What good does religion offer the world today?

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You're right about that of course, saying its 'now a big mess' is oversimplifying but who wants to get into a long discussion of '12ers', legitimate heirs of Mohammed, etc.

The only thing any religion, sect, denomination, etc. offers the world today is a reminder that people everywhere feel drawn to know about God. After that, you're on your own. All their dogma isn't going to get you any closer.

Once again, delusion, delusion, delusion--people everywhere are so simple-minded as to be gulled into believing there is a god. You see, anyone can play that idiotic game of begging questions by speaking confidently about things of which they truly do not know.

I didn't see readings on wikipedia about any muslims inspiring the Christian monks. They spoke and wrote in Latin not arabic. They also learnt Greek so they could transcript biblical texts to Latin. The only influence from Muslims I read was the Hindu numberial system which the Arabs had adopted from India as their own...

Transcript is a noun, not a verb. The verb you wanted was transcribe. The documents to which you refer were preserved in their original languages in most cases. In other cases, new learning, new research, was written in Arabic, and those who profited from it took the trouble to learn Arabic, or to obtain a translation from someone who could already read Arabic. The knowledge of gunpowder, how to make it and how to use it is the classic example of new learning which came from documents which were written in Arabic.

Your foolishness comes from assuming that monks were the only ones capable of reading, and of learning from what they read. Most members of the aristocratic class and of the mercantile class could read--they'd have been hapless victims of literate people otherwise. I'm fairly certain that you have me on ignore, but perhaps a glimmer of knowledge will filter down to you.

Thank you for reminding us you think it's all about delusions. Do you have any theories about why people everywhere are so prone to delusion? If evolution is capable of such exquisite fine tuning of life for survival you would think such destructive and harmful tendencies would be bred out of humans long ago.

You're kind of slow on the uptake. Your continual comments to the effect that people want to know about god, that there must be spiritual substance to account for the continuing popularity of your boy Jeebus--these are examples of gross question begging. I was just giving you a taste of your own medicine.

If evolution, etc.--that's a helluva straw man you've propped up there. As for the prevalence of delusion in humans my guess would be that it helps people get through the day. Not everything is about evolution, Einstein. Traits which don't impair reproductive success can be passed for generation after generation--whether or not you allege that they are destructive. It seems to me that you don't understand the principle of natural selection. Have you got an appendix?

It's not so much dogma as the audience. The Brussels/Paris bombers like the Spanish ones weren't exactly devout before all this happened. They were petty criminals who became radicalised in prison. This wasn't them choosing dogma, it them desperately trying to give their lives purpose.

They choose people at a low point, like prison, or unemployment, people who are fairly ignorant of Islam anyway, then fill their heads up with jihadist ****.

You've got that exactly right. It's not necessarily religious dogma which drives terrorists, suicidal people, etc. It is just what you said:


Seeking that in religion and their dogma is just one of many misguided attempts at that.

My point is that there is that need to give purpose in all people and it's not just a random artifact of language, evolution, boredom, etc. Some even try to find that purpose in 'saving others from the God delusion'. I doubt that is much more satisfying than jihad. That's not pointed at you BTW.

It's pretty obvious who you were pointing at, you self-righteous bullsh*t artist.

If you look at the recruits they all tend to be recent converts or lapsed Muslims and a huge amount are involved in petty crime. Ironically the card carrying, Mosque attending Muslims, even the more fundamentalist ones, are far less likely to get caught up in jihadism, because they know that a lot of what is claimed is bullshit.

Not that there are no examples of genuinely committed religious terrorists (everything from Christian anti abortion murderers to Islamist suicide bombers) but yes, the vast majority are those you said.

As awful as they are, the whole terrorist thing is overblown compared to the underlying problem. Terrorists kill only a tiny fraction of the number who kill themselves every year due to that emptiness in themselves. Not to mention the waste of human potential lost in 'living lives of quiet desperation'.

Sorry for sounding like an intro to a Sunday sermon but the failure of people to face this reality and address it in some way really is a shame. The recent emphasis on mental health problems and treatment without acknowledging the actual cause misses the mark.

You are correct about these extremists or fundamentalists but there are decent Muslims as well. There will always be non-religious and religious fundamentalists. I do think you will always get the good and the bad apples so to speak...

You also get a ton of impressionable apples too. That's where the problem lies.

took you long enough.... i was 5 years old when being told off about taking somebody else´s rubber by my nun teacher being said god was going to punish me for stealing... i remember thinking: what the hell, im five years old and its just a rubber! how can he punish me for that!

I saw the Last Supper by Leonardo by standing in the hot sun for three hours when I was in Milano. I'm not religious, but it was worth seeing it.

Sounds like you've been around enough. Did you see the Pieta? I thought it was absolutely awe inspiring. Not because of the religious content but because of the astounding ability that a human being is imbued with. Of course I get tha same thing from watching figure skating and snowboard competitors too.