"I believe that religion, generally speaking, has been a curse to mankind — that its modest and greatly overestimated services on the ethical side have been more than overborne by the damage it has done to clear and honest thinking."

"A man full of faith is simply one who has lost (or never had) the capacity for clear and realistic thought. He is not a mere ass; he is actually ill. Worse, he is incurable, for disappointment, being essentially an objective phenomenon, cannot permanently affect his subjective infirmity. His faith takes on the virulence of a chronic infection. What he usually says, in substance, is this: 'Let us trust in God, who has always fooled us in the past.' "

"It is often argued that religion is valuable because it makes men good, but even if this were true it would not be a proof that religion is true. That would be an extension of pragmatism beyond endurance. Santa Claus makes children good in precisely the same way, and yet no one would argue seriously that the fact proves his existence. The defense of religion is full of such logical imbecilities. "

~H.L. Mencken

"Religion is what keeps the poor from murdering the rich." -- Napoleon Bonaparte

Right on Andy!!!!

"...Man, who looked for a superhuman being in the fantastic reality of heaven and found nothing there but the reflection of himself, will no longer be disposed to find but the semblance of himself, only an inhuman being, where he seeks and must seek his true reality.

The basis of irreligious criticism is: Man makes religion, religion does not make man. Religion is the self-consciousness and self-esteem of man who has either not yet found himself or has already lost himself again. But man is no abstract being encamped outside the world. Man is the world of man, the state, society. This state, this society, produce religion, an inverted world-consciousness, because they are an inverted world. Religion is the general theory of that world, its encyclopaedic compendium, its logic in a popular form, its spiritualistic point d'honneur, its enthusiasm, its moral sanction, its solemn complement, its universal source of consolation and justification. It is the fantastic realisation of the human essence because the human essence has no true reality. The struggle against religion is therefore indirectly a fight against the world of which religion is the spiritual aroma.

Religious distress is at the same time the expression of real distress and also the protest against real distress. Religion is the sigh of the oppressed creature, the heart of a heartless world, just as it is the spirit of spiritless conditions. It is the opium of the people.

To abolish religion as the illusory happiness of the people is to demand their real happiness. The demand to give up illusions about the existing state of affairs is the demand to give up a state of affairs which needs illusions. The criticism of religion is therefore in embryo the criticism of the vale of tears, the halo of which is religion."

Karl Marx, "The Introduction to Contribution To The Critique Of
Hegel's Philosophy Of Right" 1844

What will really twist your noodle, though, is that I can agree with all of this yet still see value in religious practice as part of the expression of a people's self-identity.

We shouldn't confuse religion (man-made) with spirituality (individually-made)..... two different things entirely.

To me, religion(s) in my community feels like a business, club, agenda driven, and generally a bunch of BS. Alternatively spirituality is very personal and provides me with healing and the ability to internalize and externailize freely.

If we step back and review the religious wars of the past and present.... one may ask which side would "God" choose to represent? Ok, we won't go there.... However everyone believes in something and human nature strangely drives us to believe in something. Personally that something isn't a "God" but rather my own sprituality which doesn't require Sunday school, Sunday Mass, etc.... which was the source of a lot of evil.... again, it's personal which reinforces my "spirituality" rather than "religious" beliefs.

I think that's what Marx was getting at when he referred to "religion." If religion for you is obeying what other people say without question and trusting in a big Superman-cum-Santa Claus in the sky to fix everything so you don't rock the boat and just accept the way things are in this world, then that's a problem.

On the other hand, if you believe that "God" is that force within us, within all the universe, that is on the side of life over death and urges us toward the improvement of the world, then religion is not a bad thing at all. I do not look for "God" outside of me, but within. I do not pray expecting someone else to fix things for me: I meditate to try to find within myself the strength to make the right decisions. And my religious practice expresses for me my values and my identity as a member of my people and gives structure and inspiration to my life.

I believe in Jesus the Christ I believe he died for our sin, I believe he was dead and baried and on the 3d day he rose again to be with the father God.
I also believe that religion is what killed him

I agree with Wojax.

Christianity is not a religion. Christianity is the Holy Spirit directing man to do Christ's will on the Earth.

Was The Holy Spirit directing my dad in Christ's Will? Or is it just the saved He favors?

Andy,

I would say your dad was directing himself when he made his (wrong) choices against you.

To your second question, I would say John 3:16.

Andy

“ God governs in the affairs of man. And if a sparrow cannot fall to the ground without his notice, is it probable that an empire can rise without His aid? We have been assured in the Sacred Writings that except the Lord build the house, they labor in vain that build it. I firmly believe this. I also believe that, without His concurring aid, we shall succeed in this political building no better than the builders of Babel”

“In the beginning of the contest with Britain, when we were sensible of danger, we had daily prayers in this room for Divine protection. Our prayers, Sir, were heard, and they were graciously answered… do we imagine we no longer need His assistance?”

~Ben Franklin