Humans are not totally evil. Neither are we totally good. I think that as we go along we always have the potential to become more proficient with our emotions. Emotions are good, how we use them might not be good. Each kind of emotion is good in the right circumstance.

The bible has a few pearls of wisdom in it. Unfortunately those pearls are far and few between and are over shadowed by one message:

OBEY.

These pearls of wisdom that are to be found in the bible are not only overshadowed by "Obey" they are undermined by all of the bad examples and bad advice which our primitive ancestors ( the bible writers generation) have given us to "OBEY. They do not really tell us why something is right except to say obey God. God commands it. The bible really doesn't encourage us to think about morality outside of obey God. Not over all. One exception that I can think of is Love your neighbor as yourself. That does envolve some critical thinking when it comes to morality.

To bad the prophets Jesus and God shoot that to hell with most of what they do and say. The bible inculcates irrational prejudices as well as rekindling prejudices. The bible is a big book and most of us do not really read it all. Scripture can charge people emotionaly in a negative way and while that is going on sometimes we forget the few pearls. That is human nature. There are different kinds of personalities. Shepherds and sheep. The bible says Obey. The bible is also Gods word -the shepherd is an extension of God when they wave the bible around preaching what ever has charged them emotionaly from scripture. This can be good and bad. Good thing some preachers are good men and women. Too bad they support the same book as the Fred Phelps of the world who use the same book in instructing the flock in what ...is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness...

The abborant denominations that usualy are the minority always seeks to control. Always causes some problems. Will seek any foot hold to have control. This is true in the family. The communty. The nation. The world. These Fundamentalists will always fight for control through every generation and that is why problems from religion flares up and causes havok from time to time through out history up till the present. This viscious cycle is protected and perpetuated by all who call the bible the word of God. The bible inspires hate and prejudice just as easily as it can inspire love and tolerance. There is nothing more dangerous than a prejudice that wears the virually impenetrable armor of "God says"

Crusades

Insqusion

Political Problems

Wars

Much more but Im too tired to find out.

Not to mention intolerance and hatred.

... also ignorance and dishonesty.

The list is too extensive for me to type out... however here is the Theory of Inherent Dishonesty in Theism:

When defending the pro-god exists side one is forced to act ignorant and/or dishonest.

I do not know that much about the rest of the religions outside of Christianity and Judaism -Just the Tanach and New Testament. Islam, I have read what some apostates of Islam have pointed out to me and feel right now that that was enough, what they showed me. Very ugly. Hateful. No God or prophet should be venerated or worshiped that kills human beings; genocide and war. This kind of worship is an act of ant-humanism. We are all we have. We should be pro-us. Prohuman. There is no other logical positiion other than that wihile we live. Pro-human is life. Worshiping Gods who have endulged in killing and commanding humans to kill is death. If we all want to live then we can not worship death nor can we be enablers or apathetic. The examples given us by their Gods should not be venerated at all. Ever.

Religions like taosim and buddhism maybe some others do we know enough yet to say that hatred or intolerance comes from them? I do not know. But Faith is a bad way to go regardless of the religion.

To paraphrase Voltaire. " If we can be persuaded to believe in absurdities we can be persuaded to commit atrocities."

Knowing what is good or bad is a knowing that wants thinking and evidences and she despises illogic - naked assertions, poisoning the well, and appeals to emotions, because she really wants what is good and to avoid harm and irrational intolerance. Faith is her assassin which seeks to replace her. Faith is not a knowing. It is bare hope in what we merely want to be true; it is a belief without reason which illogicaly fills the gaps of our knowledge for the sake of our hopes and fears. Faith withstands evidences that might kill our hopes because our hopes are also based on fear. I think knowledge of good and bad also means comming to terms with our fears. Uncertainty is not the monster that we fear it to be. Uncertainty is the sacred mother who births and fosters investigation -which can lead to answers. Faith wants to kill her so that we are all trapped in our ignorant fear based hopes.

I think I do not know enough about many religions to say that they cause hatered and intolerance; but Faith is always a harmful habbit.

Faith is the seeds of bigotry. Faith is the sewer of irrational descrimination where the mind and conscience stagnates and decays. Rational intolerance is necessary sometimes, but irrational discrimination ( Faith) is not a method in reducing harm nor is it a method for finding what is truly beneficial. What is worse is that Faith is blindly attached to everything written in a holy book. Our ancestors were far from perfect in thier God concepts to say the least. It is best to never be in the habit of blind hope. We need to descriminate rationaly where we place our hopes. Faith is a bad habit that we are addicted to. It should be mocked at all times.

I still struggle with God. Theism is ignorant. Theism can be dishonest depending on how far you have gone in investigating the rationality of such a hope. I do not like what you said, but it is true. How harmful that particular dishonesty is, well I can not trust my judgement for now. I just know that atheism scares many and might close their minds to evolving mentaly to atheism in the future. I think getting a feel for who is a good candidate for atheism is a good idea. But that is just my opinion that I have not given a lot of thought to yet. I am not against anti-theists and I think it is a mistake to cast them as villains. I would rather see people doing something than nothing.

Religious prosylitising is all appeals to emotion and pushing faulty logic. Anti-theism is encouraging people to think. There is no making them believe or disbelieve. Deprogramming or deconverting people to atheism is a method of getting people to think using reason and not bare appeals to force, appeals to fear of mortality and other illogical tactics. That is soley the domain of religionists. When some one is deprogrammed they are free to find meaning on their own. My mind is my church kind of thing.

Although many of the world's problems are traced to dogmatic thought (usually associated with religion) I think we need to remember that not all of the world's problems are due to religion. Most social problems are due to dogmatic thought, but that isn't necesarily all religious. I'm not sure if that is what you were implying, though...

I do not know enough about all religions to say they are good or bad. I am anti-faith. Ethics and truths need thinking and not blind hoping. Or blind obedience. We must be open minded to learn and progress. To not fear differences. What all of what I think I know -is it really true? How can I find out for sure? Will I give up my belief in a thing or idea if it is not true? Or if it is harmful?

I am open minded to being wrong, even if I am confident. Or at least I fight like hell to keep that value always. Otherwise where is the good? I want what is good.

boredom, PEOPLE.

The REAL Paganism, Pagans would sacrifice/kill animals and who stopped that? Christians.

I mean...

I believe that Christianity was created to give people faith. Ignorant IMO, yes, but I still choose to believe that. That's a peaceful uh, idea, no?