion. Wars are started by people who want to exert power over others and refuse to take no for answer when the others decide they don't want that. Religion is just an excuse used by some power hungry people to do what they would do anyway.

The Roman Empire did not expand because of religion, but power. The Chinese emperors did not conquer because of religion, but power. Hitler did not do his thing because of religion, but because of power and racist beliefs not based on any known religious system. People may USE religion as an excuse to wage war, but that is very different from religion causing the war. Without "religion" as you call it, there would be no art, no music, no writing, no history, no science, because all of these areas have been dominated for most of human existence by "religious" people. More specifically, the slave trade in Europe would still be operating, if not for the work of the "Clapham sect" (the evangelicals of Holy Trinity Clapham, who backed Wilberforce (himself an evangelical Christian) to bring it before parliament year after year until the anti-slavery law was passed. Wilberforce also began the RSPCA by the way. Shaftesbury, another evangelical, ended Child labour in Britain, by using Wilberforce's RSPCA laws to prosecute a pit owner for abusing a child. He was then able to found the RSPCC and pass laws protecting children. Evangelicals like John Howard and Elizabeth Fry were responsible for prison reform. The evangelical Baroness Burdett-Coutts spent much of her fortune rebuilding the slums of London, and establishing schools and training institutions for the poor. Slaves were gotten to freedom in the US by the Quakers and Presbyterians, who smuggled them along the "Underground Railroad" to the Northern states and Canada. Churches in ex-slaving nations such as Jamaica petitioned their members worldwide to donate money to buy land for the former slaves, so that they could become self-sufficient. If not for churches and Christians of the past, school systems and hospitals would never have been founded. At present, Christians serving in schools and hospitals in developing countries enable the people of those areas to have access to these services, which governments cannot provide. Christian NGOs know from experience how to react to disasters: they were on the scene of the worst hit areas by the tsunami before the governments could even move. And don't say they proselytised, because they did not...ask the Acehnese. What I am trying to say is: you have asked your question based on several false premises: 1)that the only thing that religion in general has ever done for humanity is produce wars. That is not true for the reasons I gave above 2) that all religions are the same. they are not. Some religions, such as Christianity, have a long history of good works and humanitarian causes, not to mention art, literature, literacy, and many other areas.

Most Wars are based on religions, either directly or indirectly. Civil War was based on color (mostly) and a lot of smaller battles in the world all involve somthing that another country or faction is prejudiced against. (Immigration, gay rights, etc). So to answer your question. I would say Bad.

I think its prejudiced to put one bad thing as a representation of a subjest as vast as this. The viewpoint just isnt balanced. But I guess its difficult to make comparisons... religious wars vs ???

Overall, I think religion in itself is a good thing...if what most religions teaches is practiced. Sadly, that is not always the case. It's not religion that causes wars, it's the people who are using it as an excuse to weild power and try and force their views and beliefs upon others. If most of them would actually READ the books they claim to be following, they would see that they are acting directly against what is asked of them.

Overall, I think that excessive generalization is a bad thing, whether it be about the character of others, the nature of politics, or the value of religion. Many of our most intractable problems have their roots in the temptation to oversimplify complex matters.

While it is difficult to generalize, I would say that religion has had a net positive effect on the world. I think that when religious beliefs and practices were originally developed thousands of years ago, they helped humans to understand the universe, and allowed to greater group cohesion. Having said that, I would say that religion is no longer having a net positive effect, but instead is more of a drag on society. This is because many modern day religions make statements about the world that promote ignorance and hate.

Bad, bad, baaaaaad thing! If to the religious wars, you add all of the horrors committed by man in the name of the religion thrughout the ages plus what they continue to do, we have enough cause to put anybody that calls him/herself religious on a giant spaceship with enough fuel for a one way trip to Mars and send them on their way

Most 'religious wars' were actually wars of economic aggression with only a thin veneer of religiosity. You need to look at the actual reasons behind the wars to find the truth.

Religion is not only a good thing, but it is the only thing. U cannot blame religion 4 the acts of corrupt men.

Its a good thing because so many lives would be saved if we just turn to jesus christ our savior. Unfortunutly many people die because of this.

Generally, I think it's a bad thing. Apart from the many wars and loss of life (including the Spanish Inquisition), the other major factor, to me, is that it discourages people from taking responsibility for their own actions and lives, and suppresses to me one of the things that makes humans what they are - questioning, thinking beings.

I think it was Sephen Hawkins who said that religion has been beneficial from an evolutionary standpoint...

Bad. No argument.

Whenever religion turns into extreme acts& behaviours, nonsense and abuse(psychological, sexual, physical), then it becomes a real bad thing.

i think its good but overall bad.... the idea of who's right has corrupted people.... if people believed in not killing then they wouldn't fight back if attacked....they would all just die and go to their heaven.... but people dont really believe in the whole religion.... they only believe in the part that makes them feel hopeful.... all religion is is a light in the dark.... something to pray for when all hopes been lost.... its a guide in life....a way to look at the world.... those in religious wars only fought for wat they believed in.... that doesnt make it wrong but it makes it wrong that they have to kill in order to be righteous.... there's no justice in kill one another....

Bad. Quote from American physicist Steven Weinberg... "Religion is an insult to human dignity. With or without it, you'd have good people doing good things and evil people doing evil things. But for good people to do evil things, it takes religion."

All religions are for good. basically if you inspect all of them say good things almost 80%, except something which may not be practical today's world. It's all humans handi work to make it bad for humanity. If you read Qaran you can find Jehad doesn't mean killing people. In christianity converting a human being doesn't mean cultural invasion or alluring poor people. In Hindu Sati doesn't mean killing widows. Sikh wearing turban was just a symbolic one, not really part of religion. Religion should be open ended and I feel it should not be organized and should not be in the hands of people.