Religion is destructive, these "theologies" are the most successful fairy tales ever told, and they are delusions. Billions of people have been killed in the name of religion and there are no words to describe what a tragedy it is that these deaths were 110% unnecessary. The movie Obsession is simply reinforcing the idea that religion divides people. Think about it, people are being killed because of differences in what they think is watching over us in the sky. It is that simple.

We need to start looking at ourselves. Why don't we think about all the people Christians have killed in the name of god. Why can't we make this a fight against fundamentalism. A fight against hating people because of their religious beliefs. A fight against wasting billions of dollars, an infinity of time, a lifetime of grief. A fight against murder, alienation, destruction of knowledge. A fight against people who are against furthering our scientific knowledge, a fight against people who don't want teenagers to know how to use condoms. A fight against the spread of disease, the indoctrination of children. A fight against sexual oppression, psychological damage. A fight against useless, detrimental religious belief.

It is horrible what has happened to American people because of terrorism. But have we not put this on ourselves? This was supposed to be a country of religious freedom. Our founding fathers were secularists. And it has been little more than 50 years since we put "Under god" in our pledge of allegiance, and "in god we trust" on our currency. America has become a theocracy. There are states where I would not be able to run for office because I do not believe in a deity. The problem is not radical Islam. It is the tendency of human beings to divide themselves based on false pretenses like religion, social status, and race.

Why have we put this on ourselves? Why did we start putting “in god we trust” on money or add “under god” in our pledge of allegiance?

goodness of religion is embedded in our humanity, not our beliefs and belief systems

what is belief?

Elaborate

William James

Who is William James? What’s the significance?

supernatural

Elaborate

quantum physics: do they mix mysticism with science

commonly thought that they do, but many argue vehemently that these are distinct spheres of activity

-Zach in class says "There are two forms of people, tangible and mystical. Tangible people only beileve what they can prove exists while mystical have belief. Religion = Belief. When an event happens do you see a miracle or do you see a scientific explanation? It is all based on perception." Define mystical, you defined tangible but not mystical.

- Jocelyn says (in response to Zach): This is exactly my point. There are not two forms of people. There is only one form of people, and that is a living, breathing human being. When an event happens, I do see a scientific explanation, and I find that scientific explanation to be a miracle. This quote by Carl Sagan sums it up greatly, I think:

"How is it that hardly any major religion has looked at science and concluded, 'This is better than we thought! The Universe is much bigger than our prophets said, grander, more subtle, more elegant'? Instead they say, 'No, no, no! My god is a little god, and I want him to stay that way.' A religion, old or new, that stressed the magnificence of the Universe as revealed by modern science might be able to draw forth reserves of reverence and awe hardly tapped by the conventional faiths."

Here's another one from Neil Tyson that makes the same point in a sense:

"Recognize that the very molecules that make up your body, the atoms that construct the molecules, are traceable to the crucibles that were once the centers of high mass stars that exploded their chemically rich guts into the galaxy enriching pristine gas clouds with the chemistry of life. So that we're all connected. To each other, biologically. To the earth, chemically. And to the rest of the universe, atomically. That's kind of cool. That makes me smile. And I actually feel quite large at the end of that. It's not that we are better than the universe; we're part of the universe. We're in the universe and the universe is in us. "

It is these things, these proven, scientific, testable facts that make me believe what I believe (or know what I know, is what I'd prefer to say). There is so much out there that is so much bigger, so much grander, so much more miraculous than anything any religion has ever proposed. And it's real. We can feel it, touch it, know it. So yes, I do look for scientific explanation, but scientific explanation has exposed the most miraculous occurrences, things no god could ever even fathom. And there is so much more coming, so much more to be discovered, and religious beliefs are the biggest hinderances to these discoveries.

-Jessica says "PRACTICAL THINKING VS NAIVETY? I think religion is based solely on the ignorance of looking at facts. Otherwise intelligent people let themselves become caught up in these beliefs because they need something to believe in. The world is random and chaotic. Religion makes people feel better about being here. A belief should be based on experience and have support, otherwise why are you blindly believing it?"

- Jocelyn says in response to Jessica: I definitely agree with you. I think this brings up another side of the whole argument. If you were to compare "tangible and mystical" people, I'd say the biggest difference would be that tangible people, listen to the facts and are willing to change their minds. If someone found evidence that everything I believe in regarding the Universe was completely wrong, I would not hesitate to say "You're right. Let me adjust my hypothesis." It's scientific method. But when one of these "mystical people" come into a religious argument, they already have what they believe, and regardless of the FACTS that are presented to them, they always have "faith" to believe in whatever they want. It's a lose-lose situation.  Discuss the steps/relevance of the Scientific method techniques.

This paper has a lot of potential but it is obviously not finished.  I wrote in italics ideas you could use to add length to your paper and information relevant to your topic.  I like the use of quotations in your paper and using other peers views to support your claim, your essay read more like a blog than an essay, not sure if that is what you wanted.  Good luck.

Scott