If you had to choose a worldwide religion...

[the_antithesis]

Why should it be a worldwide religion? Religions used to be regional, like sports team fanaticism.

[YouCanCallMeDave]

What would you choose? What would be the religion that is most beneficial for humanity. Obviously many of the horrors that religion cause would be eliminated because everyone would be unified under one of them. I'm just curious what you would choose? The ideal would be no religion, IMO, but that isn't an option in this situation.

In examining all of the popular World Religions in addition to observing which Religion has had the greatest positive impact on Societies past and present....I believe even the vast population of the irreligious would have to choose Christianity  if  personal prejudice were not a swaying factor.  Im speaking primarily of the many Humanitarian Ministries , World Relief endeavors,  care of the infirmed, homeless, destitute,  and dying ,  and other good things done in the name of Jesus  ;   One can hardly dismiss the impact that Christianity has made on the world  .  When it works, it seems to work very good  despite being the target of ridicule , hostility,  and stigma.     In the rather small town I live in,   there is a very strong Christian presence when it comes to  binding together to help in Community concerns , needs,  and major issues that need addressing.    

I simply don't see these sorts of things happening from other Religions or from Humanism sources  , which might be fair to ask why (?)

[Shiranu]

I believe even the vast population of the irreligious would have to choose Christianity if personal prejudice were not a swaying factor.

Study Shinto, Judaism, Zoroastrianism, Jainism and some other's then come back and apologize for how stupid that remark was. Thanks. It has nothing to do with personal bias, Christianity simply doesn't have the moral foundation that Zoroastrianism or Jainism does, nor the reverence for the world as Shinto does. As for Judaism... work rate amongst the Jewish community is mostly why I would give it the nod.

I simply don't see these sorts of things happening from other Religions or from Humanism sources , which might be fair to ask why (?)

Just because you don't look for it doesn't mean it's not there. Also see; You live in a Christian majority region. If you lived in an Islamic majority region you would see the majority of charities are run through the mosque. If you lived in a Jewish majority region you would see the majority of charities being run through the synagogue, and so on and so forth.

You are basically saying, "The majority of people in Mexico who donate to charity speak Spanish... why don't English, German and French speakers donate as much as them since I never see them?".

[Moralnihilist]

Beer is a religion?  :rollin:

This is how religion starts, you know. If we manage to convince enough people that drinking alcohol is a spiritual activity and that the shit-faced god smiles upon the drunk, then in a few years we'll be a cult and in a few decades we'll be a religion :P

I even have some songs for us to sing in our new religion:

1.[youtube:1t47psf5]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O-jOEAufDQ4[/youtube:1t47psf5]

2.[youtube:1t47psf5]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ATBl4qH9I54[/youtube:1t47psf5]

3.[youtube:1t47psf5]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9PZESu-aB7k[/youtube:1t47psf5]

4.[youtube:1t47psf5]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pt0-gRrrpuw[/youtube:1t47psf5]

[stromboli]

In examining all of the popular World Religions in addition to observing which Religion has had the greatest positive impact on Societies past and present....I believe even the vast population of the irreligious would have to choose Christianity if personal prejudice were not a swaying factor. Im speaking primarily of the many Humanitarian Ministries , World Relief endeavors, care of the infirmed, homeless, destitute, and dying , and other good things done in the name of Jesus ; One can hardly dismiss the impact that Christianity has made on the world . When it works, it seems to work very good despite being the target of ridicule , hostility, and stigma. In the rather small town I live in, there is a very strong Christian presence when it comes to binding together to help in Community concerns , needs, and major issues that need addressing.

Great positive impact? The destruction of Greek manuscripts by Christians in Alexandria, the forced acceptance of religion at the point of the sword worldwide, the genocide of various cultures worldwide, the Crusades, and more recently the persecution of of gays in Uganda. Every act of charity performed by a Christian was done with the intent of furthering their religion. You can also thank the spread of AIDS and hordes of unwanted pregnancies everywhere, including in the last few years in Texas- since the Republican Christians have withdrawn support to Planned Parenthood, something like 30,000. Unwanted babies that are being raised in poverty.

Boy, you need to read some different newspapers and look at some different history books.

