Whenever you turn the news now a days, you usually find a lot of armed conflicts, massacres, bombings,

driven
by religion beliefs. Being this a really big deal, we decided to discuss the pros and cons of religion in our oral
presentation.

Religion is almost as old as men, being present since the first human communities were established established.

You can find portraits, of divine beings, Gods, heroes in ancient greek pottery, statues, paintings in walls, in a
huge variety of locations, and different interpretations of what God is, which shows that religion is almost inherent
to our existence.

So what is religion? (Wikipedia it) - http://atheisme.free.fr/Religion/What-is-religion-1.htm

Religion is the set of beliefs, feelings, dogmas and practices that define the relations between human being and
sacred or divinity. A given religion is defined by specific elements of a community of believers: dogmas, sacred
books, rites, worship, sacrament, moral prescription, interdicts, organization. The majority of religions have
developed starting from a revelation based on the exemplary history of a nation, of a prophet or a wise man who
taught an ideal of life.

A religion may be defined with its three great characteristics:

Believes and religious practices

The religious feeling i.e. faith

Unity in a community of those who share the same faith: the Church. It is what differentiates religion
from magic.

The study of disappeared or existing religions shows the universal character of this phenomenon and a very
large variety in the ritual doctrines and practices.
One generally distinguishes the religions called primitive or animists, the Oriental religions (Hinduism, Buddhism,
Shintoism, Confucianism, Taoism...) and the religions monotheists derived from the Bible (Judaism, Christianity,
Islam).

Being the huge phenomenon that it is, religion shows its pros and cons quite easily.

Pros: Helps us cope with situations that are out of our control.
Inspires us to live by mostly good moral code.
Gives us something/someone to aspire to.
Some religions, like Christianity support humanitarian causes

In my eyes these are some admirable things for the pros of religion. As someone who was
raised in the church and was very active, I have often found myself asking God to grant
me strength to persevere. I have spent all my life trying to live up to the guidelines set forth by
God. While in the darkest times in my life I never felt alone because of my belief in God and
trying to adhere to the moral code set forth by the Bible I have found myself blessed in
many ways. Also because of my belief in God I have no fear of death, although what happens
when you die we may not agree on. I know plenty of people who on sheer belief alone have
made it through worse than I. The amount of good that belief in God can do is simply mind-
boggling. But this is where the dangers come in.

There are a lot of people which are saved by religion, such as, for example former gang
members or convicted criminals.

CONS
 Religion has and still compromises scientifical progress
Religion can be used as a scapegoat
Religion causes wars
Religion causes hate

Religion as a whole gives mankind a scapegoat. We all blame it on the will of GOD, or the Devil
made me do it. Instead you need to look in the mirror and ask yourself how to fix your own
problems or stop and think before you act. No the scapegoat reason will not serve to get you
out of trouble legally but it has and does put many peoples mind at ease for crimes
commented in Gods name.

Religion has slown our scientific progress with for example, the inquisition, which was a
Christian organisation founded to combat heresy, and pretty much any one that opposed
what the pope thought was right.

Many wars were fought in the name of religion. A good example of this is the conflicts now in
the middle east.

We find that religion has its ups and downs butt its bitter parts are not driven by religious beliefs
but rather by mens corruption and greed.