Re: Hmmm
Good posts Jayy and ConstantineX. I am atheist/agnostic, although I agree that there are certainly cultural and personal effects of religion that can contribute to the overall good. My personal view is that religion is a net negative, but it's certainly impossible to truly quantify. I do think that hard-line literal religious types are really annoying and bad for the world in general.
My question to those who are religious but not extremely so is this: (mostly stolen from Sam Harris) - why do you feel you are allowed to re-interpret your religion through your own belief system? I agree with you that it seems more rational to view religion as a framework for your morals, life, etc. rather than as the literal "Word of God." However, if I am not mistaken, nowhere in the Bible, Koran, or whatever does it say that these books are to be used only as guidelines. This reduces your belief to nothing more than your opinion - still valid for your personal judgments, but not valid to apply to anyone else really.
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