This x10.

Exactly. Completely right.

Religions was created by man for the need of man

To conclude my opinion about relgion, I think they made religions as an explanation what they think is God and made a whole book about it.

It's like writing a regular book. A story.

We all understand that religion isn't the cause of many wars, but rather the excuse for certain men to wage it, right?

Just wanna get that out there. For instance, the Crusades were fought mostly by criminals who were released from prison with the promise from the pope that they'd be absolved of their sins if they joined the cause. They raped women, pillaged and plundered the towns and cities they conquered, and murdered God knows how many thousands of innocent people. The pope didn't care, however. Clearly he wasn't a man of God, and neither were any of the others who condoned the crusades following the 1st and 2nd. In fact, I don't believe any pope who's ever lived was really a man of God...

But that's another story, considering I have very hard feelings against the Catholic Church...

Im pretty sure the Catholic church 'eradicated' quite a few religions
but then again, i dont really have any proof for that

I do, but I won't take the time to post about it (I've debated this topic many times before). Again as I said, I really, really don't like the Catholic church...

I'm going to throw a c-c-c-combo breaker in here and get back on topic ;)

I don't believe in a 'god' as such, I believe in evolution. However I also believe there are certain things science can not explain. Human emotion for example, you could claim is just the release of particular chemicals into the brain, but does it really feel like that?

I think there is something behind the physical matter and chemical processes, a 'soul' if you will...

God doesn't exist in the form of a white bearded man up in the sky , god is us and the world we live in , god lives in our decisions , god is something mankind came up with to be able to describe what they weren't able to understand 2000 years ago or even further in the past .

If I would think of any god , the only god I would believe in is nature , the whole system is really based on the term that you actually "give back the energy you borrowed from it".

Actually we are our own gods , since we are able to create or destroy , and we can choose whether of these two things we ultimately practice , so it's all a matter of choice .

^ This. Personally I'm a Catholic and I believe in God, but I just can't follow the church anymore. It sickens me.

Then how do you explain anti-depressant medicine for example if you believe that science and emotion do not mix? Those fields of science aren't just profitable enough to draw in the kind of funding required in order for them to progress on the same level as many more practical sciences do. I mean we can't base our understanding of the world around us purely based on how we feel, because our senses are deficient compared to proper measuring instruments for example.

As for more on topic, it's not a matter of believing in something that could exist, but cannot be proven or disproven in any way, because that's just ultimately silly. There are infinite number of things that could exist, yet in no way can we ever say if they do or do not. So how can one seriously think that there is this one thing above all those other possible things?

There's a really good short video on YouTube about this all. It's a metaphor called Teapot Atheism

From the results of this experiment, we can conclude that there is no god.

I personally don't believe in a god although I would like too, but I just play devils advocate a lot and think of reasons why there couldn't be.

I do however like some of the ideas of religion - Bringing people together under one common interest. And if you look into history (at least in the Western World) the Churches were the center of the community, everyone went, everyone knew each other, everyone contributed.

I look on God in the same way as I do with aliens, they might be there, but until one knocks on my door & tells me to stick the kettle on, they don't exist.

This guy pretty much hits the nail on the head if it's about religion , George Carlin :

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RNy6ziOyxoA

While I can not say that anti-depressant medicines do not work, I do think that with everything in medicine there is somewhat of a placebo effect, you feel better because you know you are taking a drug that alleviates depression. Again, that's not to say they don't do anything at all, I just believe it helps if you believe they are helping you.

If I came across as saying science and emotion don't mix, I appologise because I believe they do. I just do not believe emotions are quantifiable.

For example if someone who knew absolutely nothing of human emotion came to me and asked "What is euphoria?" I could say that it is the release of certain tryptamines into the brain. This would indeed give them a basic idea, solely because we know what tryptamines do in the human brain. But for them to truly understand euphoria, they'd have to experience it.

As for Teapot Atheism, it is an interesting idea, but I do not know enough personally to discuss it.

I like the way you think. ;)

Well said fkeua, that's more or less how I see it, too.

And I also agree with Apollo that Religion is bad (Bad Religion), not by its definition, but like all things, where power is involved, they turn into something bad for someone. Think of AF.