RELIGION, HAS IT DONE IT'S JOB, AND DO WE STILL NEED IT?

Sounds like you have graduated a philosophy class that our Universities are teaching. Are you basing your theory on actual evidence or just phililophical thinking? Your question was a thinking one until you started with your sarcasm at the end. How is one that believes in Jesus suppose to answer your question? Christian answers need to come from biblical references because those items are what a Christians values are from. Any other religion is something I can't speak from. So, upon your seperating the human race into secular and Religious then you must ask your question in two parts. One is as a Religious person, has God done what you expected, and then for the secular person, has your life been what you expected without belief in God? One thing that is not considered is the fact that every bad thing that happens in the world comes from the Devil who provides over Earth due to the Sin of mankind. Chirst heals everyone that believes. Do We need that correct Religion that holds a Savior that defeated death, and lives today, or a god that is worshipped while buried somewhere in the ground. Do we need Religion? Well that will only be answered after death, and we must remember that the only thing that is humanly certain is the very next second of life. All of the ones that think they don't need Christ anymore or that he is only a prophet, or that reliegion is a falicy, what if your wrong, who loses? Certainly not the Christian. Hope you pick the right way to conduct your life, the rest of your it depends on your decision.

you sound like an intelligent person so i'll try to make sense to you. there were not different religions evolving at different times.... since the biginning of time there was one god.... i bet you ve heard this before though)... so all the different prophets because God wanted to provide all the races / nations with prophets so noone could say we never had one... they were given miracles so ppl would believe they r from god...the basic teaching was your god is one..and there will be a judgement day.... the rest was pointers on how to behave like you know a manual for the lost human being... ummm have you read the Quran? if you havnt please give it a try....as to if we need religion today now that we ve figured out how to live ... do you really believe its the religion ppl are following? on the conterary i think religion is what the world needs the most these days even the ones claiming to be fighting for it....

I think in these times we (humans in general) try to look for some reason as to why everything happens. If we think that it is no fault of our own, then we say that it is the workings of a Supreme Being. Me personally, I guess you can say I have a Supreme Being engrave in me. That doesn't mean that I put everything on that Supreme Being when I can't find any other solution. Just like I can rationalize out that my Supreme Being is real, you can probably rationalize that my Supreme Being is not real. It's almost like the phrase "whatever floats your boat". Everybody doesn't believe. That doesn't make them better or worse than the next person that does believe. That's my opinion. Hope you like it.

Relgion is still doing a job on mankind, so to speak. We don't need it; we never needed it, because false answers are no answers at all. As for the control issue, people will always make rules to help their society run more smoothly (Don't kill people, don't steal my stuff, don't screw my wife, etc.). Having an invisible overseer in the sky is just a way to help enforce those rules because the army or police can't be everywhere.

Edit: Red Max, the fact that people rely on relgion means nothing. Dumbo didn't think he could fly without his magic feather, when it turned out he really could. If anything, religion robs people of a belief in their own abilities. They get themselves out of a jam and then give god the credit, when, really, they did it themselves.

There is no doubt in my mind that God created the universe and all therein. You said not to include Biblical references, but let me educate you on that. The Bible is the written word of God, handed down from the beginning of human thought. Long before it was "written" it was "spoken". Handed down through the centuries beside campfires or whatever. Moses was the first to actually start writing it down. We credit him mostly with Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, and Deuteronomy.

"Religion" is a relative term. What we really need is a personal relationship with God.

i think there is a coming time that is changing from the fear of christianity to the love and kindness that is needed from buddhism- i think you will find that more people are gravitating to buddhsm here in the west because again we have police ect that instill morality in the fearfull way so no the catholic fear thing is not needed anymore- the mechanistic world we live in formed from fear and now a balance of love is needed in the mix and thus the religion based purely on love is buddhism so it only makes sense to watch the change happen. and yes we do need it because people nowadays dont know how to love and or think they do and dont even know what the word loving kindness even is- thats also why there are so many many many mentally ill today- they do not know how to love themselves let alone others around them! so ya it is needed yet until there is a harmony- a balance

Well religion, in my case a Christian, is like a purpose given to us in life. Your right, religion has evolved from it's religious extremes to a more subtle teaching. So we may live our lives the way we want to live it, do what we want to do, accomplish our goals, become smarter & more educated, outlive others (is that were such a scenario) and prosper. BUT in the end, your benefiting yourself and those who are generations ahead of you. To carry on your life's works onto others. But that can't be it..at least, when it all ends, that can't just be it already. There has to be more of a purpose for us to be here than just to mate, reproduce, and so forth. I totally agree with living life to the fullest but that's like partying every day but then even parties get worn out and your left thinking "what the **** am I going to do now".. So really, I believe that I myself, need it.

I think society needs law, and that it is the lesser of evils, whether the law is secular or religious. However, I find religious law is particularly susceptible to falling into the control of leaders who are seen as having some divine authority, and thus can be above the law.

Power corrupts, but is mitigated when dispersed to the people, and term limits for governing positions are rotated in short time.

what you fail to realize is that some of the laws passed today are talked about in the bible, and actually enforced.

you do have something backwards, religion (Christianity) didn't spring from pagan practices, but pagan practices sprang forth from Christianity when men decided they wanted to do things there own way.

it's good that you don't believe a religious figure should control our lives or actions, cause Christ does neither of those things

You are very much right on one part, religion is bad, Jesus even spoke badly against religious leaders.

That's why I follow Christ.

I don't Need it I want it so therefore I do really need it I suppose. I need the love that I get when I get close by praying and singing to God. It reaches the parts others cannot. then there is the way of Jesus he showed us how to live and how to keep the commandements without getting all flustered about them. So I am happy with it all. Not only does he know where you hid the ink he can also let someone else know in order to let you know you are not alone in this world He is there for you.:-)