Everything has just always been here.

Religion only encourages you to do good deeds. So you can make the whole religion seem good or do it in the name of Jesus or Allah. The bible says you will go to heaven if you have faith in God. So you can be a racist pedophile and still end up going to heaven. But let's say you donated 50 million dollars and you don't believe in God? You get thrown in with Hitler and Stalin. So I'm for this no religion thing.

Quote from Excellion1498

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 wrong here. When people in general conversation say "theory" they usually mean "hypothesis". A "theory" in science means a hypothesis which has been tested over and over again and has become accepted fact. This is different to a "theorem" because it cannot be shown mathematically to be true a priori, but it has been empirically observed to be true a posteriori.

It is a scientific theory that the law of gravity holds.

Quote from VToon2886

Religion only encourages you to do good deeds.

Pfft, hell no. Islam is not the only religion with a concept of "Jihad", and the way the Canaanites were treated was pretty mean. Check this out.
http://www.evilbible.com/Murder.htm

Quote from VToon2886

So you can make the whole religion seem good or do it in the name of Jesus or Allah. The bible says you will go to heaven if you have faith in God. So you can be a racist pedophile and still end up going to heaven. But let's say you donated 50 million dollars and you don't believe in God? You get thrown in with Hitler and Stalin. So I'm for this no religion thing.

Exactly why religion is a bad thing. People commit atrocities thinking that they'll be forgiven, and after they are, they're suddenly superior to say, the rationalist that doesn't bother with this shit. Now that the criminal is superior, he can commit another crime, as long as he knows he can repent for it.

Quote from Zed

You're wrong here. When people in general conversation say "theory" they usually mean "hypothesis". A "theory" in science means a hypothesis which has been tested over and over again and has become accepted fact.

As much as I agree, theories are much more open to change and debate than laws. But your point remains the same. Just because I see someone kill somebody else and I tell a police officer "I think I saw that guy kill that other guy", it would be wrong for the police officer to tell me "No, not until you irrefutable proof."

Religious people defend their views by saying "Well you can't be sure". The problem being, the only reason why gravity, for example, is not a universal law although there is ample evidence to support it is that there is the slight probability that somewhere in the universe there is an exception. However, you cannot base your argument on that exception, that "What if", because you can pretty much disprove any argument with a "what if" statement.

This is why religion is a bad thing. It is commonly said that religion can tell us more about the universe and our meaning and life than science, and with this mentality most religious people feel content with where they are, because according to the bible, the earth isn't supposed to be that great of a place to begin with, and heaven is where it's at.

Science preaches that we know very little of the universe, and that we should expand and try to learn more about it, and use these discoveries to enhance the lives of those around us, so that their brief stay on earth isn't wasted.

This is my evidence.

During the Dark Ages, a heavily religious time, scientific thought was suppressed and rationalistic thinking was punished. The human race actually retrogressed technology-wise, and we had to rebuild. Now take the modern, secular world. In a world without religion, there is nothing to judge others upon, other than the content of their character. Nowadays, we are making discoveries at a break-neck speed, not for God, but for man.

TL;DR
Religion is bad because it impedes human development. Science encourages discovery and strives to enhance the human experience.

Quote from Captain Cook

As much as I agree, theories are much more open to change and debate than laws. But your point remains the same. Just because I see someone kill somebody else and I tell a police officer "I think I saw that guy kill that other guy", it would be wrong for the police officer to tell me "No, not until you irrefutable proof."

You're kind of missing the point. Like I said before, the word Theory in the context of science refers to a different entity than in the context of everyday conversation.

I find this relevant.



Well not really, just insane.

Quote from Captain Cook

Religious people defend their views by saying "Well you can't be sure". The problem being, the only reason why gravity, for example, is not a universal law although there is ample evidence to support it is that there is the slight probability that somewhere in the universe there is an exception.

Uhh, no that's not why it's not a law, it's a theory because there's no real way to conclusively "prove" the existence of gravity through experiments or other evidence. It's just a model that fits with our overall understanding of the universe.

If you guys can remember, with such short attention spans that you have, this is not a thread about whether or not religion is correct, it is a debate about whether or not the world would be a better place without it.

just sayin'

religion is a force which can bring people together. However, some people twist religion and use it to their own ends, for example, war in the name of religion such as the crusades. Even though the Bible explicitly states that "thou shalt not kill", the crusaders went on and killed anyway. There are some countries who have lived by religion and yet never attacked others, for example the world's largest democracy (I'll leave you guys to google it :p). My point is that there is no 'bad' or 'wrong' religion. In the end, the essence of all religion is being a good human being, isn't it?

I'm in for Religion, it's not something that disturbs or does something to you, in fact it's whether if you believe that what you believe is true or not and because I'm from the Roman Catholic, I accept Jesus as my Lord but what you believe is yours to decide.

Quote from Fordz

I'm in for Religion, it's not something that disturbs or does something to you, in fact it's whether if you believe that what you believe is true or not and because I'm from the Roman Catholic, I accept Jesus as my Lord but what you believe is yours to decide.

Bullshit. There is only one truth and believing in something else than the truth is stupid.

Now I'm not saying I know exactly what that truth is; no one truly does know. However, we know that no religion has any actual evidence backing up any of their claims, so it is only logical to assume that, brbbfhrjbfhrbr, they're not true and were made up hundreds of years ago by sand-people to control other sand-people.

Quote from lolipops

Bullshit. There is only one truth and believing in something else than the truth is stupid.

Now I'm not saying I know exactly what that truth is; no one truly does know. However, we know that no religion has any actual evidence backing up any of their claims, so it is only logical to assume that, brbbfhrjbfhrbr, they're not true and were made up hundreds of years ago by sand-people to control other sand-people.

we have no evidence of what created the big bang either. so however people choose to see this truth is their choice to make

Oh I do miss these. You know the debate is going somewhere when the term 'sand people' is thrown around.

The reason religion can cause problems is based on corruption and stupidity. Any man who cannot handle power will abuse it, and the ignorant will surely follow whatever he says. However, this problem permeates itself into much of society, so a lack of religion wouldn't solve that.

I'd say that nothing would really change, per say. Even without a belief in any God, people would still be divided on some things or another.