A serious question to those that believe in a God that created us, an afterlife in some format and a reward for following the teachings of your religion.
What has your God done for you ?
I see on the good side that it has brought many people peace in their minds and a benefit from belief, but that is about the only advantages I can see.
Religions rarely feed the hungry or house the homeless anymore, yes I know some Religions have missionaries working around the world but when you consider the enormous wealth of some Religious Organisations such as the Catholic Church, is it anywhere near enough and why is it only a very small % of their actual income.
On the downside I can see it has being one of the causes of
War around the world with opposing Religion fighting for no other reason than each believes something different
A cover and refuge for paedophiles
A money making venture
As for God, then I have to think of the God I was taught about in my youth because I don't know enough about other Gods.
Do we really worship someone who if the stories of his existence are true, created the Heavens and the earth and all that live therein, should he therefore be worshipped for creating Mankind, the only thing that has systematically wrecked the planet since they arrived here, have spent centuries attacking the other living things on the planet often to extinction. destroyed the earths resources and will bring the planet to extinction if it they are not stopped (perhaps by a natural occurrence such as climate change or a big mother of an asteroid.
A God who has the power to stop the destruction, stop the suffering, who condones it and other atrocities such as defects and the death of the innocent including children and babies. Could wipe out pestilence and disease but chooses not too ?
I would love to hear from those who think I am wrong, I would love to learn why I am wrong after all Religion and Gods have been popular for a long time, it/they must have something to offer that I am missing.
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Seriously Vicar ?
Casanova
What, nobody taking the bait of... heavy theological debate? 
I'd be very surprised to find we have actively religious people on this site.
Different religions (different denominations of the same religion, even) and also cults have different answers to the questions you pose. But the underlying message of all religions and religious experiences is that there is bigger existence than what we experience in our mortal life. A bigger picture that is the truth, a truth we cannot necessarily understand while bound to the physical world as, to quote saint David of Bowie, "knowledge comes with death's release". If you don't believe, this very idea encapsulates why religion is the opium of the masses - designed to numb, distract and make us accept our pain and suffering. If you do believe, this idea is not merely about the reward of an afterlife, but about connecting with the divine, a thing that can already be achieved in some measure while on earth.
In any case, I feel your approach has bundled together a few things that are distinctively different. On one side you have "god", the divine, which you may or may not believe "exists" depending on the levels of your indoctrination and chemicals affecting your brain. Then there's organised religion, which has mostly been the product of custom, culture, and men (male humans). Then you have the state of the world, where humans have left their mark both with and without religion. About god... I have nothing to say, whoever feels it knows. About organised religion... the main thing it has had to offer is a common code of ethics (eg. in Christianity: ten commandments in the old testament, "love one another" in the new), the kind that builds communities - that's what churches are. About the state of the world... that crimes have been committed in the name of religion I would suggest says more about the nature of man than about the nature of god.
I will agree with you that the amount of suffering in this world is hard to accept - Amael often says he has a lot of complaints for the management! But everything in our experience has its value, and (sadly) nothing teaches faster than hardship.
And to finish off - climate change a natural occurrence eh ;) Perhaps it is an act of god!
I'd be very surprised to find we have actively religious people on this site.Different religions (different denominations of the same religion, even) and also cults have different answers to the questions you pose. But the underlying message of all religions and religious experiences is that there is bigger existence than what we experience in our mortal life. A bigger picture that is the truth, a truth we cannot necessarily understand while bound to the physical world as, to quote saint David of Bowie, "knowledge comes with death's release". If you don't believe, this very idea encapsulates why religion is the opium of the masses - designed to numb, distract and make us accept our pain and suffering. If you do believe, this idea is not merely about the reward of an afterlife, but about connecting with the divine, a thing that can already be achieved in some measure while on earth.
In any case, I feel your approach has bundled together a few things that are distinctively different. On one side you have "god", the divine, which you may or may not believe "exists" depending on the levels of your indoctrination and chemicals affecting your brain. Then there's organised religion, which has mostly been the product of custom, culture, and men (male humans). Then you have the state of the world, where humans have left their mark both with and without religion. About god... I have nothing to say, whoever feels it knows. About organised religion... the main thing it has had to offer is a common code of ethics (eg. in Christianity: ten commandments in the old testament, "love one another" in the new), the kind that builds communities - that's what churches are. About the state of the world... that crimes have been committed in the name of religion I would suggest says more about the nature of man than about the nature of god.
I will agree with you that the amount of suffering in this world is hard to accept - Amael often says he has a lot of complaints for the management! But everything in our experience has its value, and (sadly) nothing teaches faster than hardship.
And to finish off - climate change a natural occurrence eh ;) Perhaps it is an act of god!
well there was only one bit of that I understood, not your fault I am quite uneducated.
Climate Change - Natural, yes, I accept that it can be affected by human habitation, it can happen quicker because of our intervention in Nature but, if the scientists are to be believed an Ice Age is going to happen one day regardless of our existence, the last ice age was certainly not the product of man and many believe that it will happen again, yes it may only happen every x number of billions of years but that it is part of the earths cycle.
Climate Change - Natural, yes, I accept that it can be affected by human habitation, it can happen quicker because of our intervention in Nature but, if the scientists are to be believed an Ice Age is going to happen one day regardless of our existence, the last ice age was certainly not the product of man and many believe that it will happen again, yes it may only happen every x number of billions of years but that it is part of the earths cycle.
