(April 10, 2012 at 10:11 pm)Shell B Wrote: That stuff would exist without religion. Religion is just an excuse. People will find another excuse.
An excuse as good as religion? I'm not sure where I heard it, but there was a very convincing argument as to why religion is so suited to foster hate, violence and all that other stuff - its because religion has no reality-check. Any other philosophy, political ideology or belief system can be used to foster hate and violence, but eventually, it'd fail as an excuse in face of simply not working. The reason why religion is such a good excuse is because what it promises (heaven or better next-life) is by nature unverifiable.