[YouCanCallMeDave]

In examining all of the popular World Religions in addition to observing which Religion has had the greatest positive impact on Societies past and present....I believe even the vast population of the irreligious would have to choose Christianity if personal prejudice were not a swaying factor. Im speaking primarily of the many Humanitarian Ministries , World Relief endeavors, care of the infirmed, homeless, destitute, and dying , and other good things done in the name of Jesus ; One can hardly dismiss the impact that Christianity has made on the world . When it works, it seems to work very good despite being the target of ridicule , hostility, and stigma. In the rather small town I live in, there is a very strong Christian presence when it comes to binding together to help in Community concerns , needs, and major issues that need addressing.

Great positive impact? The destruction of Greek manuscripts by Christians in Alexandria, the forced acceptance of religion at the point of the sword worldwide, the genocide of various cultures worldwide, the Crusades, and more recently the persecution of of gays in Uganda. Every act of charity performed by a Christian was done with the intent of furthering their religion. You can also thank the spread of AIDS and hordes of unwanted pregnancies everywhere, including in the last few years in Texas- since the Republican Christians have withdrawn support to Planned Parenthood, something like 30,000. Unwanted babies that are being raised in poverty.

Boy, you need to read some different newspapers and look at some different history books.

In my examination of true Christianity as well as researching many of the Critics and Cynics claims about it.... Ive discovered that the most popular dissending assertions made are a result of either misconceptions/erroneous information/ flat out misunderstandings /  not understanding the context of a Bible passage /   either out of ignorance or on purpose  because the Critic  feels threatened should a personal Theistic Creator exists.   Ive spent quite a bit of time at this Site  and it seems to adequately address the most popular arguments from Atheists :  http://www.godandscience.org/apologetic ... myths.html     .    Ive also found the same to be true of some other World Religions when they are under attack, although these other Religions are not as adept at answering tough scrutinys.     Ive also taken a hard look at what Theists assert about atheistic Origins and a Worldview , and frankly,  I find the Atheist rebuttals to these to be uninspiring .      

Now, I say all this , not to start a War here....but I just want to say that I am taking the time to explore these matters and this is what im getting out of  diligent investigation.

[YouCanCallMeDave]

I believe even the vast population of the irreligious would have to choose Christianity if personal prejudice were not a swaying factor.

Study Shinto, Judaism, Zoroastrianism, Jainism and some other's then come back and apologize for how stupid that remark was. Thanks. It has nothing to do with personal bias, Christianity simply doesn't have the moral foundation that Zoroastrianism or Jainism does, nor the reverence for the world as Shinto does. As for Judaism... work rate amongst the Jewish community is mostly why I would give it the nod.

I simply don't see these sorts of things happening from other Religions or from Humanism sources , which might be fair to ask why (?)

Just because you don't look for it doesn't mean it's not there. Also see; You live in a Christian majority region. If you lived in an Islamic majority region you would see the majority of charities are run through the mosque. If you lived in a Jewish majority region you would see the majority of charities being run through the synagogue, and so on and so forth.

..................

No, not necessarily.    Ive lived in various regions of the USA from the far north to the Midwest to the deep South...in a smaller town as well as a large metropolitan City (Chicago)  where the Irreligious abound , yet its typically the Christian Community that comes a'running   .   Take for instance Hurricane Katrina which devastated New Orleans and the greater area.....literally hundreds of Christian Churches started showing up there to lend a hand to the rebuilding ,  and adopting large numbers of Familys affected to stay either at their Churches or at the private Homes of Church Members.     Regarding Walk in Abortion , its always the Christians who care enough to inform the public about what abortion on demand really is, what it looks like,  and its Christian based Crisis Pregnancy Centers  that take in young Mothers preparing to give birth and are with them thru the entire process including afterward in getting them into a good Shelter for Women providing clothing, food, training on how to care for the newborn, medical expenses, and money to live on  ;    why is it Atheists seem not to give a damn about such  crisis'  that are visited on People ?   I think there are even unbiased secular Scientific Studies which show Atheists as the least caring and least moral  in Society ....so.... what are Atheists doing to make the World better and...how does Atheism make a Person better  ?   I ask these questions sincerely because I just don't see it occurring like I do with the Christian Community.  What I do see from the atheist community is a good deal of apathy toward important Social issues of our day, to the point that they endorse the murdering of the unborn developing Human Being which Scientists say began at conception...unborn Babies whos heart starts beating at just 18 days old  , a medical fact.    So, I wonder if the stereotypes that Atheists get are stereotypes, or, if its a fair representation in a general sense.

[Moralnihilist]

I believe even the vast population of the irreligious would have to choose Christianity if personal prejudice were not a swaying factor.

