"we are followers of jimmy jones, cutting in the kool-aid line..." also, you might refer to current events on the gaza strip as well.

I feel I don't know so much about dangerous as well as more negitive feelings between people Good Question to ponder alan

As dangerous as a government. As dangerous a a family head can be. Its only as dangerous as the people who lead and the people who follow such leaders.

extremely dangerous. the crusades, world war 2, fighting over holy lands even to this day, and other deadly things show just how dangerous religion can be.

Religion can keep you from God in some instances.

I don't think it could be anymore dangerous. It's a question of how dangerous are the people preaching and the weapons they have access to.

Of course religion can get to be extremely dangerous, but it can be extremely beneficial also. I don't think the primary problem is in religion itself, but rather in dogma (or faith, if you like) and in certainty. Dogma is common to many, but not all, religions and exists elsewhere as well, such as in nationalism, fascism, nazism, Stalinism, etc. When people are taught to believe in something dogmatically (using faith, in other words) that provides protection for those beliefs from the normal standards of reasoning and evidence. All you need is to teach those people divisive dogmas from an early age and the damage becomes very hard to undo. Evidence and logic have been taken out of the equation for those beliefs, so you have to resort to emotion, force, or violence in order to change minds. Couple that with absolute conviction and certainty in the beliefs and there's no limit to what disaster people can unleash. Fortunately, most people operate with a mix of faith and reason, using more of one for some beliefs than for others. So there's always some hope of getting through to such people with logic and evidence.

Quite seriously I think it can wipe us off the planet all together! Take a couple of wealthy countries with access to large stockpiles of nuclear weapons. Have them run by opposing, fanatical religious groups who believe that: Death is only a gateway to eternal life. Killing infidels is the way to curry favour with their god. Destroying the entire world is not so bad as it will usher in a new kingdom of something-or-other. They are the folk who would be willing - even eager - to push the button... The scary thing is, we know these types exist - in Muslim, Hindu and Christian religions.

It can be very dangerous if the dogma used states that your beliefs are the only truth and you must destroy anyone who doesn't believe what you do. Add in government backing or a charasmatic leader and you've got disaster on your hands. Just look at the Inquestion, the Crusades, and the modern religious wars in the Balkins plus the cults like David Coresh and Jim Jones. Just remember "The Last Time We Mixed Religion and Politics People Got Burned at the Stake."

i dont think religion is dangerous. But I think the people who use religion the wrong way make it dangerous and wrong in a sense.

Very dangerous, its purpose is to render people more submissive and easier to control.

Only as dangerous as you want to believe that it is. In His service, <:))))<>< "My salvation and my honor depend on God; He is my mighty rock, my refuge." Psalm 62:7 Edit: Now why am I not surprised to be down rated without a comment left? You are a coward, troll. You are also on my prayer list, may God bless you mightily. Don't forget God/Jesus and I love you very much and always will because you are only hurting yourself.

It can be as dangerous as you allow it to be!!there will always be people who take things to the extreme whether it religion or anythink else! You will get people who try and force it onto you as well so that makes it very dangerous as i cant stand people forcing their beliefs and trying to make me have their opinion!Not gona happen!!!So yes could be dangerous if you knocked on my door preaching!

Hello?? See 9/11.

FUNDAMENTALLY dangerous

Any authority has great potential to be dangerous; religion falls into the "Extremely Dangerous" category because it is an authority that many people follow without question. It's very disturbing, some of the things people will do when they believe they are doing them for their "God". And what's even more unsettling is how so many do it without first thinking "Is this right?” They just assume that it must be right because their religious teachings tell them it is so, even despite how easy it is for any power monger to corrupt and twist religious dogma for their own ends. And let's face it, some dogma doesn't even *Need* and overt twisting to be dangerous. Absolute faith in anything is dangerous, be it "God" or "Jesus", or Jim Jones, it's always dangerous. So many religions seem to be founded on constantly telling their followers "You are evil, you cannot trust yourself, but if you let us guide you, we can make you better". Now, take a look at how that kind of message would be perceived in any other relationship besides that between a religious leader and follower, as manipulation and emotional abuse. And the fact that so many religions are founded on that self-doubt, that guilt, that relinquishment of free will, is a large part of what makes them so highly dangerous.

Very dangerous if the devil has enough power and place in it. Religion sends more people to hell than anything about. It is one of the devil's biggest tools to keep people from Jesus Christ the Saviour. I hope that this is helpful. -In the service of King Jesus Thank you and God bless you!

See Spanish Inquisition, crusades, jihads...ad nauseum,

Religion, like most things, is fine in moderation. If taken to extremes can be dangerous. Religion can be very comforting and supportive. For those who need to be part of something greater than themselves, it truly can be a lifesaver.

It fuels wars!

Many wars have been the result of it.

Religion is either too legalistic or non personal, that's why I follow Jesus Christ. It is a personal relationship with the Creator, and his influence in your life can only be beneficial. The word religion, as it pertains to Christianity, includes everyone who is close to the objects and symbols of the religion regardless of their actions. 17 In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead. 18 But someone will say, "You have faith; I have deeds." Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by what I do. James 2:17-18 NIV

Very dangerous indeed. Most wars from tbefore the Middle ages have been about religion.

