"For me, religion is like a rhinoceros: I don't have one, and I'd really prefer not to be trampled by yours. But it is impressive, and even beautiful, and, to be honest, the world would be slightly worse off if there weren't any." -- Silas Sparkhammer, amirite?

Religion has caused more deaths than natural disasters combined

by Anonymous 13 years ago

Well, yes, but it also lead to many of the scientific discoveries that lead to the science that we have now. True, nowadays science is kind of the anti-religion, but we wouldn't have the knowledge that we do now if the ancient Greeks and others hadn't been observing the natural world and believing that everything had an answer because it was created by some supernatural being. All that they had to do was find that answer. Now, the only reason religion is bad is because of the extremists who use their religion to hurt people. That, to me, says more about the human race itself than religion. Just for the record, I am not, nor have I ever been, religious. I really just thought that this was a funny and good quote, but am willing for a good debate since you brought the serious side into what was originally just a fun post haha

by Anonymous 13 years ago

I agree I love the post

by Anonymous 13 years ago

Religion didn't lead to scientific discoveries, if anything religion seems to hinder scientific discoveries. If I have my facts right, didn't the Catholic Church condemn Galileo as a heritic for saying that the earth circled around the sun?

by Anonymous 13 years ago

yes they did, but isaac newton and countless other early scientists that shaped how we look at science were looking to explain god's creation when they did their work. it's kind of a love-hate thing.

by Anonymous 13 years ago

How do you know that?

by Anonymous 13 years ago

They did condemn Galileo as a heretic, but I heard that it was really just an excuse. Something about him being an attention whore or rubbing up the wrong way against people. I heard they didn't really care about his scientific stuff

by Anonymous 13 years ago

lol oh did they? I'm sure they executed him because he was an attention whore, that's probably definitely it....

by Anonymous 13 years ago

Completely believable fact, but can you back it up? Just for arguments' sake.

by Anonymous 13 years ago

Just think of all the wars fought in the name of any god... dating back all the way to ancient egypt (and possibly beyond).

by Anonymous 13 years ago

I know what you mean. But, what I think should be considered is diseases, non-religious killing, small survival rate, etc. True, it is atrocious that religion is even comparable, but for curiosity's sake, it'd be cool to find some numbers.

by Anonymous 13 years ago

*votes no because i have a religion* Everything else is so true though

by Anonymous 13 years ago

I have a Religion as well, but I understand the sentiment.

by Anonymous 13 years ago

mhm.

by Anonymous 13 years ago

I only disagree with the last part, but I love the rest. I don't believe in religion.

by Anonymous 13 years ago

the world WOULD be slightly worse off if there weren't rhinoceros.

by Anonymous 13 years ago

that's amazing.

by Anonymous 13 years ago

I'm agreeing purely for the fact that you cited your source

by Anonymous 13 years ago

So what? you think atheists only dont kill ppl bc the Law says not too? No its bc we know it's wrong, without needing the law nor the bible to tell us so. So your argument is completely wrong

by Anonymous 13 years ago

Still, I'd be more likely to kill someone if I knew I'd be fine in the afterlife.

by Anonymous 13 years ago

If you are actually afraid of the afterlife, you would probably be the type to be afraid of the law/other peoples opinions if they found out you killed someone

by Anonymous 13 years ago

How exactly would you know it's wrong if something didn't lay down the rules for us? Why don't people like homosexuals? Because most religions condemn it. Hence why many atheists (who aren't hicks) have no problem with homosexuality.

by Anonymous 13 years ago

Religion = crusades, holocaust, Inquisitions. beautiful? indeed.

by Anonymous 13 years ago

STEEL INQUISITORS.

by Anonymous 13 years ago

If there wasn't any religion from the start, the whole world would be completely different.

by Anonymous 13 years ago

wow. that's fantastic. *copies for fb*

by Anonymous 13 years ago

I'm trying to find more insight from your source and all google is giving me is "Barbie based on German sex toy?" and a link to this page. help?

by Anonymous 13 years ago

Oh, I just heard the quote from somebody and I wanted to cite it, and this was the name that came up on some website. Most of the other websites that came up didn't have a source, and if I remember correctly, the one that listed Silas as a source said something along the lines of "some random person in San Francisco" haha. I don't know if he's a real person, I just know that I didn't come up with the quote and figured that a weird citation would be better than taking credit for it myself...

by Anonymous 13 years ago

Ahh, makes sense. Thanks! :)

by Anonymous 13 years ago

You will be, all you have to do is repent for murdering ppl. Why else do you think murderers turn to Christianity when they get to jail? Because they want to feel better about what they did, that they're going to get into Heaven. Atheists dont kill ppl bc they're afraid of hell, its bc we dont want too. And personally if the only reason you're not is bc you're afraid of hell, then that just shows how real your moral standards are....and by that i mean not very real.

by Anonymous 13 years ago

Oh so what, you dont think killing ppl is wrong ONLY bc someone told you? I could have been brought up alone in a cave and still know not to do that....oh bte BEFORE christianity came about, ppl still had laws about murders, lies, etc and you got punished if u did those things...where do u think they got those rules??? They got them BECAUSE THEY MADE THEM UP. Its called common sense and god forbid anybody who believes in the bible has any.

by Anonymous 13 years ago

Oh so what, you dont think killing ppl is wrong ONLY bc someone told you? I could have been brought up alone in a cave and still know not to do that....oh bte BEFORE christianity came about, ppl still had laws about murders, lies, etc and you got punished if u did those things...where do u think they got those rules??? They got them BECAUSE THEY MADE THEM UP. Its called common sense and god forbid anybody who believes in the bible has any.

by Anonymous 13 years ago

POTD

by Anonymous 13 years ago

By in large, I believe religion (in addition to ideological or philosophical beliefs) can help bring out the best in people. Religion, when treated properly, can lead us to think deeply on hard topics. Extremism of ANY sort is when we start having problems.

by Anonymous 8 years ago