Study Shinto, Judaism, Zoroastrianism, Jainism and some other's then come back and apologize for how stupid that remark was. Thanks. It has nothing to do with personal bias, Christianity simply doesn't have the moral foundation that Zoroastrianism or Jainism does, nor the reverence for the world as Shinto does. As for Judaism... work rate amongst the Jewish community is mostly why I would give it the nod.

I simply don't see these sorts of things happening from other Religions or from Humanism sources , which might be fair to ask why (?)

Just because you don't look for it doesn't mean it's not there. Also see; You live in a Christian majority region. If you lived in an Islamic majority region you would see the majority of charities are run through the mosque. If you lived in a Jewish majority region you would see the majority of charities being run through the synagogue, and so on and so forth.

..................

No, not necessarily.    Ive lived in various regions of the USA from the far north to the Midwest to the deep South...in a smaller town as well as a large metropolitan City (Chicago)  where the Irreligious abound , yet its typically the Christian Community that comes a'running   .   Take for instance Hurricane Katrina which devastated New Orleans and the greater area.....literally hundreds of Christian Churches started showing up there to lend a hand to the rebuilding ,  and adopting large numbers of Familys affected to stay either at their Churches or at the private Homes of Church Members.     Regarding Walk in Abortion , its always the Christians who care enough to inform the public about what abortion on demand really is, what it looks like,  and its Christian based Crisis Pregnancy Centers  that take in young Mothers preparing to give birth and are with them thru the entire process including afterward in getting them into a good Shelter for Women providing clothing, food, training on how to care for the newborn, medical expenses, and money to live on  ;    why is it Atheists seem not to give a damn about such  crisis'  that are visited on People ?   I think there are even unbiased secular Scientific Studies which show Atheists as the least caring and less moral  in Society ....so.... what are Atheists doing to make the World better and...how does Atheism make a Person better  ?   I ask these questions sincerely because I just don't see it occurring like I do with the Christian Community.

Actually Bill, can I call you Bill, unlike christians and other religions atheists are more individualistic in their charitable donations. You see Theodore, I can't stand most people, Im what you could call an asshole, I did not donate any of my time or money to the PEOPLE of New Orleans. I, and several other businesses around me, did however fund a lot of the animal rescues until the lost animals owner could be found or the animals found new loving homes. I also help finance a battered women's shelter in my home town and, if wanted, help with lawyers fees to get a divorce from abusive shitheads. William, I have also donated several acres of my own land to the local ASPCA for them to run an off leash dog park, also I help pay the maintenance and upkeep of that land.

Its not that atheists don't care about the world, most just don't care to make a big stink about it in the news.

[stromboli]

