How to view religions.

[Forty Two]

Should it be with contempt? Should religions be ridiculed and mocked?

What are the arguments for and against that?

[pErvinalia]

They're often a crutch aren't they, really? Also often a social club. It's hard to categorise all of them as evil. There's certainly some that should be ridiculed and mocked. As a general principle, it would be good if we could do without them.

[Brian Peacock]

One can view the beliefs, articles of faith, obligations, and ideological positions of a religion with contempt, but sometimes those holding such views can be quite nice, good people can't they? This suggests to me that some believers are nice in spite of religion, not because of it.

[JimC]

It's hard not to laugh sometimes, with shit like the trinity...

[laklak]

Through a glass, darkly. Preferably containing a peaty single malt, like an Islay or Jura. Just a drop of water, please, and one ice cube (don't beat me, massah, I do likes one ice cube).

[rainbow]

Religions exist for a political purpose.

[Rum]

I'm not all that interested in what people believe so much as what they actually do. In a pluralist liberal society I expect tolerance of other views and a civilised level of behaviour. If I don't get that then I have contempt at my disposal.

[cronus]

If it gives folks meaning and doing no harm then, yes, Jedism should become a great religion. Don't laugh though, there is a dark-side.

[Strontium Dog]

Everything should be primarily judged on the effect it has on other people and upon the world. Religion's effects are overwhelmingly negative, so it ought to be fought in whatever fashion is deemed appropriate, and this will frequently include mockery and contempt.

[NineBerry]

Religion is a complex things with lots of different aspects. Some aspects will go away in time hopefully, others will be replaced by other things.

[JimC]

Positively gnomic, 9B...

[Rum]

The evils of religion aren't of course limited to just the 'meta' level - wars and similar madness. The nastiness of it can impact at a very personal level.

I've told this story before - but in case you missed it..

My cousin - a man of about my age - is an evangelical Christian. Three years ago his brother in law died - his sister's husband. I went to the funeral.

At the gathering after the funeral my cousin spoke to his sister and informed her that 'Of course Mike won't go to heaven because he didn't give his heart to Jesus' - or something very much like that.

His sister isn't quite the atheist I am - an agnostic and enough of one to have arranged a secular funeral, but with enough 'doubt' to be hurt by the comment - or rather the blunt insensitivity of it at such a time.

Personally I would quietly have asked him to come outside into the garden and punched him on the nose. He is an utter twat as it happens, irrespective of his beliefs.

[Brian Peacock]

"Nice people will be nice, and twatty people will be twats, but religion is a way to make twats of nice people." -- William Shakespeare

[tattuchu]

How to view religions? What, is this like one of those books with all the images where there's supposedly something hidden in them if you look at them just the right way? If so, I've never been able to see them. Probably because I have a lazy eye.

[JimC]

Through the sights of a high powered rifle?