Religion is the Root of All Evil
By tigertang
@tigertang (1749)
Singapore
October 17, 2006 11:57am CST
Former Governor of Minesota, Jesse "The Body" Ventura once said in the PlayBoy Interview that, "Organised Religion is a Crutch and a sham for the weakminded." Another person I spoke to once said, "Religion is the root of all evil while spirituality is the root of all good." While my faith in the Almighty remains, after seeing the number of squables between Muslims and Christians, I'm kind of inclined to these thoughts! Wonder if anyone can set me straight about the value of religion or if you have similar thoughts.
2 people like this
12 responses
@suspenseful (40193)
• Canada
5 Nov 07
Man was given the will to obey God or not. He ate the forbidden fruit and ever since then men have been inclined to do evil. So do not blame God or the true religion for all ills. When I think of spirituality, I think of witches, people who say that what you do is bad or good depending on the circumstances. those who have no moral absolute. You need a moral absolute that what is right is right and what is wrong is wrong, and only God has the right to give that absolute. True religion is following the way of God, going to church, and keeping Sundays off from work, except for works of necessity and mercy. You do need order.
1 person likes this
@chamberd1 (240)
• United States
11 Nov 07
Both of these statements are, for the most part, true. Spirituallity is the study of the self and the "other side" and whatever that unfolds. Religion, as it mostly stands today, is bad. It can also be used as a framework for progress for the slower in this field.
@tigertang (1749)
• Singapore
15 Apr 08
I don't deny the existence of the spiritual. I think it's just man's inability to comprehend it that becomes the problem. I mean, with due respect to the Muslim's reading this, I remember reading about how the Sunni vs Shia came about. And it was like, why are such a big deal between whether he was closer to his wife or son-in law. It's amazing how we'll get worked up over the smallest of things instead of concentrating on the things we agree on
@sedel1027 (17846)
• Cupertino, California
17 Oct 06
I don't see religion as evil, but I do think some people use it as a crutch. Religion is not for everyone. Some people need it, other don't. I think those who need organized religion are a bit weak.
@tigertang (1749)
• Singapore
20 Oct 06
I think I see your point. The Great religious teachers of the day came about to lead people who had gone astray. Moses lead the Israeliites out of slavery and into freedome. Buddha came to teach the world compassion and Jesus came to teach people to see God's spirit rather than be obsessed by the letter of his laws. Some Muslims have argued that Mohammed was sent to bring Islam to the Arabs because God was finally fed up with the way the Arabs were behaving and needed a prophet to set them straight.
And yet, if you look at history, human kind's greedy nature takes over and ruins the teachings of the great leaders. In Chinese Culture we laugh at Buddhist monks who have become rich inspite of the Buddha's teachings on not going into extreme wealth. Christianity was fine when it was Jesus and his 12 Apostles - the moment it became a big organisation with a structure - human nature came in and ruined things.
God and man have different ideas of the way the world works and man will even use God to blame the world for his own faults
@tigertang (1749)
• Singapore
26 Oct 06
I agree, God is for the weak and strong minded alike. However, its the way to god that needs to be examined.
@tigerdragon (4297)
• Philippines
19 May 07
religion is man made.hence,it is fallable but it is not the root of all evil since it depends on the perception of an individual.some says that money is the root of all evil which for me, the phrase mentioned is not absolute.religion may have been the earliest form of government in the olden days where each region has its own beliefs of the unknown and lives and abides by it's principles, it gave our ancestors sign posts to follow so we could have a sense of existence.people by nature needs a leader to follow, a wise one for that matter but it does not mean that men who followed are weak minded.it is to our common knowledge that if there is nothing to follow or guidelines to thread on , we would all be going in circles not knowing where to go and we would not be living in a so called community where we exist with a common belief.so, i would say nay to both phrases presented.
@tigertang (1749)
• Singapore
21 May 07
Religion is indeed man-made and quite a few murders have been comitted in the name of the devine. One has to ask, "Why" = why is it that the teachings of those claiming to spread love and universal peace tend to end up causing so much hatred and violence.
@aissar (414)
• Malaysia
6 Nov 07
No matter what people say, I still have faith in the Lord.
Yet, it does bother me why the Crusade ever happened if Christianity preaches love and kindness.
So it leads me to a conclusion, that is, religion can be a powerful instrument for Men to distort things and change perceptions. In truth, we just have to interpret spirituality based on our own inner spiritual strength and not rely on church or what other people say. This forms the basis of Lutheran, or simply put, Protestant Christianity.
@tigertang (1749)
• Singapore
11 Nov 07
I think here in lies the point. The Lord, whether you call him Yahweh, Eloheim, Allah, Buddha, Vishnu etc is an all powerful and all loving being. Faith in this being is good and powerful force that can make a wonderful difference to the life of the individual.
What I disagree with, is the murders committed in the name of the All Mighty. Look at Osama and Gang trying to preach their acts of murder are done in the name of the All Mighty. But Osama is by no means the only one making a mockery of religion. The IRA who claimed to be Catholic certainly did the CHristian faith no favours and some in the Shas party in Israel are non to pure themselves. WHy do these guys exist when God is great and wonderful?
@naidugopal (941)
• India
20 Oct 06
I agree with that people are forgetting their rights, people are in a weak mentality on their religions, they aren't really in humanity, they were all in the state which probes them to sow the seeds of evil through the mask of religion. Especially the muslims because they thought they were the mighty of all in the world but i condemn that even there are many people in various religions involving in such kind of sin, but they won't project themselves.
@DeenaD (2684)
• United States
17 Oct 06
In my opinion, the root of all evil is our broken and sinful fallen nature, which shows itself in relgion as well as everywhere else.
@srhelmer (7029)
• Beaver Dam, Wisconsin
17 Oct 06
I think people are quick to blame God for their problems but fail to look at the real cause... themselves. God gave us free will and, in exchange for that privilege, we gave up our right to have life be easy for us.
I do think people should read the Bible for themselves and draw their own conclusions rather than following what someone else tells them the Bible says.
@tigertang (1749)
• Singapore
18 Oct 06
This reminds me of a story of a man who was on the roof top of his house trying to escape the floods. First two men with boats came and then a helicopter came. Each time he refused saying that God would come to his rescue. Finally he drowned. When he came face-to-face with God, he asked God why he had not come to the rescue of man with such strong faith as himself.
To which God then replied that he had already sent him salvation three times.
The moral of the story is that the Almighty is constantly talking to us, showing us his way and yet, and yet we just don't know how to read his signs.
@karwan (232)
• United Arab Emirates
18 Oct 06
"History shows that religious faiths can help inspire believers to lead lives devoted to honesty,hard work and tremendous selflessness.
We can see this with our own eyes in many outstanding people from all the major belief systems.
Unfortunately,a misguided religious belief can also contribute to unbelievably cruel actions.
However,it would be unfair to place the blame solely on religion.The problem is not with religious belief.Acts of cruelty are a direct consequence of a trait in human character.
lt is up to each of us to decide whether to devote ourselves to promoting goodness or engaging in evil actions.We alone are ultimately responsible for our actions."
@Bugsey (775)
• United States
17 Oct 06
I agree much as I have to say that I believe that religion is man reaching out to please God by puny "good works" while grace is another thing - it's a free gift and one can only get it with a relationship (not a Church) with Jesus!
