Quote Originally Posted by Rhabbi View Post
People are innately gullible and want to believe they have a chance for a better life, even if it is through suicide. There are people who twist the words of every religious teacher in history to accomplish their purposes, but that is not the fault of religion. Believing that is like believing the moon is made out of green cheese.
It's the twisting part I have problems with. It says in the Bible that the world was created in six days. How could you possibly twist that in any way to make it more perverted? It's just plain lies, and it always was. When it was written they didn't know it, but today we know it is. All the supernatural claims in all religions are bullshit.

My point is that if you are open to the possibility of the supernatural then you've taken away any reference point to judge what is twisted. The, "what if the Satanist are right" argument.

Quote Originally Posted by Rhabbi View Post
If the entire world were populated by atheists, people would still fight. Often we make the mistake of looking at all the bad that was done in the name of religion; instead we should look at the good that was done in the name of religion and see where that gets us. There are religions out there that not only do not sanction violence, but refuse to be a part of it.
Yes, I'm sure you are right. But the upside is that then we might fight over relevant issues. It will make it a lot easier to understand conflicts in the world. Nearly all conflicts that have ever been in the world are all basically an "I was here first"-quarell. Maybe it would help to take away all the symbols and coloured robes and just see the conflicts for what they are, money-grabbing.