Some religion is not bad. Anything can be bad when there are extremists... people who take it too far. However, I believe religion gives people hope. Some people need something to believe in to give them hope, much like kids believe in Santa Claus and such. So I believe it's not religion that's bad.. it's people who take it too far.

Good. It give some people comfort when they are in need.

Lovely. Beautifully expressed about disfuntionality of religion.
Religion IS or was?

You rather illustrate why it is dangerous for ill educated people to read scriptures. This article http://www.huffingtonpost.com/kabir-helminski/does-the-quran-really-adv_b_722114.html explains why you can't take verses out of context but have to understand the nature of the scripture.

Undoubtedly, scriptures of all the major religions have been misinterpreted (often wilfully)and will continue to be. Just look at Westboro Baptists. There is plenty scope for 21st century readers to skew phrases in centuries old documents written for ancient desert peoples for their own purposes.

The Koran is not immune to this. It was written in a form of classical arabic that is subtly different from modern versions of the language. If one accepts that syriac was the original arabic language then significant changes are made to our understanding of key verses. Those famous 72 virgins in paradise, become 72 raisins. Read this fascinating article for more info http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2002/jan/12/books.guardianreview5l

So the point I'm making is that when people say 'Islam is this' or 'Islam is that', unless you have studied the religion you are almost certainly judging the behaviour of adherents based upon the interpretations that have influenced them. Do the Amish represent christianity? Do gospel churches? catholics, evangelicals.... the list goes on.

One final link - President Bartlett pointing out some of the passages of the bible that christians tend to forget. If it's the word of god you can't pick and choose. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kHN2yO3QeXU

I am an atheist, but I have studied the world religions. I believe that religion is a way of people seeing order in a chaotic world, and dealing with the fact that our loved ones die around us. It can be a force for good or ill. Which way it goes is down to people.

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Religion itself isn't bad or good; I feel it's more about how people use it.

The Swiss Psychologist Carl Gustav Jung believed there is a 'Religious centre' in the brain. Perhaps religion is an expression of something in the human psyche.

In any case - for me, Nihilism and Absurdism are the ways to go.

Here's a thought:
The stories in the Bible weren't meant to be taken literally.
They're metaphors, relevant to their time.

What we need are new metaphors, relevant to our time.
Imagine thinking of the planet as God.

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Tom's Notebook, or The Misadventures of an Unrepentant Souse, soon to be a major motion picture - well, a minor still-life drawing - penned by the trembling hand that conjured up such overtures to love-that-dare-not-stick-its-finger-down-its-throat, (for fear of what unspeakable horrors, from what unnamable levels of fresh hell, might conceivably become uncovered, and unwittingly dredged up), as The Extrapolated Scarlet Garment, Columbine in Fifth Street Traffic, and that Elmer Fudd inspired classic, Dwive, ("My wuv is wike a wed, wed, wose...") (pause for intermission, cigarettes, and the chance to catch one's breath), - is now perched like a flasher with a major grin pinned to his face, and a minor in French literature, upon Oberon's invitingly admission-fee-suspended, pimped and tarted profile page, for your perusal, and - although it's highly doubtful - your enjoyment.

(Please direct all outraged e-mails, uncollected invoices or litigation papers to the owners of this site.)