There is no way we will all ever agree on that but this is an article, though short on giving reasons, says no.

http://machineslikeus.com/news/religion-good-anything-0

I think now that we are smart enough to know religion and everything attached are our own creations, only those who use it consciously to exploit others in various ways can answer that with an honest yes, sadly. So I guess the more accurate question in this day and age, probably more so as time goes on, would be: Is religion good for anyone?

It is for some people, IMO.

Is religion good for anyone?

It appears to be good for keeping the sheeple in line.

Like Seneca the Younger said, religion is seen by the common man as true, by the wise man as false, and by those in power as useful. (And this guy was no atheist either!)

To paraphrase William of Ockham, don’t muck up your thinking with extraneous crud that doesn’t contribute to understanding and solving life’s problems.  As such, religion is just more data (some decent advice along with a great many false and often destructive fairytales) that doesn’t really help living an intelligent life.

Occam

Equal Opportunity Curmudgeon - 29 September 2012 06:56 AM

Is religion good for anyone?

It appears to be good for keeping the sheeple in line.

Like Seneca the Younger said, religion is seen by the common man as true, by the wise man as false, and by those in power as useful. (And this guy was no atheist either!)

Doesn’t always work like that ask last years mid-eastern dictators or look at the US civil rights movement or even the pope about his buddy Martin Luther.

Religion likely served the purpose of creating communities in the ancient world.

But we don’r need it any more. Its a relic.

This just in, the percentage of ‘nones” including atheists and apatheists has jumped to 20% and climbing. More Americans are leaving the churches than ever before and if the trend continues the religious impact on politics here will be thankfully on the wane. So what will be our moral and ethical guideposts in the future ask the xtians?

http://www.htrnews.com/viewart/20121009/MAN0101/121009032/20-Americans-report-no-religious-affiliation

Cap’t Jack

Geez, those statistics must piss off fundamentalist preachers.

Occam

Annoying atheists.

The nones are still believers in some sort of magical stuff; they’re not rationalists for the most part.

It’s more likely that they will join some more modern faith movement, rather then drift towards Metaphysical Naturalism.

I’m not sure, M-A.  While some of the “nones” fit the belief in metaphysics or odd cults, I think more and more of the young people are seeing that the concept of a naturally occurring origin of the universe followed by the series of events postulated by scientists is more reasonable that any spiritual explanations.  And they are the ones who are becoming the atheists who will begin to shift local and federal elections.

Occam

Who knows what is going on. You could be right, Occam, of course, but maybe Charles Murray is right when he says that people care more about video games these days than participating in the life of their community.

The nones are still believers in some sort of magical stuff; they’re not rationalists for the most part.

It’s more likely that they will join some more modern faith movement, rather then drift towards Metaphysical Naturalism.

Correct me if I’m wrong but aren’t some of them atheists? You’re making it sound as if they happened to question these nones when they were all in the middle of converting .

But seriously, that may only be true for those of them where religion was a big part of their lives, and have since been looking for something else. They want to believe just to believe, so they will find something else.
And I completely agree with Occam. I’m sure it is much more likely that the increase in nones is linked to younger people. Scientists are much more capable of being in touch with young people (keeping up is part of the game) than religion is. It’s probably due mostly to the media, may it be fun and interesting YouTube videos explaining hundreds of scientific topics, or simply shows like Family Guy with its atheist creator Seth Green (which I personally think is going to have a bigger impact on youth towards religion than some may realize).

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Here is a little extra section from my own experience thus far, since George seemed curious about us younger ones (I’m 26 btw ). Among friends, religion is never really discussed (save one friend whom I discuss philosophy with often). The rare times that it does pop up in conversation is to discuss its various oddities. Or perhaps more specifically try and understand its oddities. Or question the actions taken by some of the more radical or fanatical adherents. But it’s such a non-topic that it quickly fades from conversation. Even a couple friends, whose parents are pretty religious, don’t seem to care much about it. If they do participate once and a while, it’s just to please their parents. And I think young teens these days care even less about it, again because their parents are younger themselves.

Belief in god is separate however (although not exactly the topic, but figured I’d mention it since it’s not far off from producing the same reaction). Most of my friends have expressed some sort of belief that there is “something”. But any sort of personal god is far from it. It’s more like god is in nature, usually followed by “I’m not sure how to say it”, a sort of mild pantheism. But, given a few good books on this exact topic with philosophical undertones, it may help them at the very least to try and figure out what exactly they mean. I’d like to think most of them, after having read up on it a bit, would figure out that they’ve been trying to define god so vaguely that there is simply no need for that word at all, in the end.

So I think people are just too busy with friends enjoying themselves (yes, a lot of them playing video games together online with millions of others in the online gaming community  . ) planing and thinking about their futures in this life, instead of worrying about how many immoral actions will land them in an eternal hellfire.

Edit: Forgot to ask. Was just curious if you could be specific about what you mean when you say “participating in the life of their community”. As in political?

Edit: Forgot to ask. Was just curious if you could be specific about what you mean when you say “participating in the life of their community”. As in political?

Many communities base their social lives on the local religious institutions, hence the rise of the mega-churches. As herd animals we need a watering hole in which to congregate and the church serves the function as civic clubs are on the wane in America. Ex. the masons and shriners. their membership has dropped off dramatically in the last ten years and if the trend continues, may disapear altogether. So, social life, especially in smaller communities is heavily influenced by church participation and yes it pervades the political life of the community as well. No one would be elected sheriff by proclaiming himself to be an agnostic or an atheist. Often those who elect you are fellow members of your church. It also helps to be a veteran BTW. In some areas, primarily in the South and Midwest various protestant denominations compete with each other for members. they aim their programs at the youth enticing them with competitive sports and youth group membership. So, relpacing these institutions is problematic as they are ingrained into the heart off the community and will in all likelihood continue in the future only to trail off when the youth leave them.

Cap’t Jack

I’m going to go with no…

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/13/world/asia/teenager-in-hiding-after-blasphemy-accusation-pakistani-police-say.html?ref=world

Take care,

Derek