Stormier

A reform is needed, it happens in legislature daily I don't understand why religion can't keep up. People are still following a belief that was around when we believed we were the centre of the universe, that the world was flat and witches were roaming the earth. For things to co-exist they must evolve coherently. In the more positive though, the current pope I believe could actually be a "god-send" (pardon the pun) at least for Catholicism, he seems to be taking things with a far more modern view than any previous (contraception, homosexuality so on so forth) so maybe this will be something he will consider in his term, let's all hope.

In the developed world yes, I agree. In the third world however, and the middle east(Syria, Egypt, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, Israel, Palestine so and and so forth) religion is about the only factor which causes war and conflict.

I whole heartedly understand why people are afraid, my point was more that religion, in the current sense, is not the way forward by any sense. I don't discredit it completely, I merely point to the facts which show religion has gone from being a nice, family-based coping mechanism to being the root of many wars, conflicts and monetary problems globally which hinder our ability to move forward and find if there is anything "bigger" than us. I don't debunk religion, I debunk the current form of it. As to my original point of it being fear based, I did not say it was a bad thing that we are scared, I just think there are many a better way to deal with those fears than to revert to the above (war etc.). Religion isn't new in the scheme of things, nor is jihad on countries on colonies due to their religious views and faiths however, you would think that since we no longer live in the dark ages and are civilized in the most part we would have a much more serious look at how to re-evaluate not the religious viewpoint but the way in which it is conducted around the world. No mechanism is perfect, they all have holes, mine included. I find peace in the fact that when I die if I do good and try to prevent wars and save the planet my children and children's children will be in good stead which isn't, as we know, necessarily the case. I just feel, in my opinion, which of course is neither right nor wrong, there needs to be a better way to do this I don't care if it's religion, or any other method but it just needs to be conducted in a more 21st century way.

This is my first post on the forum, I have done a quick search regarding this and can't find a previous post on the forum so I apologise if its a repost. My point I would wish to discuss here is that religion is the adult form of a of a blanket or a mobile above a child's head. It's a transparent way to comfort people who are scared of the unknown or the unbearable. If a child was in bed before he knew they never existed they always believed there were monsters in their closet or under their bed, they are told that say, a blanket, will keep them away and of course they believe it and it keeps them safe when really it doesn't in actual fact the problem just wasn't a threat. It is similar with religion if someone is scared of death they turn to religion to give them illusions of grandeur that there is an afterlife which will grant them their wildest dreams when, more than likely they will just be dead and decomposing. I find it hard to believe that anyone thinks that something which is based on astronomy and star signs originally (I will discuss the way in which it is based on this if anyone wishes to get into it) is capable of saving their life or giving them everything beyond their wildest dreams. I'm all for people being comfortable and finding a way to cope with death, but that's all religion is and ever will be. A coping mechanism. We could find a better idea one day that possibly doesn't fuel war and chaos throughout the globe due to conflicting ideas of equally ludicrous beliefs. Discuss.