Should religion be eliminated

[BreezeWood]

Acknowledging the fact that there is no ‘god’ as perceived by theists, and that religion and ‘god’ are creations of man is not to ‘oppose’ religion.

Indeed, those free from religion are among the greatest advocates of religious expression and liberty; those free from religion will always be the first to defend religious liberty against attacks by government or unwarranted restrictions by the state.

You didn't read much of Communism then.

The state advocated the destruction of religion, and it officially pronounced religious beliefs to be superstitious and backward.[3][4] The Communist Party destroyed churches, synagogues,[5] mosques and Buddhist temples, ridiculed, harassed, incarcerated and executed religious leaders, flooded the schools and media with anti-religious teachings, and it introduced a belief system called "scientific atheism," with its own rituals, promises and proselytizers.[6][7] The total number of Christian victims under the Soviet regime has been estimated to range between 12-20 million.[8][9]

Persecution of Christians in the Soviet Union - Wikipedia

Methinks you need to read a bit more.
https://mcgrath.nd.edu/assets/84231/the_demographics_of_christian_martyrdom_todd_johnson.pdf

Greg

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- and it officially pronounced religious beliefs to be superstitious and backward.

truth be told for the state of religion late 19th century russia, et all ... and no different than the prevailing response to secular gov't by those being assuaged.

 

[Cecilie1200]

There's quite a bit of opposition to religion here. I am just wondering how many of you people believe religion should be eliminated. It's been tried before and failed, but don't let that deter you in your quest.

Learn from their mistakes and give it another try.

Why the Soviet attempt to stamp out religion failed | Giles Fraser: Loose canon

Not really sure I understand the question, since "eliminating religion" would require eliminating people's abilities to believe and think independently, and I don't think that's possible. So basically, you're asking, "Should something that cannot be done, be done?"

 

[Cecilie1200]

There's quite a bit of opposition to religion here. I am just wondering how many of you people believe religion should be eliminated.

You mean by force? Of course not. A society that would even consider such a thing has far deeper problems than religion.

Like being delusional, since religion by its nature is designed to flourish under adversity. If you want religion to go away, the absolutely LAST thing you do is oppose it by force.

 

[Cecilie1200]

There is no ‘opposition to religion’ on USMB.

No one advocates for religion to be ‘eliminated.’

If it is bad as everyone says it is the logical conclusion would be to eliminate it. Right? Am I missing something?

Thou shalt not commit logical fallacies

Do you know why they stop killing witches?

Because they stopped believing witches existed.

 

[Taz]

There's quite a bit of opposition to religion here. I am just wondering how many of you people believe religion should be eliminated.

You mean by force? Of course not. A society that would even consider such a thing has far deeper problems than religion.

Like being delusional, since religion by its nature is designed to flourish under adversity. If you want religion to go away, the absolutely LAST thing you do is oppose it by force.

As the general population gets smarter over time, people abandon traditional religions because they realize how kooky they are. Some, or even most probably stay spiritual, but eventually people are going to all come to see that the bible is the written equivalent of the movie Reefer Madness, and have a good laugh about it. Like some already do.

 

[well named]

Like being delusional, since religion by its nature is designed to flourish under adversity. If you want religion to go away, the absolutely LAST thing you do is oppose it by force.

I imagine you are thinking of the history of Judaism or early Christianity, but I think your argument is too strong. There are also plenty of examples of religions being effectively suppressed, albeit historically the suppression is usually carried out by some competing religious group. But for example paganism in Europe, or Christianity in the middle east, or indigenous religion in much of the Americas under colonialism.

It's certainly true that the importance of religion to individual and cultural identity makes religion very resilient under adversity, I just don't think you should elevate it to some kind of law which a person would have to be delusional to question.

 

[Cecilie1200]

Like being delusional, since religion by its nature is designed to flourish under adversity. If you want religion to go away, the absolutely LAST thing you do is oppose it by force.

I imagine you are thinking of the history of Judaism or early Christianity, but I think your argument is too strong. There are also plenty of examples of religions being effectively suppressed, albeit historically the suppression is usually carried out by some competing religious group. But for example paganism in Europe, or Christianity in the middle east, or indigenous religion in much of the Americas under colonialism.

It's certainly true that the importance of religion to individual and cultural identity makes religion very resilient under adversity, I just don't think you should elevate it to some kind of law which a person would have to be delusional to question.

No, I'm thinking of most religions that have been forcibly oppressed. The examples you cite are of religions that faded away because their followers were converted, which is different. Trying to march into a place and simply stamp out a religion tends to make the followers that much more determined not to cooperate; offering them something else to believe, on the other hand, is often quite effective.

