(Untitled)

[piratejosh]

So, whatever one's stance on religion, it may make sense to think of it in some ways as a tool. It has many of the chararacteristics of a tool: it's a construction used for specific ends, it fades into the background until broken and can be used according to the user's intent. This all good and well, until it's used for something like killing

Comments

[winstonsbitch]

Eeuuurggghhh depressing. I don't think religious institutions are the only social mechanism to channel human evil in this way, but like most organized systems of thought, they do provide some unique opportunities for hatred.

Barf.

[snowislovely]

Yeah, that is pretty disturbing. A good friend of mine just recently read a book called "The God Delusion", which you may be interested in. It pretty much argues that religion of any kind does give people a tool for evil, and may actually be more dangerous than good. Honestly, I think that people should take most things with a grain of salt, but it does seem that religion can be not only divisive, but has in fact been the tool of many world problems. I think that is because religion evokes emotion, ideology, and proports to have the 'right way' to live, believe, etc. That inherently suggests that there are wrong ways, which is where a lot of the hatred is fueled from.