I'm sure it says somewhere in the bible that honesty is a virtue or something and that was all true.
Yeah, you can be honest and sharp at the same time.
You have just admitted that religion is made up. How is a fantasy a good thing? And it was made because we did not have science yet. If when religions were made up they knew as much about science as we will in a say 2100 where I'm assuming science will have advanced a lot more they probably won't have made a religion.
This. <3
I don't think were past that, people still feel a need to explain things through a higher being.
It's the indoctrination forcing that. It's bad enough with people thinking we are not past that, it's only because it was there in the FIRST place that we are not past it - another huge setback.
you would still have to silence the thinkers (wither they are scientists or philosophers or anything else that might bring instability to the leaders) because that's how politics of the time went.
It's a hypothetical situation, with those thinkers it may not have been the case - but the thing is, it's hypothetical, so really speaking nothing in this case is certain.
The church in the middle ages was nothing other then an oppressive totalitarian regime.
That followed Christianity.
People who want to oppress others will justify themselves by religion but religion will not make someone into an oppressor when he could have been something else. At least not often, because most people aren't like that.
Look at quotes concerning oppression or "culture", namely ones qwerty1011 has given. How is that not turning someone into an oppressor?
If the religion says something he doesn't like he can twist it with ease, especially if he is the pope.
It is still Christianity. The interpretation of words in the Bible ultimately still form the Christian belief as that is what people follow, shall I bring up my quote again?
Indeed, there are arguments that Christians do not follow that idealogy, but what about if God didn't follow previous Christians' idealogy? If he didn't, he didn't do anything to stop people being murdered in the name of him, he didn't bother aiding those resisting Christianity with undeniable proof. If you follow Christianity, then sorry, but you are siding with Gods contradictory and pretty merciless behaviour (or lack of behaviour).
But its made for a reason, to answer a basic human need.
A reason for life, and to explain the unknown? We can do that through better means now, just that the remnants of Religion has still lingered and prevents such progression for people.
Leaders of the time, out of various reasons, oppressed the people and would have done it with or without religion but having religion helped them a lot.
Again, hypothetical situation but nonetheless, if they didn't have Religion, they didn't have much to go on. Rebellions etc would be a constant against totalitarian rule without the theory of God punishing you on the back of your mind - or that the King was chosen by said God.
but the question of should religion be tussed aside because it does too much evil in the wrong hands is silly because as I said, its impossible as long as we are humans.
We are technologically advanced humans. We've the capability to explain many before-unknown things, it can only go further. The hinderance is the peoples lives and money wasted, devoted to Religious organizations. And the "too much evil in the wrong hands is silly as long as we are humans"... no? That's a stupid thing to say, sorry, but often it pisses me off when I see someone do something - blatantly wrong, I question, and their common excuse is either that showing they lack care "Oh well", or that they think it doesn't matter, "Nobodies perfect". It's really beginning to get on my nerves how people have such retarded behaviour, and it's stemmed from a lack of religion and a lack of guidance by parents. Morality and technological progress has grown over the last hundred years I'd imagine, but nonetheless, it is growing much too slow - something I have to blame religion on, since that was the basis for (flawed) morality and people thinking for themselves is, as stupid as it is to say, new to them.
- H
