Hi:
I think religion can play a good part in teaching society how to relate well, help those in dire need, and help people form good optimistic attitudes for themselves and others, to help facilitate the creation of positive decent homes, families, schools and workplaces filled with happy, caring, decent, civil people who support one another well and work together well to meet good goals. somehow though this isn't happening. Why?
If so many people continually voice their need and want to live and work in good situations, then how come so many aren't. I think that it isn't because of individuals drive to succeed in good ways but the lack of good opportunities generated by the way our system is put together. Most people work all they can often doing jobs they don't like in order to get to a place where they will be well off important, recognized, considered successful by others, and od course to merely survive.
The thing is that many, if not most make it only as far as being 3 paychecks away from poverty; homelessness.
Why is our society like this. The majority of our population is just three paychecks away from being homeless?
I think that religion can help this situation positively by creating outreach groups to help people, by creating community cooperatives, by helping with missionary work, many religious people care and great deal for the good of life and work to help people. This side of religion is good i think because it creates good thoughts, and support structures which positively help people, creates hope, helps us see the silver lining on the clouds, shows us how to make things better in this world, creates the systems and organizations which can make things better for the people of this world. I am grateful to religion for this.
I don't condone the parts of religion which divide, create hatreds, stereotypes, and stigmas, preach rhetoric and dogma and sit back and get rich off of peoples ignorances and blind faith.
Religion needs to teach not disfunctional destructive ways of being but rather positive, productive, constructive, functional ways of being.
I also wanted to address religious groups verses the aclu. Religious groups seek to attack the alcu often but I think the aclu has helped a great deal to establish and monitor many labor and civil rights laws which have been created to help humanity and I think that religion ought to find ways to support the progress made in creating good labor and civil rights laws. I sure don't want a confedaerate white supremecist world or some other awful sexist, racist world.
The world now is at a point where the government is gaining so much power through free global trade that it's becoming harder for people to fight big business, and if big business doesn't like some labor or civil rights law, it can sue, saying the law blocks free trade in some way, how terrible is this, it's really terrible.
I think religion, if it's a true religion out for the good of humane human kind, for the good of life, that religion will side with peoples who are continually trying to create laws and organizations which support the civil rights of all people and which help all get their needs and reasonable wants met well.
I personally think too that people ought to curb or stop drinking, smoking, drug use, and unsafe, unmonogamous sex practices for health and safety reasons if not for emotional, spiritual, and moralistic reasons.
I think people need to interact in safe, healthy, caring, respectful, decent, intelligent ways, and that religiono ught to help each person towards these goals not by condemnation but by realization, understanding, positive support, and learning new better skills for living well and helping others to live well. These are some of my personal biases, doesn't everyone have theirs? See, we all ought to respect one another and try to live well with one another even if we agree to disagree on some points and religion ought to truly help us all to get along.
Sincerely, Shaunasi