Religion: Pass or Fail? part 1

[koan]

Marie5656 wrote: Thinking of the wars fought over religion..and the terrorists who kill in the name of thier Allah...I am not all that impressed with what religion is doing to the world.


Off topic, but, don't forget about the other names for God. Even the ones that are "unpronounceable".

[koan]

How does one keep religion from politics unless all religions are discriminated against equally. ie) No politicians are allowed to have religious affiliations. Otherwise their opinions will always be affected by their religion. There are a number of political issues that come down to belief systems.

[Nomad]

Religion has never been the problem. The problem has always been the people who practice it.

[koan]

Thanks for the acknowledgment I hadn't really seen it as a slight but, thanks anyway.

The territorial question is somewhat based on my having picked up a book called "Natural Resources and Violent Conflict" by Bannon and Collier, which I haven't got to reading yet.

I wonder at which political issues are hardest to separate religion from politics. Generally, ethics cover a lot of what religion concerns itself with. Following a code of ethics is not strictly religious. In this poll, I think, some people have voted based on the mix of religion and politics and not just on the question of religion itself. Our judgement of religion is clouded by its inclusion in politics be it legitimate or just used as an excuse. The Battle For God: A History of Fundamentalism by Karen Armstrong starts out by discussing the behaviour of the 9/11 terrorists and how they contravened the religion that they were supposedly representing.

[Bez]

Nomad wrote: Religion has never been the problem. The problem has always been the people who practice it.


Exactly.



Not all conflicts are based on religion.