I personally do not believe it is, rather like monarchy it is out dated. But that's my opinion, what do you guys think? (Also if you hurl loads of 'God will smite you' crap I will destroy you in an argument.)

Dope fucking avatar.

It is contributing. Giving people that otherwise don't have the will to continue, or look forward to something, so an after life or something isn't that bad of an idea in 3rd world countries.

I believe he meant 1st world countries (I could be wrong). While a lot of people say that their religion is a motivating factor to doing good things a lot of atheists who I know do good things for the sake of doing them, this is not my argument to bash religion but it points out that you can do good things without it.

But it's not to say that they are not contributing at all, While I couldn't find the raw number of religious based charities I'm aware that they they have a profound impact on people who need it.

Before some troll tries to confuse anyone by being vague and baiting, I feel like I should point out the need for a distinction between positive contributions and negative contributions. It is very hard to argue that religion (or almost anything similar) doesn't contribute to society at all.

one could say that religion isn't as useful as it used to be, though. it used to be some sort of 'temporary explanation' for the things they couldn't comprehend at the time, like the earth is the center of the universe 'because god said so' or stuff like that. science has taken its spot as the one explaining things, which is now based on evidence instead of excuse. religion today is, imo, just a branch you can cling to for hope, and sometimes it gives you motivation to do what one needs to do. it's also a pretty good way of teaching people good morals, though it's not really necessary to include deities.

Let me start out with saying I'm a religious person. I consider myself as the next generation of religious people. I've been on and lead many retreats at my church. My biggest fear is death. Ironic, right? Religious person afraid of death? Well God gives me a sense of security and once you begin to understand the teachings a bit more, you realize that God is your friend. Now, don't get me wrong, I still have my doubts, but it's nice to have someone to talk to when going through stuff. So yes, to answer the question, I believe religion does help the world. For without it, I may not still be here.

Funny. Some religious dude told me that all who fail to believe in God deserve to burn in hell. Doesn't sound friendly to me @_@

Anywho I have no idea how religion contributes to others, but it does nothing for me. I'm not athiest but I put my eggs in baskets I can see.

I always believe that religion is the antidote to basic fear of the unknown, aka death. As they are convinced they will be in a better place. I also see religion as a basic science. As in it explained at the time. But I still believe it is fruitless, and I also have a strong loathing for missionaries.

Religion is more than just a denial of death or a search for answers. It gives people's lives meaning. If the world was created by an omnipotent cool dude who watches you and has got your back then you are probably not going to feel as useless as you might do otherwise.

I don't buy the idea that the existence of hell in Christian belief makes God cruel. It is supposed to be what Jesus saves/saved people from through his crucifixion. You could argue that it makes God sound a whole lot less omnipotent, but it doesn't really have a massive effect on the anti-christian argument. The idea of ceasing to exist with death is so terrifying as it is that I might prefer eternal suffering.

I'm Christian and I'm afraid of eternal life

The Church my family attends is a rather prominent one in the area, with campuses in like.... 6 locations (?) in the Twin Cities Area, a campus in Spain, and a campus/caregiving station in Swaziland (Africa). I can't remember the exact percentages of tithing goes to global aid, but I do know that a lot of it does, and with that many campuses(in rather well-off areas to boot) our church ends up giving a very large amount in charity. Yes, atheists or whatever can do this too, but our religion expects us to be charitable like that. That's an undeniable contribution.