Comments on: Religion now hottest topic of study for U.S. historians – AHA survey

By: Dyl

Dyl — Wed, 18 Aug 2010 21:24:26 +0000

Religion just like politics is losing its grip because trust is being lost (i think).Religion still holds a lot of power in developing countries with the exception of maybe America.I see it as playing a roll in peoples lives where hope in other things has failed.To me religion should be included under a topic such as ‘Coping Mechanisms’.The world is ever changing and facts or truths about certain things keep coming out – thanks to the freedom of information act.Peoples belief in a lot of things is being corroded.Some people who are losing faith need to understand that if religion is a coping mechanism then there are other alternatives – religiouse or non religiouse of filling the void that adresses issues of the soul.The soul in itself is a grey subject of discussion – which divides religon and science.Who fully understands out of their own understanding what the soul is??? Therefor lets agree to disagree and tackle the important – which is the effects of religion.I have often said – Religion is like a chefs knife, which when used by a Chef can help creat some tasty dishes but in the hands of a Killer can result in the taking of life.As a coping mechanism Religion becomes a tool which an individual uses or needs to deal with day to day issues affected by economic,political,social,e.t.c factors.The use of drugs is on the increase – to me thats a coping mechanism,practising Yoga or Tai Chi, or simply going to the gym or watching your favourite sport (e.g football) are coping mechanisms as all these can make one to ‘religiously’ participate in them for one to feel a sense of belonging, relaxation or distraction from day to day vectors and vagaries that STRESS our day to day lives.It is therefor imperative to tackle the root causes (such as social injustice,lack of jobs, past history e.t.c) that cause people to think, behave and congregate into different social groups or gangs instead of wasting time on plucking the leaves and cutting off branches that can only grow back with time.

By: Dyl

Dyl — Wed, 18 Aug 2010 20:51:24 +0000

Before i can even start to share my views on Religion, can someone please shed some light on the origins of religion vs the facts of carbon dating which tell a story of the time when life began in the seas with single cell organisms such as amoeba and later Dinasours and such.When was the world created?is it by divine power or other theories?

By: gwilensky

gwilensky — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 07:47:37 +0000

According to the latest survey of the American Historical Association, religion is now overtaking cultural studies, the previous favorite among U.S. historians, as a topic of study. I welcome this trend. I think it’s really important to study religion, but not because it’s a venerable institution, but rather because that may lead to a better understanding of the consequences of its pernicious teachings.
I hope this effort leads historians to perhaps explore the role religion has in creating the state of mind some people have that leads them to economic difficulties, social strife, or war. Sure, you could argue that many people find solace in religion in difficult times, but any student of history should go deeper into the root causes of human misery: did religion have anything to do, perhaps, with the Iraq-Iran war? How about the Thirty Years War? Does religion play any role in the oppression of Muslim women? Did religion play any role in poisoning the minds of millions of Christians prior to the Holocaust? How about in Rwanda?

Gabriel Wilensky

—————————————————————————————————
Author
Six Million Crucifixions:
How Christian Teachings About Jews Paved the Road to the Holocaust
http://www.SixMillionCrucifixions.com
Follow me on Twitter at http://twitter.com/sixmillionbook
Become a Fan on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/SixMillionCrucif ixions
—————————————————————————————————

By: dewittdale

dewittdale — Mon, 04 Jan 2010 12:42:21 +0000

Organized religion is very different from personal perception. Governments and historians always forget this. Science and Perception have the same falsification muscle. Some scientists are better at detecting baloney. Some realize what they don’t know or cannot prove doesn’t necessarily mean it may or may not exit.

By: ehross

ehross — Sat, 02 Jan 2010 22:11:27 +0000

Religion, The Worlds terminal cancer.

By: Anon86

Anon86 — Thu, 31 Dec 2009 14:06:14 +0000

The seculisation thesis is alive and well.

As society becomes more modern and educated, religion is swiftly losing its authority and relevance in the world. What power religion holds in society is limited and falling.

To some extent, this loss has been masked by a variety of factors.

The primary one being that the various faiths simply chalk a believer under their scoreboard, without caring how strong a believer that person actually is. For all they know, that ‘believer’ is simply an atheist who choses to identify under a religion rather then be labelled as faithless.

The second factor is that many who genuinely associate with the religion only do so to that bare extent. Large proportions of so called ‘faithful’ don’t think in line with doctrine, don’t go to church and don’t really care about religion assuming they think about it at all. Yet the church counts them as faithful.

The third factor is that over the last few years, religion has increasingly turned to the uneducated poor, particularly those in third world countries. Many are being taught to believe in a deity before they even know how to read. Millions of uneducated people just waiting to be exploited by any religion wanting cheap conversions.

Put it all together, and religion is on the decline. And the further it goes, the uglier it gets. And the more it will be reserved for the exploited, poor and uneducated.