Why they all are good because they all teach us to be good.No religion teaches its disciples to be rude or harsh, or guides us not to do our duty, does it? So at no point of time we can rate any religion better than the other, all are good.

Sanju123,

Really? All religions are good?

I'll accept that most mainstream religions are good, but there are religions that still require animal sacrifices. There are religions worshipping Satan and other "evil" powers (definition of evil in this case being that which is taken as evil or wrong by society).

There are religions that promote bestiality, prostitution, incest, polygamy, etc.

There are indeed religions that teach their followers to be rude and harsh, especially to those who don't follow the same beliefs.

If a religion teaches that the penalty for certain sins is (or should be) death, is that a "good" teaching? How about if the penalty is exile from the religious community (and by extension, from salvation)? How about if the religion requires the adherent to practice acts that the adherent finds repulsive?

To be clear, I am a Christian and very much concerned with the image (and reality) of my particular faith. To be fair, however, some Christian religions have not been "good" (while most have been). Similarly, some religions from other faiths have also not been good (while most have been). I think it is important to look openly and honestly at religions to determine if they are indeed good.

-- Jeff

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"Government is not the solution to our problem, government is the problem." --Ronald Reagan

Yeah your statement seem so relevant and it is a sad reality.But I think majority of the religions are more not practicing very harsh practices or are they still hanging on to those ancient traditions.

Most religious teachings are good. This is true but I really can't say that Religion is good in general. Religion has been the cause of most wars after all.

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"Have you crashed your Windows today?"

But in the present scenario things are not so ugly that is what I feel and most of the countries are in too busy in the economic and other more important affairs of their countries.

Religion is good, if you look at it the good way, but when it comes to reality, It was the cause of wars. Mainly Christians and Muslims, hoping it all comes to an end. I mean the wars, not the religion. Religion does have a good effect on people.

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Every fight is a food fight when you’re a cannibal.

I think those who requires animal sacrifices are called cults. anyway, religion can be good or bad. It depends on the person who believe it. Religion cannot make you good but only you can do that.

I've heard this often, but I've never seen it backed up. Certainly Religion wasn't the cause of the American Revolution, nor was it the cause of the War of 1812, the Civil War, the Spanish American War, the Mexican Amercian war, World War I, World War II, the Korean War, Vietnam, or Desert Storm. One can make a weak case for Religion being the cause of Operation Iraqi Freedom or Operation Enduring Freedom (Afghanistan), but neither of those were truly motivated in Religion.

That is nearly a complete list of American wars since the United States was founded.

Elsewhere, there was indeed a religious component to the Crusades, but I submit that religion was more of an excuse, just as religion is an excuse in the middle east today (the fighting there has never ceased even from a time before there was a Jewish religion), and in Northern Ireland (the English and Irish were fighting from a time before Christianity was brought to the British Isles).

There are many, many wars in history, but how many of them were truly caused by religion? Do you really think it is more than 50% (e.g. most)? Or is it perhaps that the commonly used quote was simply coined by anti-religious people who found it convenient to tie religion to wars as an attack of religion?

I haven't done a survey of all wars in history, but it is interesting that such a large percentage of wars that I did think of off the top of my head were not religiously motivated and I suspect that a more comprehensive search will turn up similar results.

Kathleen; Christianity used to be called a cult. In fact a cult is any religion and its beliefs although the word cult is often limited to small, nontraditional beliefs Definition Here. To the people who follow these beliefs, the sacrifices and other actions are part of their religion, just as communion is a part of many Christian religions.

-- Jeff

__________________
"Government is not the solution to our problem, government is the problem." --Ronald Reagan

Would 'most wars in the past' make the statement more accurate?

To be honest it's a phrase I simply took for a fact from a past history lesson and how religion's been associated with wars more than just an attack on religion. As for my limited knowledge in history, I feel religion is used more as a tool than an excuse but I admit that still does not constitute cause.

__________________
"Have you crashed your Windows today?"

It probably wouldn't be more accurate. I mean think of Alexander the Great, he didn't fight for religion, just conquest. Same for Philip of Macedonia, Genghis Khan and William the Conqueror. Attila the Hun fought a war of conquest, but religion actually helped stop that war (Pope Leo I persuaded him to stop as he was heading for Rome using moral and religious arguments). Sure there have been many wars based on religion, but I suspect it isn't anywhere close to "most" wars.

I've heard the same phrase in school. If I'm feeling charitable, I suspect that the teachers don't know any better (and obviously, therefore, they aren't qualified to teach). If I'm not feeling charitable, I suspect they are using the phrase as a way to advance an anti-religious agenda.

It is just those phrases that people toss around as truth that can cause a lot of problems down the road.

-- Jeff

__________________
"Government is not the solution to our problem, government is the problem." --Ronald Reagan