Saying that it inspires people to "BE good" isn't necessarily the way I would put it.
I would say that it can inspire/influence its people to DO some good things and to strive to be BETTER people.
How? By instilling virtues. If a particular religion teaches its follower that all human beings have inherent value, that all human life is sacred, and that we should feed the poor, clothe the naked, give drink to the thirsty, comfort the sick, etc etc... if it brings world problems like poverty to the forefront and encourages us to do our part in helping.... if it teaches us the value of forgiveness and love... and if it teaches us the virtues of honesty, humility, charity, kindness, patience, etc etc..., then I'd say it can be a positive influence on someone.
Religion can also be a negative influence, if it teaches people to do bad things, or if it instills in them some sense of superiority or pride over those who believe differently. (I'm sure I don't have to explain how it can be a negative influence to you guys lol)
Anything around us can be an influence. Either positive or negative. Our friends, our family, the music we listen to, the shows we watch on TV, our culture, our environment, the ideologies we stick to... and many more things, I'm sure. There's no reason why a person's religion (which they hold close to their hearts and strive to follow) would be any different.
What I don't like, and what I said in another thread, is that some people here are quick to attribute a religious person's bad actions to their religion. They're be like "SEEEEE??? Religion is BAD!! It makes people do BAD things!!!" lol ...But then on the same token, when a religious person does something good, all of the sudden these same people act like the person's religion has nothing whatsoever to do with their actions. Even when a church raises money and the people of that church get together to take a trip to Mexico to build houses for poor people, for example, I've still had some folks here say that religion played 0 role and had 0 influence on these people. Yet I can guarantee it, if a church raised money and the people of that church got together to take a trip to America to blow people up, these same people would 100% blame religion for it.
Truth is, religion (like anything else that we hold with high importance in our lives), can be a positive or negative influence. To say it can only ever be a negative influence and never a positive one is a ridiculous inconsistency and double standard, clearly based on a person's emotional bias of hating all religion.
I would say that it can inspire/influence its people to DO some good things and to strive to be BETTER people.
How? By instilling virtues. If a particular religion teaches its follower that all human beings have inherent value, that all human life is sacred, and that we should feed the poor, clothe the naked, give drink to the thirsty, comfort the sick, etc etc... if it brings world problems like poverty to the forefront and encourages us to do our part in helping.... if it teaches us the value of forgiveness and love... and if it teaches us the virtues of honesty, humility, charity, kindness, patience, etc etc..., then I'd say it can be a positive influence on someone.
Religion can also be a negative influence, if it teaches people to do bad things, or if it instills in them some sense of superiority or pride over those who believe differently. (I'm sure I don't have to explain how it can be a negative influence to you guys lol)
Anything around us can be an influence. Either positive or negative. Our friends, our family, the music we listen to, the shows we watch on TV, our culture, our environment, the ideologies we stick to... and many more things, I'm sure. There's no reason why a person's religion (which they hold close to their hearts and strive to follow) would be any different.
What I don't like, and what I said in another thread, is that some people here are quick to attribute a religious person's bad actions to their religion. They're be like "SEEEEE??? Religion is BAD!! It makes people do BAD things!!!" lol ...But then on the same token, when a religious person does something good, all of the sudden these same people act like the person's religion has nothing whatsoever to do with their actions. Even when a church raises money and the people of that church get together to take a trip to Mexico to build houses for poor people, for example, I've still had some folks here say that religion played 0 role and had 0 influence on these people. Yet I can guarantee it, if a church raised money and the people of that church got together to take a trip to America to blow people up, these same people would 100% blame religion for it.
Truth is, religion (like anything else that we hold with high importance in our lives), can be a positive or negative influence. To say it can only ever be a negative influence and never a positive one is a ridiculous inconsistency and double standard, clearly based on a person's emotional bias of hating all religion.
"Of course, everyone will claim they respect someone who tries to speak the truth, but in reality, this is a rare quality. Most respect those who speak truths they agree with, and their respect for the speaking only extends as far as their realm of personal agreement. It is less common, almost to the point of becoming a saintly virtue, that someone truly respects and loves the truth seeker, even when their conclusions differ wildly."
-walsh
-walsh
