A number of recent authors have argued that it is. Sam Harris, for example, in The End of Faith, argues that religious belief -- particularly theistic belief -- is anything but benign. His claim isn't just that it is lible, when misinterpreted or abused, to lead to atrocities; rather, it is that religious belief -- even in its most reasonable form -- has a devestating effect on society.
I find the ideas of Harris, and many of the other 'New Atheists', quite provocative. Moreover, they argue at at level of rigor and detail that very few contemporary defenders of Theism even come close to.
Some recent experimental work at the University of Miama, however, suggests that religious belief actually leads to much more good than harm. Click here to read more on the study.
What do you think?
I find the ideas of Harris, and many of the other 'New Atheists', quite provocative. Moreover, they argue at at level of rigor and detail that very few contemporary defenders of Theism even come close to.
Some recent experimental work at the University of Miama, however, suggests that religious belief actually leads to much more good than harm. Click here to read more on the study.
What do you think?
I think that strong-belief-at-large can lead to harmful consequences without moderation—especially if the belief in question isn't swallowed with a good measure of doubt.
ReplyDeleteScientific reason, at its best, is as useful as falsifiability allows. Once scientists run into data that contradicts their beliefs, upheaval begins? Without doubt in our beliefs, we refuse to change in the face of contradiction. Stubbornness of this sort has led to war: over economic systems, over rulers, over systems of praise, over love, over a pair of shoes someone spilled their drink on.
I am not sure that religious beliefs are any more of a conflict-catalyst than any other class of beliefs—but I wouldn't know how to weigh the "good" against the "bad" if I wanted to.
Since most religions teach tolerance and charity, I think religion is what each person makes of it. For one person, who understands and uses the teachings to love & help others, it is a fantastic thing. For another, who misinterprets the teachings and uses them to hate and hurt others, it is a horrible thing. Great evil has been done in the guise of religion but then again so has great good. Christianity says that God gave us his words but also gave us free will. Whether believer or atheist, its what you do with that free will that matters, not what you believe.
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