Poll underlines sharp divide on religion

[babsbunny]

http://www.cbc.ca/canada/story/2010/11/26/religion-good-evil-poll-hitchens-blair.html

Last Updated: Friday, November 26, 2010 | 7:00 PM ET
CBC News


The pollster found that 48 per cent of the more than 18,000 people it reached online in 23 countries agreed that "religion provides the common values and ethical foundations that diverse societies need to thrive in the 21st century."

A bare majority — 52 per cent — thought otherwise. They agreed with the sentiment that "religious beliefs promote intolerance, exacerbate ethnic divisions and impede social progress."


Read more: http://www.cbc.ca/canada/story/2010/11/26/religion-good-evil-poll-hitchens-blair.html#ixzz16RViouxQ

[LostInAnomie]

1. The 52% is right.

[malaise]

2. I'm with the 52% n/t

[MisterP]

3. Hitch and Blair debating against each other?

talk about the narcissism of small differences, eh?
and were those the only two options: I can't really agree with both (Commie Catholic here)--the first on ethical, religious, and philosophical grounds (i.e., it's mush-headed) and the second because it's historical nonsense and I'm a historian and I severely resent horseshit being repeated as fact because "it's 'liberal'"

[dkf]

5. What does history have to do with this?

Isn't this a question regarding the here and now?

I'm with the 52% and I'm pretty stunned this is where the majority is at. Of course as an online poll we may not be talking about the masses but those with access.

[glen123098]

4. Both are right.

To say just one is right is oversimplifying things. Religion can be used for both good and evil.

[bemildred]

6. Well, said, "religion" is really a lot of different things. nt

[Bluenorthwest]

8. The questions were not about what religion 'can be' but

about what it actually does in the world today. The majority say it leads to bad stuff, more than good stuff, as it stands, not as it is dreamed of.

[Saokymo]

9. I agree.

Sin lies in the excess. Religion in and of itself isn't the villain here -- it's those followers who take the most extreme views that cause problems.

[patrice]

12. It is the person, not religion, that makes the difference. A good person makes religion good.

An uncaring bad person makes religion bad.

[TxVietVet]

7. Count me in on that 52%.

I don't like conservanazi christians, especially the "born again" kind. They are the phoniest.

[struggle4progress]

10. It might be interesting to compare people who take online polls with those who don't

[patrice]

11. So close. BIG sample. Margin of error? nt

[burnsei sensei]

13. Okay. A thought. Maybe.

Quote:
"religion provides the common values and ethical foundations that diverse societies need to thrive in the 21st century.
end quote.

How can this be true when religions themselves are diverse?
Religion is not a force for unifying anything. The only way it could do so is if we all converted to the same religion and followed it blindly.
I can think of nothing that resembles hell more than a religious monoculture.
To protect diversity, we must not impose a creed.

[City Lights]

14. I stand with the majority. nt