Speyside wrote:Huck, if an institution performs more good than bad why would you think it has outlived its usefulness? Also aren't you deriding billions of peoples beliefs? Finally shouldn't you give everyone who believes in God as much respect as they should give you?
Speyside, because I think organized religions do more bad than good.
And I know there are seriously well-intentioned folks out there donating time and money to underprivileged people and doing all sorts of good deeds.
A couple, our closest friends, both professors, through their Church built a school for Ugandan kids and help their folks to start up businesses. Truth be told I think charitable people would be out there doing things like that even if it didn't come under the title of God's Work.
I respect people who believe. Probably even envy them a little .
But my problem with organized religion is the same as my beef with any cult: you've collected like-minded people in to an isolated space like some secret society, with the expressed purpose of making them even more like-minded. To brainwash them. To separate them from the rest of the population.
Messages, drummed in to people's heads like, without Jesus you're going to hell or kill infidels or bomb the shiites or sunnis....etc etc...all in the name of God? Insanity imo.
What do all the many erroneous messages that are preached have do with a God that might exist. Sounds more like power-hungry-madmen-agendas.
I do like present pope though. Seems like a genuine Christian to me.
Like TG.
Short question....long answer...