All around us we see and hear of terrorism, violence, innocents killed, productivity and progress lost - basically all this is so sad, when you realise that we can do so much with peace. Most of our wars and violence today have to do with religion in some manner. This makes me think-Is religion really helping us to be better human beings? Is everyone who claims to be religious a good human being? Or what we need today is less religion and more ethics and value systems?
Yes with your reasoning why not ban money, since is causes death and motorsports since people die. Don't blame Religion for human errors. Religion is basically a philosophy. Just like in sports there are athletes who take drugs, there are "Religious" people who use religion for their own personal gain.
I think the key is having a code of ethics first and having a feel for what is right and wrong. Once you have that inside you, then you will not be swayed by false teachings. For example, I believe al-qaeda and the taliban are totally non-religious and give Islam a very bad name. They just try to use the islamic religion to manipulate muslims, to have more power for themselves and not to benefit god. The muslims that have a code of ethics inside can not be manipulated by there hate speech. Some fundamentalist christians will borderline on hate speech regarding gay people and even women's rights and are really not very kind to others and don't seem to follow Jesus's teachings. Somehow, it seems like extremist in any religion are not very good people. But I think if you are grounded in your ethical beliefs on right and wrong before you get involved in religion, you are much harder to be manipulated.
A beautiful question; first i want to know that how could some one can live freely as one has to live his life by his own rules or by government rules .
Islam is about fear of our creator and fulfilling our duties to Him. That is first and foremost. Then comes our duties to our families, our neighbors, and all of the people we know or meet. Islam does not encourage violence, nor does it spread the killing of innocents. To prove this point, prophet Muhammad was sent to his people at a time when innocent female babies were buried because the families considered them a financial burden. Islam outlawed this practice. A person who thinks they are religious are not always right. They could be doing something wrong. If someone worships God piously but is a chronic liar, that person is not an example of the best of mankind. I don't think that this world would be a better place if there was absolutely no religion. This is a classic case of "the grass is greener on the other side" even though it might not be. First reason I say this is because I believe that God does exist and without his guidance, we would be completely lost. Secondly, wars have been fought for reasons other than religion. Tribal/ethnic wars, wars over land, wars over riches, wars to prove power, wars to inflict pain, etc. There will always be disagreements, and there will always be bad people. Peace
Religion is already fading in popularity in many places. The only problem is, consumerism is spreading even faster.