 

[well named]

I think it's historically inaccurate to describe the "conversion" of any of those groups as entirely voluntary...

 

[Cecilie1200]

There's quite a bit of opposition to religion here. I am just wondering how many of you people believe religion should be eliminated.

You mean by force? Of course not. A society that would even consider such a thing has far deeper problems than religion.

Like being delusional, since religion by its nature is designed to flourish under adversity. If you want religion to go away, the absolutely LAST thing you do is oppose it by force.

As the general population gets smarter over time, people abandon traditional religions because they realize how kooky they are. Some, or even most probably stay spiritual, but eventually people are going to all come to see that the bible is the written equivalent of the movie Reefer Madness, and have a good laugh about it. Like some already do.

Oh, hey, input on the "intelligence" of atheism from someone I view as having the intelligence of a particularly dumb turnip. THAT'S meaningful.

 

[Taz]

There's quite a bit of opposition to religion here. I am just wondering how many of you people believe religion should be eliminated.

You mean by force? Of course not. A society that would even consider such a thing has far deeper problems than religion.

Like being delusional, since religion by its nature is designed to flourish under adversity. If you want religion to go away, the absolutely LAST thing you do is oppose it by force.

As the general population gets smarter over time, people abandon traditional religions because they realize how kooky they are. Some, or even most probably stay spiritual, but eventually people are going to all come to see that the bible is the written equivalent of the movie Reefer Madness, and have a good laugh about it. Like some already do.

Oh, hey, input on the "intelligence" of atheism from someone I view as having the intelligence of a particularly dumb turnip. THAT'S meaningful.

Don’t worry, you’re not smart enough to give up organized religion.

 

[ding]

There's quite a bit of opposition to religion here. I am just wondering how many of you people believe religion should be eliminated. It's been tried before and failed, but don't let that deter you in your quest.

Learn from their mistakes and give it another try.

Why the Soviet attempt to stamp out religion failed | Giles Fraser: Loose canon

Not really sure I understand the question, since "eliminating religion" would require eliminating people's abilities to believe and think independently, and I don't think that's possible. So basically, you're asking, "Should something that cannot be done, be done?"

True. But I was more or less referring to the outlawing of its practice.

 

[ding]

There's quite a bit of opposition to religion here. I am just wondering how many of you people believe religion should be eliminated.

You mean by force? Of course not. A society that would even consider such a thing has far deeper problems than religion.

Like being delusional, since religion by its nature is designed to flourish under adversity. If you want religion to go away, the absolutely LAST thing you do is oppose it by force.

As the general population gets smarter over time, people abandon traditional religions because they realize how kooky they are. Some, or even most probably stay spiritual, but eventually people are going to all come to see that the bible is the written equivalent of the movie Reefer Madness, and have a good laugh about it. Like some already do.

That sounds like wishful thinking.

 

[Cecilie1200]

There's quite a bit of opposition to religion here. I am just wondering how many of you people believe religion should be eliminated.

You mean by force? Of course not. A society that would even consider such a thing has far deeper problems than religion.

Like being delusional, since religion by its nature is designed to flourish under adversity. If you want religion to go away, the absolutely LAST thing you do is oppose it by force.

As the general population gets smarter over time, people abandon traditional religions because they realize how kooky they are. Some, or even most probably stay spiritual, but eventually people are going to all come to see that the bible is the written equivalent of the movie Reefer Madness, and have a good laugh about it. Like some already do.

Oh, hey, input on the "intelligence" of atheism from someone I view as having the intelligence of a particularly dumb turnip. THAT'S meaningful.

Don’t worry, you’re not smart enough to give up organized religion.

I wasn't worried. The only way I could be as "smart" as you are would be some sort of massive head trauma.

Don't you have some other thread you need to run off to and waste space saying idiotic things no one wants to hear about topics you know nothing about, but imagine yourself to be a treasured expert on? We wouldn't want to keep you. Believe me, we wouldn't.

 

[Cecilie1200]

There's quite a bit of opposition to religion here. I am just wondering how many of you people believe religion should be eliminated. It's been tried before and failed, but don't let that deter you in your quest.

Learn from their mistakes and give it another try.

Why the Soviet attempt to stamp out religion failed | Giles Fraser: Loose canon

Not really sure I understand the question, since "eliminating religion" would require eliminating people's abilities to believe and think independently, and I don't think that's possible. So basically, you're asking, "Should something that cannot be done, be done?"

True. But I was more or less referring to the outlawing of its practice.

