RE: Good God
September 18, 2010 at 1:08 pm
(This post was last modified: September 18, 2010 at 1:15 pm by gargantuan.)
(September 18, 2010 at 12:48 pm)Minimalist Wrote: Let's not forget that a lot of the "good" that religion does (charity) is little more than advertising for new members. A lot of them extort money from their members for charity to advance the interests of the church itself.
I agree wit Skipper here. I think that's a wee bit too cynical. Quite a few years back I created a CD ROM for GCSE students on the devastation of HIV in sub-saharan africa. The project supported a photo exhibition by Don McCullin and it was paid for by Christian Aid. It was distributed for free to all schools in the UK and was even nominated for an award. It was beaten by Red Nose Day.
Again, this was clearly a good thing. Anyone could have paid for it, but anyone didn't. This was genuine, bona-fide charity work from a christian organisation to and in support of christians and non christians alike.
(September 18, 2010 at 12:57 pm)Paul the Human Wrote: No. Any and all charitable and/or "good" acts can be (and are) done without religion. Religion is simply an effective tool to use as a banner for charity minded people to rally around. If it weren't religion, it would be simple compassion. Charity would survive the collapse of organized religion.
I think I'm going to have to play devils advocate quite a bit on this issue.
Is there not an argument to be made that Atheism/Religion isn't as important as say, global warming. And if those with religious inclinations can be motivated to get out and do something about it simply by pressing the right religious buttons and quoting the right bits of scripture, that this should take precedent?
Again, I'm playing the devils advocate card here. This isn't necessarily my opinion..... or is it?
No. It's not.
