A World without Religion?

[BrassAnkles]

Religion was borne of our need of human beings to seek out the Creator and follow our conscience.

The ultimate culmination of religion is the Catholic faith, and every other religion is a lesser form down to the most primitive religions.

Atheism is similar to a religion in that it is an ideological system but it’s precepts are based on a rejection of God, no different from the devil. Atheism is evil, pure and simple.

Regarding the claim that Hitler was Christian somehow because of his upbringing it takes more than exposure to Christian to be a member. Hitler hated Christians and God as well, like a classic atheist, yet he wasn’t going to let the German populace know this as they were very Christian in identity. After Hitler had established his socialist state he could “wean” the German people from their Christian ideals.

Stalin was exposed to Christianity as a child but he was an avid Atheist because socialism does not tolerate anything higher than the State.

Regarding the claim that Germany was not socialist because they had private businesses, no one in their right mind would claim China is a capitalist country yet they are the largest producer of goods in the world and as such Nazi Germany was a socialist system similar to China today.

Socialism in it’s purest form is communism but many systems of socialism can exist in various degrees. The main precept of socialism is that the state takes precedence over God in a society as the moral authority and would seek to replace this authority as justification for laws and policies.

 

[tomberg]

I forgot where I read it but the gist of the statement was that only an atheist could be truly good, as when they do good and love others or avoid evil they do with no thought of punishment or of obtaining a reward in the afterlife. I don’t necesarily agree with it, but it is an interesting point.

 

[cena]

I think a world without religion has the potential to have an even higher moral ground than a world with religion.

First, because people can and will understand and see that they can love and be good to each other without needing the threat of eternal punishment if they do not.

Second, all the negatives of religion–the hate or exclusion or putting down of those who believe differently than you–will be removed, and we can truly be as one group working together. Religion has often* divided* people instead of bringing them together.

Third, we will concentrate on building a more loving and better world today, here, together…instead of waiting to have it after death.

The methods and results under Hitler, Stalin, and Mao etc were not necessarily because of a lack of religion.
Hitler, as we know, was brought up Catholic and engraved the Nazi belt buckles with the phrase, “God is with us”.
Stalin was brought up Orthodox, I think.
If these leaders were morally twisted and/or carried out harmful regimes, it was not necessarily due to lack of religion.There can be a number of factors for this.

And we’ve seen religious leaders in the past who have been very harmful to people–there have been several popes in the past, for example, who have been extremely immoral.

And I bet there are Atheist leaders who would treat their people and other countries with respect and reason.

.

People are hated and excluded for other reasons other than religion. I know people who have been excluded/looked down on for their race, hair, skin color, accent, looks, fashion, etc. You seem to have this impression that the only thing keeping us from loving each other and uniting people is religion. That just isn’t true. I have been friends with Muslims, a Taoist, half of my family is Buddhist, Protestants, Jews, etc. We don’t hate each other despite having different beliefs. We never once told each other the other one will be damned for belonging to the wrong religion.

It’s not like my family members who are pagan and me sit around hating each other and scream about religion all day long. In fact, we get along just fine despite only a select few of them speak English. They can’t even understand me when I talk but they still love me. Religion didn’t divide us.

Religion has brought all kinds of different people together. When it has divided it us it is because humans naturally like to divide themselves.

America was founded on Judeo-Christian values and it has thrown that out the window for secularism. Look where that has got us. You know how people are pushing for abortion and euthanasia? Well there are people pushing for infanticide and calling it “post birth abortions.”
Their logic is if they think the kid might suffer then they might as well not live at all. There have been celebrities who grew up poor but later became successful.

Why are you going on a Catholic website and posting this? You know more people will disagree than not. I don’t know if you are looking for attention or not, but what is your goal by asking this on a Catholic website? I don’t go on atheist websites and ask “why don’t we create a country where it’s illegal to not be Catholic.”

 

[cena]

I forgot where I read it but the gist of the statement was that only an atheist could be truly good, as when they do good and love others or avoid evil they do with no thought of punishment or of obtaining a reward in the afterlife. I don’t necesarily agree with it, but it is an interesting point.

What about the atheists who decide to not avoid evil because since there’s no afterlife and life is short they might as well do whatever they want?

 

[BrassAnkles]

I forgot where I read it but the gist of the statement was that only an atheist could be truly good, as when they do good and love others or avoid evil they do with no thought of punishment or of obtaining a reward in the afterlife. I don’t necesarily agree with it, but it is an interesting point.

But atheists don’t do anything for people. and why would they? They have nothing to give because they have nothing inside to give, the exact opposite of what the Bible tells us of how a godly person is.

At any rate the atheist’s solution to suffering people suffering is to prevent them from reproducing or kill them.

Also, interestingly what is typical for most Atheist’s in the modern age is they don’t want any restrictions regarding sexual activity. That is why so many are homosexual, fornicators and promote bestiality and child pornography. Dawkins is a perfect example - look at elevatorgate.

