(June 27, 2017 at 5:09 pm)SteveII Wrote: To answer the thread question: Do you think religion is holding society back?, you have to define "back from what".
Scientifically, no. In fact, Christianity was instrumental in the early progress of modern science (that's why it developed almost entirely in the west) because it taught that the world and nature was created and entirely discoverable and NOT endowed with spiritual or mystical qualities--like the rest of the world still believed.
Some Utopian society? No. I think it has been proven over and over again that people do not play nicely with other different than themselves. I don't think there is any evidence that religious differences has done anywhere near the harm than non religious events of history.
Morality? No. In fact, I think religion has helped develop the general morality we see today in western countries. Most of us would agree that the western morality is superior to other parts of the world where differences arise.
Imploding? Yes. No matter what you think about religion, it has a very real, largely positive, psychological effect on people
How someone can be this wrong and still draw breath is a testimony to the vitality of the human organism, endowed by evolution. If one considers in a rational way what harm people can use religion for, religion can be seen to be a pustule on the entire body of humankind, not just the backside.
Holding back? How about where the RCC has only recently allowed that Galileo was actually right? Maybe you can bring Giordano Bruno back from right before he was burned at the stake for heresy? Maybe you can also bring back those people who were tortured during the Inquisition? FFS, you people apologizing for religion ought to be ashamed of yourselves.
Morality? Don't delude yourself. Go look at the reality of what modern day evangelicals are doing in Uganda, just for example. It isn't any different from the kind of sickness visited on people since religion gained a foothold in the human psyche, millenia ago. I don't generally respond to posts like yours because of the amount of ignorance of xtian (and Muslim, for that matter) arrogance at what your kind claim to be the case for beneficial aspects of their religion. The reality is that the amount of horror visited on their fellow human beings because of religion is incalculable.
If you get to thinking you’re a person of some influence, try ordering somebody else’s dog around.