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I don't understand the question. Did you mean how do religious people hold society back? Religion, itself, is an idea/belief system. It cannot hold anything back, but people do. Both religious and non religious people can and do hold society back. I know we atheists/agnostics like to believe only religious people can hold a society back but that's just not the case, just look at China.
That seems disingenuos to me. Distinguishing between an "idea/belief system" and 'people' is fallacious, since people are where ideas and belief systems come from. No one said that only religious people hold society back, although the Mao cult was pretty much a religion. Dictators are dictators, whether they profess religion or not.
That seems disingenuos to me. Distinguishing between an "idea/belief system" and 'people' is fallacious, since people are where ideas and belief systems come from. No one said that only religious people hold society back, although the Mao cult was pretty much a religion. Dictators are dictators, whether they profess religion or not.
Just the point I was going to make. Institutions do not exist outside of and separate from the people who make up them. Any claim otherwise is specious.
Perhaps I worded what I was trying to say incorrectly, sorry. I am not saying ideas/belief systems are not a part of people. I am saying an idea on it's owncannot hold anything back. How people respond to an idea/belief in the physical world is what can help or harm a society. People respond to the idea of Christianity in different ways, some use it to help others and better the world, some use it to harm others. The question is "what are ways religion has held a society back." All I was trying to say is that, on it's own, a belief in a religion can't hold anything back.
Tesaje- I'll read and respond to that soon, I just don't have time right at the moment.........
An idea on its own (notice the lack of an apostrophe) can do tons of harm, depending on what it is. If the idea causes people to live in fear of committing sin and eternal damnation, it does harm. If it causes people to think irrationally and to value irrationality, it does harm. Some people do use Christianity in a beneficent way, but they are nice people who would likely do so in any case. Others use it in a malevolent way, but likewise they would probably be malevolent without it. It just makes it easier. The truly ethical person doesn't need it. All you need is empathy.
I'm guessing it has kept us from advancing with the wars... All that effort spent on them could of been used to improve.
Also the stem cell, cloning stuff...
What other things has it done to keep us down?
We could of known about the solar system's ways of working earlier and could have advanced farther by now...
Ooooh YEAH ! You can make book on that. Someone mentioned Galileo. True. And isn't it peculiar that - here we are, 400 years onward.. and the populace is STILL shackled to the dark-age's ! Thanks to the power of rote brainwashing. The sheeple.. how sad, follow along like.. ah, sheep. How can civilization EVER break free of the various cults - cults that have a death-grip on their victims ? There is immense $$$ and power involved.
Our science & technology was on the fast track - after JFK was elected. We proved how much we could do with our Apollo program. From May 25, 1961 - it only took 7 years an 7 months until 3 guys took a little spin out to out nearest solar-system neighbor. AND then, only 7 more months until we had people on the Moon ! Then soon we were regularly visiting.. exploring and, we even began bringing along OUR RIDES !! All those years ago.
Think of the Great Library at Alexandria. What scum destroyed that ? Enough for now.
Funny, isn't it? Human learning, research, law and everything else stemmed from the great enlightenment of the 18/19th century, which stemmed from the renaissance/reformation of the 1400s which stemmed from the retarded church and its religious system.
It really has held our society back indeed.
LOL! So you're saying good things grow out of compost and shyte? Very true, but learning, research and law certainly didn't spring from Protestantism or Christianity for that matter. Remember the Greeks?
The Enlightenment didn't stem from Protestantism but rather IN SPITE OF it and other retarded Christian religious systems. Which YES have held our society back, indeed - considering EVERY advancement in knowledge, freedom and equality has been won in conflict with Christianity in the West.
This 'Who is worst' debate is one I prefer to avoid. Not because atheism loses out but because it's irrelevant to which is true. As a general trend, I'd observe that religion is good on general welfare and caring and poor on the advancement of knowledge.
This link: Atheism Central for Secondary School Students - why be an atheist - is a great place to gather insights into how 'religion' is the world's foremost problem. It is quite logical. And easy to see the truth in what they
are presenting to the populace. But - a brainwashed populace is the problem. Most will refuse to see the truth, as the cults of course know. Very few people like to admit being suckered into wasting so much of
their life's precious time.. and blood.. and money.
Today is the 49th anniversary of the murder of President John F Kennedy. From that fatal moment until today, America has been on a downward plunge. We are so different as to almost be another country! Back then, America was a forward looking nation. Science was to be esteemed ! The President set that course for America. And the Peace Corps, the antithesis of War - was another of Kennedy's creations. If you take the time, here: Atheism Central for Secondary Schools - religious tolerance ..is the home page of the above link. You can see the direct connections between 'religions' - Cults!, and Wars. And the anti science stance. And learn why we have 'lost' our once fantastic abilities. We are well along the road to a 'new' dark-age.
1. Religion is harmful because it claims knowledge of an absolute truth about what it is to be human. By definition such a claim is dangerous. It leads to immoral decision-making and excludes new insights into what it is to be human.
2. Religion blocks the development of rationalism as the guiding principle of human development.
3. Religion hinders the development of scientific knowledge.
4. Religion gives a distorted view of reality by claiming false things to be true.
5. "Reality conflict" produces real emotional distress - with damage to individuals and their families. The faithful suffer stress because the evidence of their senses and experience conflicts with their religous beliefs. An extreme example of such a conflict: in theory religions welcome death as the ultimate salvation - in practice few of the faithful seem to be very keen on it.
6. Religion creates and reinforces rifts between different communities. It spreads from generation to generation like a computer virus and perpetuates these rifts over many generations.
7. Vices develop when people are forced to keep different aspects of their humanity in separate compartments. Vices are created when natural behaviour is defined as sin.
8. Religion discourages the development of democratic systems of government, freedom of expression and the evolution of society. Because religious organisations are hierarchical and the guys at the top are always right this encourages an undemocratic mind-set. Perhaps this is why so many religions are so tolerant of war - the ultimate imposition of power over others.
The problems that are endemic to religion are endemic to human nature. There have been plenty of horrific secular ideologies and isms that have proven equally as destructive. Rather, religious has been more adept at holding back society because it is one of the few social constructs that near-universally spans across cultures, allowing religious groups, on varying scales, to enjoy the benefit of large numbers and fervent adherents, which leads to significant (sometimes even overwhelming) power.
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lol
All those years ago. 
