Does religion prevent us from seeing the real sides of issues?

I believe the answer is yes. Whether you are a believing person or not if you look at religion in general it really seems as the perfect way to keep people wandering about "else".. "hey believer..just think at the afterlife and you will get over this life's prevarications and wrongs" No wonder that the church has always held so much political and economical power..no wonder that those powers are lessening the more science is uncovering reality.

It all goes down to a simple question: Which is stronger? The power of thought, or the power of love? And, of course, it depends on the person. But generally, nowadays, people tend to listen the heart less and less. That's why the idea of euthanasia came out in the first place. Personally, i think that we should do things as we think if the thought is logically valid and is found to be true. I'm saying this because i want to emphasize the fact that we shouldn't do things opposite to our religious beliefs just for the fun of it, but think well before doing them and try to find the middle point. Well, in this case, there aren't many middle points, are there? If we judge that the life is one's property, then euthanasia is a question of one's decision; but if life is God's "property", then one should do His will!

Agreed with you, everyone of our socity should benefited from religion. It should be always possitive and constructive. Only love should be a bridge among all different Religion.

I think it depends on how organized the religion is to come extent. Organized religions with specific scriptures are harder to make up your own mind within than less organized ones. I can easily have a different opinion on something than some other pagan, and there's no authority to chastise me about it other than the Gods, should they choose to. Since most pagans would agree that we see only the Gods themselves as our authorities, unless they come right out and voice an opinion, we're pretty safe to make up our own minds. Organized religions, however, have to deal with whatever their religion's hierarchy is, and are expected to voice the same opinion as the people above them in that hierarchy. If they don't, they risk being ridiculed, outcast, called heretics, etc. Some would even claim they risk their salvation. So it becomes a scary thing for them to voice any opinion that is different, which is of course why I respect the ones who do even more (you people know who you are!). ;P Of course that can go the other way as well. Since my partner and I are of different religions, we are members of a Unitarian Universalist fellowship (which is for people of many beliefs). The Unitarian Universalist Association has come out in support of gay marriage... so a UU that didn't believe in gay marriage might feel very uncomfortable voicing their opinion, even though officially it's part of the purposes and principles of the UUA to listen to everyone's opinions. My religious beliefs don't really hinder me in making informed decisions, but they do force me to look at things from many angles before making a decision. Since I'm a Celtic Reconstructionist Pagan, I have to think about the possible consequences of any decision I make or issue I support, since we believe in actual consequences rather than sin and forgiveness. So I have to look at things very carefully before making a decision.

I think a person's religion, to an extent, does become who that person is. In other words, to be a "good" fill in the religion they "have" to believe what the church teaches. That is part of the reason I stopped going to church. Our beliefs come from somewhere, though, so it is not all bad that people follow their religions. For me it was not the right thing to do, but for some they need that guidance. I was raised more on the side of making my own choices and decisions.

To me, religion is very different than faith. While I don't consider myself to be affiliated with any religion, my faith is very important to me. Religion is a set of rules and guidelines established by somebody interperpreting the doctrine for the masses. Faith on the other hand is our own interpretation of said doctrine. As far as your question, the key words are "prevent us from making informed decisions." By deciding yourself as to the interpretations, you allow yourself to make your own informed decisions rather than allowing one person (ex. the pope) to tell you how you should decide based upon his faith.