Majority Still Says Religion Can Answer Today's Problems.

Increasing numbers of Americans say religion is out of date

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I would say religion is old fashioned and out of date. What say you OT?

Religion can give us the fortitude to solve problems, empowering us to seek out solutions and to accept an uphill road while allowing us to continue on.

@dave123321: you don't need region for that.

@thehig1: that's true. But it's one source for it

Yea, that was a pretty fantastic answer.

Really? I think it's the complete opposite.

That's pretty vague "today's problems" there are a lot of problems out there. Some where religion can do good, others where religion is the source of the problem.

The majority is wrong.

Its art only science benefits mankind

Religion is not the answer to the majority of today's problems. It may give someone the strength to solve their problems, but religion itself doesn't solve any problems. For all we know, it creates more problems than it solves (example: banned stem cell research, resulting in USA being completely behind medically).

Religion has been responsible for billions of deaths for centuries, that's my counter-argument.

Depends on what we're trying to solve; if it even needs solving.

Religion is causing a lot of today's problems as well.

People should be more willing to rely on their own strength and willpower to overcome hardships rather than begging an invisible sky wizard to solve it for them.

Causing problems is the only thing religion has ever done.

Obviously since religion has done such a great job answering questions through out history.

Wrong, You as in Dave123321 might not need "Religion can give us the fortitude to solve problems, empowering us to seek out solutions and to accept an uphill road while allowing us to continue on."

What other people need can only be answered by them and despite what you or i think about religion, it does help a lot of people find the strength they need and Faith that allows them to carry on with their lives.

So honestly who are we to say that they are stupid or wrong or Ignorant? the most important thing is that they find and have the strength and go on to live a better life.

two hands at work does more than millions clasped in prayer

I'm just gonna say that religion is a consequence of human biology rather than the cause of all our troubles or triumphs. The people going "**** religion" or "hooray, religion" are missing the point. Whether you think religion is good or bad, if there was no religion then we'd simply have something else to fulfill that biological urge. This is precisely why you hear people saying, "**** religion, I feel the touch of god every time I experience nature or do similar hippy shit." You have people reaching enlightenment and transcending simple things by doing buttloads of drugs, you have astronomers and astrophysicists talking about the cosmos with the same awe and reverence and humility that religious folk express when they talk about their god. Religion isn't the problem or the solution. Religion is simply the result of a basic human need that is beneficial in some instances and detrimental in others.

@MrGeezer: kinda like the South Park where cartman freezes himself to get a wii?

Ignorance can solve any problem. Just encapsulate it in the divine.

I agree that those who devote themselves to the Lord and pray regularly, will seek the answers they need.

I think the title of the survey is a bit misleading. Certainly, just claiming to be "religious" will not solve any problems.

If that is the majority answer for what religion is supposed to be....then the majority is filled with idiots. Religion is not supposed to solve your problems....it gives you hope and the capacity to solve those problems yourself.

@LJS9502_basic "then the majority is filled with idiots."

Does that really come as a surprise to you?

No. And I see many users here in OT fall into the majority as well.....

The irony is that religion is the cause of most of the world's problems and doesn't solve a damn thing.

Finding love or peace in the eyes of God (and/or be it whoever one stands by) brings forth a sense of willpower and solidarity that a lot of people hold dear to themselves. I have seen countless broken people find peace and forgiveness not only with themselves and their past, but also in using their hardships to persevere, and not forever define them. For example, what purpose in life do we serve if we do not have hope? Hope not only in ourselves but in what we can do and achieve. And what, as a society, can we do when we are filled with hope and solidarity? If we have the drive to move forward, to better ourselves, then society benefits from that.

I don't live by "rules" or be defined by traditions set forth by the construct of "religion" -- nor would I ever ostracize one for failing or falling once or twice by the many rules aid forth in the construct. At the end of the day, the "religion" doesn't find the Kingdom, it's the individuals who find the love in their maker. The strictest churches where people were "punished" and "shamed" for their mistakes and misgivings were the churches which lacked a drive to succeed, and lacked hope. They represent everything that is wrong with "religion" when rules matter more than finding hope in one's God. Indeed, Jesus reached out to all and shed blood for many whom the pharisees at that time deemed "not worthy." Far too often do we see that occur today as well in churches who put too much emphasis on rules and "religion" then bringing people up on hope and love. Luckily, there are many churches who realize that and have taken steps to improve in that area.

