Alright, you don't understand what I'm laying down here.

Christ inspired people to make charities. It doesn't matter what you think in this particular situation, a = x

Without religion these charities would not exist.

So when people wanted to donate money to charity they would donate it to one giving clean water to Africa rather than one giving new clothes to the homeless. Same difference.

Quote from CNiper

Evidence which you choose to believe in.

Quote from CNiper

Alright, you don't understand what I'm laying down here.

Christ inspired people to make charities. It doesn't matter what you think in this particular situation, a = x

Without religion these charities would not exist.

Since religion has pretty much been around since before recorded civilization, theres no way of knowing whether or not charities would've came to be without religion.

And in regards to the "if you believe the scientific evidence", there is no belief necessary. It is what it is. "a + x"

You choose to believe the evidence, which is sometimes represented with mathematical formulas. Some crazy people disprove math. I'm not saying that Math doesn't exist, its just that at a very basic level is evidence you choose to believe in.

As for the charities, Christ preached fairly revolutionary ideas for the time frame. I don't believe in God, but there is no denying the influence Christ, or the perpetrators of Christ, had on the Middle Eastern and eventually the world. Charities today form on a staple of believing in Christ, I would believe that less people would be willing to help others without the influence of a role - model that they believe in.

A world without religion can easily have role-models to influence charity. Im sure MLK has influenced a number of negro charities and foundations for example.

Quote from Fusion

It doesn't matter, because there are secular charities that do just fine. Second of all, Jesus Christ is a very bad role model in terms of morality. According to the Bible, he called a woman a 'dog' and refused to help her dying child because she was not Jewish. Also, there is a passage in the Bible where he passes by a fig tree and kills it with his godly magic because it was not bearing fruit for him to eat. He also strongly approved of the blatantly unethical laws of the old Testament.

1. Define 'unethical'. Again, an opinion.
2. Yes, Jesus at first refused to help the women's child, but later did. It's a moral. Ever heard of it?
3. The fig tree: a metaphor.
Try looking past the surface. Besides, everyone is entitled to their opinion. You have science theories, I have biblical facts. Take your pick.

I think things will be the same. Religion isn't the cause horrible that has happened in its name. The reason for this is because religion was originally, in general, supposed to instill good moral behavior and positive productive lives. The real problem is that people have self destructive behaviors like selfishness and they would use anything to fulfill those destructive behaviors, which includes religion. If people can change their self destructive behaviors, then religion wouldn't be as bad as it is sometimes made out to be. Also just because you can do good things without the aid of certain things, religion specifically, that doesn't make doing good things less virtuous. There's the saying: "There's no better way, just another way."

A world without religion can easily have role-models to influence charity. Im sure MLK has influenced a number of negro charities and foundations for example.

You know MLK was religious right?

I have biblical facts.

How are they facts?

Charity is often held up as the only tangible "good" to come from religion; however many people are concerned that at least foreign aid could be doing more harm than good. After decades of foreign aid virtually all third world countries that receive it are in the same, or worse economic condition than before. How can this be? One simple example usually revolves around the displacement of farmers:

Lets say you donate $1 to World Vision (religious charity) to feed a poor child in Africa. That $1 gets split between a domestic food producer, and a domestic shipping company to deliver the food (generally a grain). The food is delivered to a community, and given away for free. The price of locally grown food goes down, and after a couple of generations of this the total local farming output is reduced, requiring more aid to fend off starvation.

This is a very real effect, the net farming yield in the poorest countries in Africa has gone down consistently since foreign aid programs (largely religious) began.

Quote from Excellion1498

3. The fig tree: a metaphor.

How do you know?

Quote from Excellion1498

You have science theories, I have biblical facts. Take your pick.

In the context of science, theory does not mean what I think you're portraying it as. A scientific theory is not a *guess*.
Example of a scientific theory:
-Gravity

Quote from Excellion1498

You have science theories, I have biblical facts.

You have that backwards. Science has facts. Proven, non-debatable, facts. The bible has theories. Its a book, most-likely fiction, people can only make speculations from anything in it.

Quote from Preserve

You know MLK was religious right?

Yes, but its not his religion that they're looking up to. It's what he did and stood for in life that drives said charities.

Actually, gravity is a scientific law. Try expanding your knowledge. Theory means 'some evidence, but not proven'. Note: the big bang theory. The evolution theory.

You're being kind of confrontational and I really don't appreciate your tone. But how do you know that gravity is a physical law? Have you tested it for multiple stars and planets?

It has been tested, yes.

On which planets? Earth, and other planets near it? The Centauri system might not operate with the same gravitational constant as the Solar System.

*sigh* Everybody is entitled to their opinion, I guess. I was kind of talking about the system and planet that we all currently reside in/on.
Anyway, besides religion, how do you explain how everything came to be? Not the particle theory, because where did the particles come from?
(sorry if I sound confrontational, that's not how I mean this. I'm just presenting my own logical point of view, and trying to prove a point.)