Religion is ethics for stupid people

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Stupid people don't understand the concept of value of a human life, morality, etc.

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I think they do put value on human life and morality, maybe more so than smarter people(because they follow what they've been taught to be right and wrong), but don't necessarily follow their beliefs in what they do.

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Religion is ethics and morality in a pretty story, dumbed down to the level of the masses so they can comprehend. So the only reason the dumb people don't commit murder is not to go to hell. Going to hell is the main part of religion.

Going to hell is the CORE of christianity. If the paragraph saying "you will go to hell" is erased from the bible, and the pope says on TV "we were wrong about going to hell, there is no hell" then faithfull catholics would sharply drop till it reached zero, and the religion would end instantly.

Therefore, religion is a good lie, as it serves like a crowd control. If there was no christianity or other religion with the hell-threat, then our civilization would break down to disorder, as stupid people would start killing each other.

The law is insuficient to deal with crazy dumb people. We need the religion with the hell penalty. I mean, criminals aren't afraid of the death penalty nowadays... you need to threat them with LIVING ETERNITY IN FIRE AND DOOM for them to respect other people.

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that, my friend, is one ridiculous postulation. You overestimate the role that religion plays in someone's decision to commit a crime. the #1 reason most of these stupid people don't commit crimes is fear of traditional penalties such as jail time, or the death penalty. Religion and eternal suffering in hell is probably the last thing on these people's minds...if someone thinks about killing someone else, they would be thinking about what happens if they're caught(sometimes they don't think about even that), but i doubt that someone that is going to murder someone is likely to be stopped by a fear of hell.

let's not forget that most crimes can be found to be justifiable in the minds of the criminal, at least the law doesn't pay attention to this... a fear of hell can be appeased by considering that they can be forgiven by God if they repent...and even that probably isn't needed for someone to justify the crime in their mind.

our society would break down in disorder?? I will admit that there may be a slight increase in crime, but the chaotic scene that you depict is just not realistic.

I can't believe that some of you people agree with this??

---perhaps i'm missing something, if so please point out what I'm missing, because I have no idea

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Doesn't everyone agree?

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No.

If you want counterevidence, look at any society where the predominant faith does not include a Hell concept and see if they have decayed into barbarian disorder.

there you go, finally a sane person in this thread

[A_C_Slater]

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I can't believe that some of you people agree with this??

---perhaps i'm missing something, if so please point out what I'm missing, because I have no idea

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All religion is mercantile in nature. People only follow it because they expect a reward in an afterlife or a way to avoid punishment.

Very few seek Christianity for purposes of inner peace. It's all self important bullshit. They do it because they have lost in life and they figure they can at least pretend to be elitists in some sort of afterlife.

These Islam extremists are killing as many American's as they can because they think they're going to get their horny little paws on 47 virginal girls in an afterlife. It's the same thing with devout Christians, just less extreme.



All these comments are in regard to devout religious followers. Not people who say they're Christian just because everyone else around them is as well. Those people don't count, they think and feel not. Only those who take religion seriously. And they take it seriously because they are merchant minded.

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I can't believe that some of you people agree with this??

---perhaps i'm missing something, if so please point out what I'm missing, because I have no idea

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All religion is mercantile in nature. People only follow it because they expect a reward in an afterlife or a way to avoid punishment.

Very few seek Christianity for purposes of inner peace. It's all self important bullshit. They do it because they have lost in life and they figure they can at least pretend to be elitists in some sort of afterlife.

These Islam extremists are killing as many American's as they can because they think they're going to get their horny little paws on 47 virginal girls in an afterlife. It's the same thing with devout Christians, just less extreme.



All these comments are in regard to devout religious followers. Not people who say they're Christian just because everyone else around them is as well. Those people don't count, they think and feel not. Only those who take religion seriously. And they take it seriously because they are merchant minded.

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but do you really think that, even when considering what you say to be true,(and i agree that it is) that these people, when considering whether or not to commit a crime, are considering the downside as hell, rather than jail??

[A_C_Slater]

No. I think they are more concerned with jail as they know if caught there is about a 98% chance they will go to jail, barring some legal technicality. But the concept of hell is also there as a preventive measure, but it is assigned a lower probability. For some it may be as high as 50/50 "there either is a hell or there isn't."

Violent animals tend to think in absolutes and black and white "either/or" logic patterns.

But of course, burning for all eternity is far worse and permanent a punishment than 25 to life or whatever. Therefore to some the concept of hell may be an even bigger preventive measure than jail.

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But of course, burning for all eternity is far worse and permanent a punishment than 25 to life or whatever. Therefore to some the concept of hell may be an even bigger preventive measure than jail.

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Give me an example of one single person who would have committed a violent crime but decided not to because they feared God's wrath. Do you really believe this stuff you are writing, or have you just gone too far in the debate to turn back now?

[A_C_Slater]

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Do you really believe this stuff you are writing, or have you just gone too far in the debate to turn back now?

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Both.


This is a prime example of primitive "either/or" logic systems.

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Do you really believe this stuff you are writing, or have you just gone too far in the debate to turn back now?

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Both.


This is a prime example of primitive "either/or" logic systems.

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I'd punch you in the face for that remark, but I'm afraid of hell.