So I disagree with the construct of "religion" answering today's problems, but I do agree with finding hope in oneself using a higher power to help answer today's problems.

I have no issue with anyones religious beliefs. I just want them to keep them out of my laws.

I agree. Good post, Dave.

What laws might those be?

News Flash:

The majority of people are stupid.

Religion has done more wrong than anything else.

if the problem is about the proper way to shag a sheep or the sin of cotton poly blends then religion is the place to go for the answer.

Exactly.

@BranKetra: thank you

Think really hard about this, dude. It's hard to start a business selling deadly snakes, because for most people deadly snakes are a PROBLEM. Despite what the elitists here like to say, people are not predominantly stupid and have never been predominantly stupid. If religion is such a fucking problem, then how the hell did so many cultures get everyone to jump on board on the religion thing? What, was religion just working out horribly, but for some reason everyone decided to go along with it for shits and giggles?

Again, religion does lots of things. Some good, some bad. But none of those things REQUIRE religion. All religion does is tap into the shit that human beings have a biological disposition towards. Religion might be the most effective tool for doing that (or not, I don't know), but the point is that religion didn't create those needs and fears and prejudices. Religion only feeds off of shit that is already there, and if there were no religion then most of these problems would still exist in some capacity.

And religion most certainly CAN solve at least one thing, and that thing is "how to get communities to unify under a common set of goals and values." Granted, religion is not the ONLY way to do so, but it has been very effective in doing so.

Gay marriage

Actually that would be people that cause the world's problems and don't solve a damn thing.

Yet most religion causes the wars, the hatred, and the division of societies.

I wish people world stop needing a crutch and take responsibly for their own lives and deal with the problems as opposed to waiting for answers.

This is just my view point.

I disagree with that. Faith is fine, whatever you need to help you through life, but organized religion is such a double edged sword. O one hand religion can do a lot of good and help a lot of people but on the other it can also be used for true evil.

As far as I am concerned religion is a personal thing and should be kept that way, religion has no place in goverment or places of power.

I'm sorry, but did religion invent "threatening people with murder if they don't do this or that thing"? The way I see it, that kind of shit happens with or without religion due to the fact that most people don't want to be murdered.

ITT: Armchair anthropologists.

if u r in america ...... where life is too easy ... someone wipe your *blank*, a machine wash your *bleep*, water runs into your *quack* and just dial 666 for *poot-poot* delivery ...... you dont feel that religion need to guide you...... you will eventually forget that moral and religion (ehem... which one?) are not related.

cant deny that building western civilization are partly thanks to religion ....

But if you are in a 3rd world nation .......no religion (ehem.... which one?) means fighting each other, anarchy, canibalism, communism, rape without feeling the guilt ....

is it? I perceive it as a comfort blanket for those too weak to accept reality for what it is. I don't even intend for that to be an insult. but it discourages seeking/facing the truth.

That need of acceptance of an unproven higher power, that fear of punishment. oh sure, it works I can't really argue that it works for many people with good intentions .... but in my mind its just like a kid being good so that he/she will get presents from santa clause kinda logic.

I mean you ask some of these people that follow religeon.... they seem to think athiests cannot possibly be good people without the fear of god.... without a religeous moral code... how... with the overwhelming ammount of evidence that morals were around before their religeons, and the millions of GROWING athiests out there that live just as good as they do? ... comfort blanket denial.

@hippiesanta plenty more religious countries with those problems.... and most of those "problems" are in the name of those religions.

That, ladies and gentlemen, is what we call stupidity

@MBirdy88:

you mean Communist country don't have problem?

where did I even suggest that? my point was religeon is just as much of an enabler as countries/people that use "no-religeon" as an enabler. the truth is.... it works both ways.