Extremely dangerous. It can be more dangerous than even the fiminist movement

When religion robs you of your identity (and $$), encourages giving up your individuality for the group, then it becomes a dangerous thing.

Remember Jonestown. 900 people killed themselves. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jonestown#Mass_murder-and-suicide

More people have been killed over religion than any other reason you can think of(probably combined). Amazing that people will easily break God's law in the name of God. You'd think after a couple of thousand years we'd figure it out.

As long you don't mix religions with cultures,friendships and families.

Religion is very dangerous if you are learning a false doctrine.

It can be dangerous to the point of war. It has already reached that point.

I get so tired of people blaming religion for all of the ills of humanity. In doing so, these people have to ignore all of the death and destruction that atheists have caused. Stalin killed more people than Hitler did in his concentration camps, but Stalin was an atheist. Pol Pot murdered a large part of Cambodia's population for reason's that have nothing to do with religion. North Korea invaded South Korea and still starves it's own population and threatens its neighbors. China killed thousands of its people in 1989 because they were peaceably protesting in an attempt to get that country's government to allow more political freedom. In all of these cases, religion was not involved as the people committing these atrocities were all avowed atheists. Blaming religion for the ills of society is a simplistic answer that does not address the underlying cause of the problem. This cause is the willingness of some people to use what ever means is available to them to impose their will on other. In other words, it is the desire of some for absolute power that causes the problem. Religion is just one of the excuses/tools that such people will use to achieve power. If religion is a viable tool for such a person, then he will use it. If some other cause is more appealing, then the power hungry will use that other excuse. It is not religion or atheism in and of themselves that cause the problems. It is the people who pervert them to gain power that cause the problems.

Just as dangerous as no religion. The atheistic Soviet Union under Stalin killed an estimated 20,000,000 of their own people in less than 30 years (1924-1953). All exploits in which human beings are involved have the potential that a few will not love as they should and take advantage of others. Christians call this failed human nature "Original Sin." With love in Christ.

Religion is the biggest obstacle in faith's way.

When in doubt, please refer to these faith based initiatives: The Crusades, The Inquisition, the Salem Witch Trails, the conquest & settlement of North America, George WTF Bush's god-guided mission to Iraq, Sara Palin's pact with god. Questions?

Nor more dangerous than irreligion can be. Most religions, however, at least encourage people to be moral and just, and a few teach people to be compassionate and merciful. Irreligion however says its fine to be just as selfish and self-serving as you can get away with being. And whatever atrocities smug modern secularlists try to lay at the feet of "religion" in general, and Christianity in particular, all of these 'atrocities' -- real, imagined and grossly exagerated -- count as nothing compared to those commited by the Atheistic regimes of Marxists, Leninnists, Stalinists, Maoists, the Khmer Rouge, etc.

People who rail against the dangers of "Religion" just haven't got a clue. Now, certain religions may preach hateful and dangerous things - so did Naziism, Social Darwinism, and Marxism -- for that matter, so do PETA, extremist Feminists, and the radical "Green" movement. But none of these invalidates science, economics, biology, patriotism, culture, the equal rights movement, conservation, or the ASPCA. Much of what people condemn of "Religion" in general, the specific evils perpetrated in the past in the name of God and/or religion that these detractors identify, and build their gripe against all religion upon, on examination turn out to be: 1) utterly false, 2) a gross misunderstanding and mischaracterization of something that was in its time entirely justified and appropriate, or 3) an example of wrong-headed fanaticism where the perpetrators were in fact going against the actual teachings and mores of their religion. But what I hear most today from people who rail against the supposed crimes and evils of "religion" turns out to be an attack not on religion per se, but on all love, devotion, loyalty, commitment, conviction and passion - as if the world would be better off if everyone was just an ambivalent "live-and-let-die" postmodern little self-absorbed hedonist. The fact is that love, loyalty, commitment, conviction and passion often do cause people to do horrible things - often in direct conflict with the ideals, interests, or even the expressed wishes of the object of these strong affections. This is no more the fault of the object than was Jodi Foster at fault for Hinkley's attempted assassination of Reagan. But love, loyalty, conviction, passion, etc. are not the problem. In fact, they are also the necessary passions for fighting evil and injustice. Would the world really be better off if the human race swore off on all emotion and devotion, and lived the drug-induced perfectly phlegmatic life of the Libriates in the movie Equilibrium? The problem is not religion, or patriotism, or ideology, or any "-ism" dreamed up by man. The problem is human pride and our infinite capacity for both error and self-deception. Interestingly, the only two philosophies/ideologies that fundamentally and consistently identify, attack, and strive to counter all three of these root problems are Judaism and Christianity. The tragedy, of course, is sometimes the lunatics take over the asylum for a time. But that doesn't mean asylums are bad thing to have in a world of lunatics, anymore than guns and prisons are a bad thing to have in a world of thugs and criminals, or hospitals in a world of the injured and diseased.

Only false religions are dangerous. The Bible states a "pure" religion. It's in James 1:27 of the King James Version.

It's been known to start wars so....