 

[cena]

But atheists don’t do anything for people. and why would they? They have nothing to give because they have nothing inside to give, the exact opposite of what the Bible tells us of how a godly person is.

At any rate the atheist’s solution to suffering people suffering is to prevent them from reproducing or kill them.

Also, interestingly what is typical for most Atheist’s in the modern age is they don’t want any restrictions regarding sexual activity. That is why so many are homosexual, fornicators and promote bestiality and child pornography. Dawkins is a perfect example - look at elevatorgate.

Exactly. The baby will probably be born with a birth defect? Kill them. The baby who is born could have a bad life? Kill them. It doesn’t make any sense to fund research for something like Down Syndrome if you think it’s better to kill them than at least let them give them a chance to live.

What about melancholics? They don’t ever feel happy are we supposed to kill them too? Where is the line drawn

Atheists want no restrictions on anything except religion.

 

[tomberg]

But atheists don’t do anything for people. and why would they? They have nothing to give because they have nothing inside to give, the exact opposite of what the Bible tells us of how a godly person is.

At any rate the atheist’s solution to suffering people suffering is to prevent them from reproducing or kill them.

Also, interestingly what is typical for most Atheist’s in the modern age is they don’t want any restrictions regarding sexual activity. That is why so many are homosexual, fornicators and promote bestiality and child pornography. Dawkins is a perfect example - look at elevatorgate.

So you know every Atheist on the planet and know exactly what is in their heart and minds? Wow you are amazing. My brother is an avowed atheist and he is honestly one of the best people I know. He donates both his time, talents and money to various charities, and is one of the most open, warm hearted people on the planet. He does good because he thinks it is the right thing to do, it is called enlightened self interest. Jesus and the Bible also demands much more morally of us than simple restrictions on our sexuality, such as loving others, caring for the poor and sick, working for justice for all, etc… Just as we do not like it when Atheist speak about “What all theist believe” we should also not judge nor stereotype what all Atheist are like.

 

[tomberg]

What about the atheists who decide to not avoid evil because since there’s no afterlife and life is short they might as well do whatever they want?

What about Theist who slaughter and kill Christians because they think Allah wills it?

 

[cena]

What about Theist who slaughter and kill Christians because they think Allah wills it?

Those people are obviously twisted if they think that is Allah’s will. They use the Qu’ran to justify all sorts of terrible things (like torture) when in reality the Qu’ran probably doesn’t even imply whatever they think it does. I don’t agree with their religion or what they do, but the problem is more about these crazy groups and individual people. Obviously not all muslims think Allah wants to kill anyone who refuses to convert.

Although, not every atheist is a terrible person, I apologize for that statement. It’s just when I look at history, the communists, the secularists, etc. who try to take religion away completely things just do not work out.

 

[BrassAnkles]

So you know every Atheist on the planet and know exactly what is in their heart and minds? Wow you are amazing. My brother is an avowed atheist and he is honestly one of the best people I know. He donates both his time, talents and money to various charities, and is one of the most open, warm hearted people on the planet. He does good because he thinks it is the right thing to do, it is called enlightened self interest. Jesus and the Bible also demands much more morally of us than simple restrictions on our sexuality, such as loving others, caring for the poor and sick, working for justice for all, etc… Just as we do not like it when Atheist speak about “What all theist believe” we should also not judge nor stereotype what all Atheist are like.

This is anecdotal evidence and as such is not significant. After all, if 1 out of 50 Americans are murderers we wouldn’t claim that all Americans are murderers because of a statistical minority.

The largest private aid organizations are Christians, with Catholics being first. Atheists aren’t even on the radar. They prefer to kill the unborn and hand out condoms in order to limit suffering. God forbid they help someone suffering who caused it. Compassion is a completely foreign concept to most atheists, notwithstanding your brother.

You as a Catholic should see the danger of atheism and should reject it’s evil precepts instead of making excuses for them.

 

[Charlemagne_III]

breitbart.com/national-security/2014/12/24/religious-people-much-happier-than-others-new-study-shows/

 

[Karen107]

I’ve heard atheists say if there were no religion in the world there would be no reason to fight, similarly to what this post is suggesting. Step back and listen to how misguided and intolerant that is? Where is the love for those who believe differently than themselves? It seems to me those who make those kind of statements need to look in the mirror.at what they believe because that’s the kind of thing that Hitler would believe. He was not religious. No God loving person would do the things he did… He was a madman and did genocide so that he could create a master race that he thought would be superior to all other races. That’s not acceptance and that’s certainly not loving others like they were meant to be loved, unconditionally. The kind of love we learn about from God. Anyone who says otherwise doesn’t understand Christianity. Jesus Christ taught us how to love and bring peace into the world even if it meant dying for it. Let’s not forget the Christians who died to ensure a more peaceful world. We are not the enemy of man. ‘Man’ creates enough of its own enemies.

