Pros

people have a place to go to feel connected to other people

Support for people when they're at a low point in there lives.

Compassion and prayer for others, lends a sense of purpose.



Cons

Some people within the system like pat robertson use the reverence that people hold for the church to manipulate gullible people out of money. Or even wose to manipulate people into suppoting ignorant views on political and social issues.

Often very old fashioned in it's morals, doesn't seem to take an itelligent stand on important real life issues like pollution and over population.

Doesn't seem to have much respect for empirical evidence.



I know I missed many things on both sides. Add what you want and discuss.

pro

you gain super natural powers to fight evil when dressed as capatain america

cons

you can't fuck bitches

There are many reasons for both. Ill try to put as many as I can.

Pros:

It gives people a sense of purpose, rather than being random entities on a planet

It gives the hope that death isnt the end(most religeons anyway). The thought that death is the end and you are probably going to be forgotten as if you didnt exist is a thought which has driven people insane.

It helps people to stay in order, as it teaches them what is right and what is wrong.

It promotes good practices, such as giving to charity and random acts of kindness.

It prevents evils such as racism.

It helps families to stay together, through things such as a jewish shabbat.



Cons:

It is often not 'up to date'. This is particularly strong with the topic of marriage, as years ago you could be disowned for living with a women you are not married to, while now its almost commonplace.

Some people abuse the power of religeon for their own benefits.

Religeon is cause of the majority of wars.

People who interpret their religeon wrongly can give thier religeon a bad image. This is currently shown by a lot peoples thoughts of a terrorist to be a muslim extremist.

this is all i can think of right now, I might post more.

Con: It gives people yet another excuse not to be self reliant or take responsibility for their own lives.

Jx

Although I'm far from religious I do see that all of the organized faiths attempt to accomplish one goal, keep humans from being violent, drinking and eating, screwing and shitting apes with no regard for the rest of world. Which is pretty much the reason why many many of the great civillizations have been corrupted and destroyed from the inside.

For instance, people think so highly of their right to have multiple sex partners and have several illegitiment children, but what they do not realize is that maybe all those religions are trying to keep the human race from nearly destroying itself through overpopulation by spreading disease and starvation throughout the world. This scenario would be an example of natural selection where the rich, poweful and technologically advanced nations would survive and inherit the earth.

I'm sure many early philosophers and theologists predicted this, and realize that many religions were probably created (by a "God" or by man) partly out of nessecity to prevent this natural selection from happening.

Humanity is like a virus without laws, because we have no predator. Evolution will sort itself out, find a solution, and continue on if it can, and it will most likely be in the form of a display of natural selection. It's possible that the desire to have sex is a mechanism of evolution to bring us gradually to this selection.

quote:Originally posted by Jessic:

Con: It gives people yet another excuse not to be self reliant or take responsibility for their own lives.

Jx

...I dunno, maybe some religions do that, but I always like to think all personal responsibility for our actions is our own. That being something I've found in religions too.

pro: it can give people hope

con: misinterpretation of the religion could lead to violence and other things

quote:Originally posted by j3n0v4:

It prevents evils such as racism.



Not to bash religion or anything, but I think this is bullshit. Maybe religion has prevented racism in some cases, but it has definately caused it in others.

quote:Originally posted by j3n0v4:

Religeon is cause of the majority of wars.



Not to defend religion or anything, but it's not the 'cause' of most wars. Although, it has been throughout history an excuse used by those in power to justify going to war.

quote:Originally posted by Abrahim:

...I dunno, maybe some religions do that, but I always like to think all personal responsibility for our actions is our own. That being something I've found in religions too.

It gives some people an excuse. And so they choose to take the easy way out.

Not that everyone religious does it, but I just don't feel comfortable with religion because it can potentially offer that cop out option, which far too many people take without exploring anything else.

Jx

BIG con:

It bastardizes the idea of an omnipotent God. Well it pretty much bastardizes the idea of God and the teachings God "brought" forth.