Poverty vs. religion:
http://www.reddit.com/r/atheism/comment ... in_heaven/

I'd like to demonstrate three things. One, there is a correlation between poverty and religiosity. Two, there is a correlation between wealth and secularism. Third, both of these trends exist within the United States and globally.
• A 2013 Gallup poll asked Americans about their religious beliefs. Here are the ten states with the highest percentage of "very religious" responses along with their per capita income.
• Per capita income (rank) • 1. Mississippi–58% - $19,977 (50th)
• 2. Utah–56% - 23,139 (41st)
• 2. Alabama–56% - 22,984 (44th)
• 4. Louisiana–53% - 23,094 (42nd)
• 5. Arkansas 52% - 21,724 (48th)
• 5. South Carolina–52% - 23,433 (40th)
• 6. Tennessee- 50% - 23,722 (39th)
• 6. North Carolina–50% - 24,745 (34th)
• 7. Georgia–48% - 25,134 (30th)
• 7. Oklahoma–48% - 23,094 (43rd)
• All of these states are concentrated in the south with the exception of Utah, which has a large Mormon population. Mississippi ranks as both the poorest and the most religious state. There is also considerable overlap between the ten poorest and the ten most religious states. Among the most religious only Georgia, Tennessee and North Carolina avoided being in the ten poorest states.
Now let's look at the ten most secular states on the same Gallup poll.
Least religious states: Per capita income (rank)
• Vermont 19% $27,589 19th
• New Hampshire 23% $31,422 6th
• Maine 24% $25,385 27th
• Massachusetts 27% $33,966 4th
• Rhode Island 29% $28,807 16th
• Oregon 29% $26,171 23rd
• D.C 30% $42,078 1st
• Nevada 31% $ 27,589 18th
• Connecticut 31% $34,849 3rd
• Washington 31% $29,733 10th
The ten most secular states are on the coasts. Washington and Oregon border the Pacific Ocean and seven other states are on the east coast. Nevada is the exception to this and is the home of Las Vegas – sin city. (Maybe the gambling and prostitution repels the religious or attracts the unbelievers.) There is significant overlap between the wealthiest and the most secular states. Massachusetts, New Hampshire, D.C., Connecticut and Washington would make it into the top 10 of both. Maine is the poorest of the most secular states, it ranks 27th on income. Maine still places above Georgia, which was the richest of the most religious states (30th on income.) The trend is clear; within the United States religion correlates with poverty and wealth correlates with secularism. Correlation does not equal causation however. Money won't cause someone or something to turn godless. If that were the case the Vatican would be one of the most secular institutions on the planet.
Let's look at some global examples. Here are the most religious countries according to a 2009 Gallup poll. 95-100% of people surveyed in each on of these countries stated that religion was important in their daily life.
• GDP per capita HDI Rank
• Niger $399 .295 186th
• Bangladesh $923.95 .515 145th
• Indonesia $3,816.8 .629 121st
• Sri Lanka $3,139 .715 92nd
• D.R. of Congo $236 .304 186th
• Malawi $253 .493 171st
• Morocco $3,260 .591 130th
• Djibouti $1,522 .430 165th
• Sierra Leone $613 .336 180th
• Egypt $3,146 .644 133th
• Afghanistan $621 .398 172nd
• All of these countries are either African or Asian. They are among the poorest and least developed countries in the world. In short, they are terrible places to live. Several of the countries have median incomes of just a few hundred dollars a year. Malawi and Congo average under a dollar a day. Sri Lanka is doing the best on this last with an HDI rank of 92nd, none of the other states break the top 100.
Now let's look at the most secular countries according to the same Gallup poll.
2009 Gallup poll of most secular countries: (% indicates rate of people saying religion is important in daily life) • HDI GDP Per capita HDI Rank • 1. Sweden 16.5% .916 $56,956 8th
• 2. Denmark 18% .901 $56,202 15th
• 3. Estonia 16% .846 $16,319 33rd
• 4.Norway 20.5% .955 $97,254 1st
• 5. Hong Kong 23% .906 $34,049 13th
• 6. Japan 23.5% .912 $46,726 10th
• 7. Czech Republic 20.5% .873 $18,579 28th
• 8. United Kingdom 26.5% .875 $38,591 26th
• 9. Finland 28% .892 $46,098 21st
• 10. France 29.5% .893 $41,141 20th
• United States 65% .937 $49,922 3rd
All of the most secular states are European with the East Asian exceptions of Japan and Hong Kong. These secular countries are the wealthiest and most developed in the entire world, these are the best places to live. Norway has the best HDI ranking in the world and Japan and Sweden also make the top 10. Estonia is doing the worst of all the secular states and it still ranks 27th, over 60 places ahead of Sri Lanka, the best of the religious states. I included the United States at the bottom of the lists to show what an outlier it is. The US is undeniably a great place to live – it ranks 3rd on the HDI but it is uniquely religious. Two thirds of Americans said religion is important in daily life.
In conclusion I just wanted to say;
There is strong correlation between poverty and religion. There is strong correlation between wealth and secularism. Both trends exist on a global scale and within the United States.

[Moriarty]

Marxism at it's finest~ It's o.k. to be poor, you have god!

[PickelledEggs]

I even have some songs for us to sing in our new religion:

1.Writer posted a YouTube video

2.Writer posted a YouTube video

3.Writer posted a YouTube video

4.Writer posted a YouTube video

I have the art for the stained glass

Sent via Tapatalk on my I-605 JediX20

[stromboli]

religion and illiteracy:
http://www.examiner.com/article/most-an ... acy-rate-1

Recently, the illiteracy rates of American states was released by the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES). A comparative of the two sets of data reveals an interesting trend. While the most religious states in the US are closer to the US illiteracy average, the less religious states fall well below the illiteracy average.

Following is a side by side comparison of religiosity and illiteracy. Note that the average illiteracy rate for the US was reported at 14%. Further, those who responded to the Gallup poll on religiosity answered the following question: Is religion and important part of your daily life? The following numbers represent the percentage of citizens in a given state that responded "yes" to the question.

By all means, read the article and see the comparison chart.