 

[Ositokc]

No Hell below us, above us only sky.

Imagine all the people living for today.

I hope humanity can learn to live in peace,
a dreamer.

 

[John_of_Woking]

Imagine is the most heartless song. Truly soul-chilling

 

[cena]

No Hell below us, above us only sky.

Imagine all the people living for today.

I hope humanity can learn to live in peace,
a dreamer.

There are so many things that separate people, religion is not the only thing

 

[BrassAnkles]

No Hell below us, above us only sky.

Imagine all the people living for today.

I hope humanity can learn to live in peace,
a dreamer.

If we could get atheists to stop killing children or supporting said we could have a more peaceful world.

 

[Bradski]

If we could get atheists to stop killing children or supporting said we could have a more peaceful world.

Maybe we should work on reducing abortions across the board. If you concentrate on just those who say they have no belief in gods, then you’re not going to make too much progress.

Women identifying themselves as Protestants obtain 37.4% of all abortions in the U.S.; Catholic women account for 31.3%, Jewish women account for 1.3%, and women with no religious affiliation obtain 23.7% of all abortions. 18% of all abortions are performed on women who identify themselves as “Born-again/Evangelical”. antiochian.org/node/16950

Catholic women in the United States are as likely as women in the general population to have an abortion, and 29% more likely than Protestant women. bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/christianity/christianethics/abortion_1.shtml

More than seven in 10 U.S. women obtaining an abortion report a religious affiliation (37% protestant, 28% Catholic and 7% other), and 25% attend religious services at least once a month.[38] The abortion rate for protestant women is 15 per 1,000 women, while Catholic women have a slightly higher rate, 22 per 1,000.[32]. guttmacher.org/in-the-know/characteristics.html

 

[Bradski]

This is anecdotal evidence and as such is not significant. After all, if 1 out of 50 Americans are murderers we wouldn’t claim that all Americans are murderers because of a statistical minority.

No, but you would be able to claim that America was a very dangerous place. If you want to throw statistics around, it might be a good idea to quote some actual studies:

Citing four different studies, Zuckerman states: “Murder rates are actually lower in more secular nations and higher in more religious nations where belief in God is widespread.” He also states: “Of the top 50 safest cities in the world, nearly all are in relatively non-religious countries.”

Within the United States, we see the same pattern. Citing census data, he writes: “And within America, the states with the highest murder rates tend to be the highly religious, such as Louisiana and Alabama, but the states with the lowest murder rates tend to be the among the least religious in the country, such as Vermont and Oregon.”

And these findings are not limited to murder rates, as rates of all violent crime tend to be higher in “religious” states. Zuckerman also points out that atheists are very much under-represented in the American prison population (only 0.2%). pitzer.edu/academics/faculty/zuckerman/Zuckerman_on_Atheism.pdf

Now that isn’t posted to try and prove that people with religion are more likely to be murderers or more likely to commit violent crime. I don’t think there’s a direct correlation. But if you keep coming up with unsubstantiated and ill informed comments, then this is the response you should expect.

Perhaps you could answer a question| Are you a good person because you are Catholic or are you a good person and a Catholic?

:

 

[Karen107]

Maybe we should work on reducing abortions across the board. If you concentrate on just those who say they have no belief in gods, then you’re not going to make too much progress.

Women identifying themselves as Protestants obtain 37.4% of all abortions in the U.S.; Catholic women account for 31.3%, Jewish women account for 1.3%, and women with no religious affiliation obtain 23.7% of all abortions. 18% of all abortions are performed on women who identify themselves as “Born-again/Evangelical”. antiochian.org/node/16950

Catholic women in the United States are as likely as women in the general population to have an abortion, and 29% more likely than Protestant women.
bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/christianity/christianethics/abortion_1.shtml

It is unfortunate that any baby is aborted but as long as you are pointing out those unfortunate statistics just ask yourself, why would you use a UK based website to report these rates on the US when there are sites more credible. And ask how many persons have had abortions with no religious beliefs or nominal religious affiliations. The remaining of the statistics in another words.

Now look closer at what’s really going on. It’s mostly ‘young women’ who think abortion is the answer to their problems because their peers and society tell them it’s not a wrong to end a life but rather a ‘womans right’ to abort and then come to regret their actions but there is forgiveness in God. Lets not also forget that the Church is a hospital for sinners and it’s the Church which is most outspoken about pro-life issues trying to end this but there is a lot of resistance against it from the secular society. I might add that pointing out the numbers of aborted fetuses only validate why we need the Church who puts the truth out there about abortions and works to end this atrocity. Just because people do it doesn’t make it right. That’s what the secular world wants us to believe which is a strike against the idea of a world without religion.

 

[Karen107]

No Hell below us, above us only sky.

Imagine all the people living for today.

I hope humanity can learn to live in peace,
a dreamer.

Living for today is not thinking about preserving our future. It’s selfish thought.