Oh, I get it, but the point is that outlawing religious practice and eliminating the religion are, in a very real way, polar opposites of each other. The best way to eliminate a religion, oddly enough, is to make its practitioners feel safe and comfortable and secure.

It's funny how those who hate religion and everything to do with it never seem to learn that lesson from history.

 

[Taz]

There's quite a bit of opposition to religion here. I am just wondering how many of you people believe religion should be eliminated.

You mean by force? Of course not. A society that would even consider such a thing has far deeper problems than religion.

Like being delusional, since religion by its nature is designed to flourish under adversity. If you want religion to go away, the absolutely LAST thing you do is oppose it by force.

As the general population gets smarter over time, people abandon traditional religions because they realize how kooky they are. Some, or even most probably stay spiritual, but eventually people are going to all come to see that the bible is the written equivalent of the movie Reefer Madness, and have a good laugh about it. Like some already do.

That sounds like wishful thinking.

People are abandoning organized religions, that’s why churches are closing.

 

[Taz]

You mean by force? Of course not. A society that would even consider such a thing has far deeper problems than religion.

Like being delusional, since religion by its nature is designed to flourish under adversity. If you want religion to go away, the absolutely LAST thing you do is oppose it by force.

As the general population gets smarter over time, people abandon traditional religions because they realize how kooky they are. Some, or even most probably stay spiritual, but eventually people are going to all come to see that the bible is the written equivalent of the movie Reefer Madness, and have a good laugh about it. Like some already do.

Oh, hey, input on the "intelligence" of atheism from someone I view as having the intelligence of a particularly dumb turnip. THAT'S meaningful.

Don’t worry, you’re not smart enough to give up organized religion.

I wasn't worried. The only way I could be as "smart" as you are would be some sort of massive head trauma.

Don't you have some other thread you need to run off to and waste space saying idiotic things no one wants to hear about topics you know nothing about, but imagine yourself to be a treasured expert on? We wouldn't want to keep you. Believe me, we wouldn't.

Look around you at church next time, the smart people have left, only the retards and simpletons remain.

 

[ding]

There's quite a bit of opposition to religion here. I am just wondering how many of you people believe religion should be eliminated.

You mean by force? Of course not. A society that would even consider such a thing has far deeper problems than religion.

Like being delusional, since religion by its nature is designed to flourish under adversity. If you want religion to go away, the absolutely LAST thing you do is oppose it by force.

As the general population gets smarter over time, people abandon traditional religions because they realize how kooky they are. Some, or even most probably stay spiritual, but eventually people are going to all come to see that the bible is the written equivalent of the movie Reefer Madness, and have a good laugh about it. Like some already do.

That sounds like wishful thinking.

People are abandoning organized religions, that’s why churches are closing.

How Many Churches Does America Have? More Than Expected

 

[Taz]

You mean by force? Of course not. A society that would even consider such a thing has far deeper problems than religion.

Like being delusional, since religion by its nature is designed to flourish under adversity. If you want religion to go away, the absolutely LAST thing you do is oppose it by force.

As the general population gets smarter over time, people abandon traditional religions because they realize how kooky they are. Some, or even most probably stay spiritual, but eventually people are going to all come to see that the bible is the written equivalent of the movie Reefer Madness, and have a good laugh about it. Like some already do.

That sounds like wishful thinking.

People are abandoning organized religions, that’s why churches are closing.

How Many Churches Does America Have? More Than Expected

Your link says decreasing since 2006, thanks.

 

[ding]

Like being delusional, since religion by its nature is designed to flourish under adversity. If you want religion to go away, the absolutely LAST thing you do is oppose it by force.

As the general population gets smarter over time, people abandon traditional religions because they realize how kooky they are. Some, or even most probably stay spiritual, but eventually people are going to all come to see that the bible is the written equivalent of the movie Reefer Madness, and have a good laugh about it. Like some already do.

That sounds like wishful thinking.

People are abandoning organized religions, that’s why churches are closing.

How Many Churches Does America Have? More Than Expected

Your link says decreasing since 2006, thanks.

You should read the whole thing. The death of religion is greatly exaggerated.

Brauer’s study corroborates an earlier finding from a team of sociologists led by Shawna Anderson at Duke University, who estimated the average annual death rate of congregations between 1998 and 2005 to be only 1 percent, among the lowest of any type of organization.

So, while much noise has been made of the rise of the religiously unaffiliated (“nones”), their rise has not correlated with an equal rate of congregations closing.

 

[BreezeWood]

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the bible belt has been slowly dissipating since the 50's and civil rights movement, migrating from democrat to republican and presently enthralled by trump as perhaps their last hapless stand.