Quote Originally Posted by Mojavpa
Yes, you make some good points, especially that the church contributes to the AIDS problem by denying condoms to people. However, I'm not talking so much about organized religion as those individuals who are motivated to do good in the world because of their faith, or inspired by figures in their religion, whether it be Jesus, Muhammed, Buddha, or a Hindu God. Many of these people may not adopt every principle of their religion, but still believe in God, and this drives them to help people.

Remember, I was raising the issue of atheists vs. those who believe in God, because someone wrote that an atheists point of view was more accepting and "good" than a religious person's.

BTW, I wouldnt say that all progress was made outside of religion. You totally discount those achievements by scientists and artists whose work was a result of their faith, such as Isaac Newton. We wouldnt live so long if it wasnt for his achievments in math and science, and look at Bach. Everything he wrote was in the name of God. Any kind of Western music we listen to was directly influenced by him.

I never said that religious people do more good than atheists. Atheists and infidels, in my opinion, ushered in the Enlightenment and were very important in their own right. But progress in the world has been in the sphere of religion and outside of it.
If you do a google search of Isaac Newton, and the word Heretic, you'll get a lot of information. Newton hated organized religion (esp. the Catholic Church), and did not believe in the trinity. He had a lot of strange ideas, which was typical of almost everybody in those times (and ours as well). He was a genius, regardless of his religious beliefs (or lack of). These days, there is no excuse for actions based on theology - other than keeping it out of government.

Since there is no evidence that any "miracle" ever happened, that Christ ever lived (even as a "normal" man), or anybody was ever contacted by a "higher" power, then it is obvious that beliefs in theology and such are forms of mental illness. It is also apparent that the greatest threat to the very existence of the human race originates with the disagreements among the three big monotheistic faiths of Islam, Christianity, and Judaism. If rational thinking does not become more widespread, Iā??m afraid that the future is not going to include our species at some point.