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@lambsy_uk wrote:

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@upthecreekyetagain wrote:

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@lambsy_uk wrote:

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@upthecreekyetagain wrote:

Not blaming the guns Tommy, they're just a weapon being used in the wrong way - likewise don't blame religion that is being used in the wrong way.

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Is there a right way to use religion, apart from OCD appeasement?

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Sure there is a 'right way' - most of the 'moral rules' of society have been reinforced by religious 'laws'.

 

Man's ability to survive and prosper depends upon group cooperation and religion has been an effective tool in binding societies to a common purpose.  All the successful civilisations have had one religion or another at the core of their civic governance.

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I don't believe one needs religion in order to to uphold moral values, I certainly don't!

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Nor do I - but I never claimed it was necessary to uphold moral values - all I stated was that historically most of the 'moral rules' of society have been reinforced by religious 'laws'.

Likewise it's an historical 'fact' that most of the great civilisations have used religion to bind their population to a common purpose.

The two exceptions I can think of to this are the USSR and Communist China - both of which used a secular system of government depending on civil punisments, ('oppression'), to maintain order rather than depend on a 'spiritual' level of morality.  Neither have been particularly successful nor desirable.  I'm sure there are other examples but off the top of my head I can't think of any others that didn't use religion in one form or another during their establishment.