(September 20, 2014 at 9:48 am)MusicLovingAtheist Wrote: I have often pondered this idea. It would seem that with such an immense organization there must have been some foul play, somewhere along the lines.
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Or maybe it's the result of a few people who created incredibly successful scams. I often imagine that was the intention behind writing the bible. What do you think causes religion? How corrupt is it?
There's a lot of very important questions here.
I'm sure your picture of religion is incomplete. Those churches that survive and have survived in very hostile environments aren't doing so out of any possibility of power. The best they get out of it is to not get killed or hurt. You really have to believe to put up with all the suffering you get in some places.
That's been the case since the foundation of Christianity. In the beginning, the Church was a handful of very scared but highly motivated people. The declaration that Jesus was Lord resulted in extreme hostility from the Jewish authorities, the Jewish people, Greek cities, all pagan authorities, the Romans...pretty much anyone who owned a torch or a pitchfork...
That's not to say that religion hasn't been used for bad ends by bad people. I remember a few months ago watching a 'Christian' TV channel target viewers in debt with a promise that if money was sent, God would sort the debts out. It made me feel sick to watch it.
There were various motivations behind writing the Bible, depending on which part you refer to. Proverbs is a collection of Wisdom sayings recorded like a book of advice. Romans is a pastoral letter trying to support a young church. Matthew is a biography of Jesus designed to get things on paper before the best evidence went.
I don't rate The God Delusion, I'm afraid. I get far more challenge from atheist websites (such as this one!).
BTW, what sort of music do you love?
