Depends in the Western world, they don't really have such a real meaning to exist anyway. The same goes for gay pride which is also BS these days in Western Europe. If people are going to commit crimes for something as useless as a disproven ideology we might should.

ugh hate to say it, but Rol has written a good OP.

I don't disagree with you. I just want to point out I believe is wrong to commit crimes regardless.

On that I hope all of VGchartz can agree with you, I do at least.

Don't see many wars where atheism is the driving factor , you do with religion and you had this godless heathen argument pointed at the soviet union when in fact it had nothing to do with being athiest just two competing political systems.

Historically yes, religion has been negative for a lot of people in the world, but if we look at the West today, and religion having lost its grip on society, anybody has to agree it is pretty harmless. Unless if you're Richard Dawkins or one of his hardcore atheist followers.

Some in the thread have also brought up positive things that religion brings to society. Let's also not forget that the opinion on what's good or bad for society is largely subjective. As a conservative I like religion as a phenomenon in society (not just my own religion Christianity) because it benefits conservatism, since religion is intrinsically conservative. Conservatism is an ideology I would strongly adhere to even if I wasn't religious.

Today in the West, it's actually more a matter of the secular society being hostile towards religion so much that it harms the well-being of religous people. For example, in my country Sweden it wasn't possible to open Christian schools until 20 years ago because the Left's hostility towards religion and its influence on people. Also, the secular society is so dominant here that many Christian kids are bullied in school for their faith.

Anyway, disregarding if religion is positive or negative on a societal level, it's a matter of freedom. It's a human right to believe what you want. Even if as a religious I might be less productive as a member of society, because a big part of my motivation and effort is directed elsewhere, I should have the same rights as everyone else.

I get your point. In a way ideology can be a lot like religion.

If you read the old testament with attention, you are going to see that there are TWO gods, not one

One god that likes sacrifices, and one that doesn't (Jeremiah 7:22)

One god that gave the 10 commandments, and one that gave the 613 commandments to mouses (that contradict the 10)

One god that says that we shall not make images, and one that says we shall not

One god that asks people to kill, and One that says that we shall not kill

One is the god that guided mouses, and the other, is the god that guided the prophets (The father of Jesus)

One god that asked Abraham to sacrifice his son, and the other that stopped it

Any time you have something that cannot be questioned, needs no justification, and divides people, it is a recipe for disaster.

Religion is one such thing. There are others, such as nationalism. We should rid ourselves of all of them.

religion was good for people back hundreds of years ago when they had nothing to justify exactly why they even exists in the first place. They went to religion as a possible answer to why the world works the way it does. But now that we have science as a reason to why we are here, I believe religion has simply become outdated. That doesn't mean religion is completely bad though. I believe religion is good at providing good morals to follow by in the world. However we still need a new "religion" that has those same good morals, but also teaches acceptance of others and allowing free thought to blossom forth in society.