kendall - You said that "Man's greatest enemy is fear. Organized religion fosters fear. It's what keeps the masses in line. Do away with fear, and hatred will follow it down the drain."

Some organized religion does foster fear, no doubt about it. Some does not. It depends on which congregation you attend and what points of doctrine they are focusing on. I have seen churches that foster fear, I've seen churches that don't, they foster love instead. It is my impression that much fundamentalist religion (whether Christian or Muslim or Jewish) does foster fear...while much more liberal religion amongst Christians and Muslims (and possibly Jews, but I'm not sure) usually does not.

I don't have the impression that Buddhism or Hinduism tend much to foster fear in people, since they are not based on punitive notions about sin, heaven, and hell...

Now let me amend your statement by replacing religion with politics. Ahem!

"Man's greatest enemy is fear. Organized politics fosters fear. It's what keeps the masses in line. Do away with fear, and hatred will follow it down the drain."

Take a look at your political system, and you will see who is fostering fear...your politicians are...and some of them are using religion in a big way to push the message, while others are using other ways to push the message...but the message is still fear.

Pol Pot and Stalin and Mao used fear also to push the message. They were all deeply against organized religion.

The main problem in the world, kendall, is NOT organized religion...it is the competitive political systems which use organized religion...either as their flag to wave...or as their demon to condemn.

And what are competitive political systems after? They're after power, control, money, resources, land, and material gain.

That's what they always have been after, regardless of whether or not they paid lip service to religion.

Religion is a big problem all right...but it's not nearly as big a problem as politics. Look what happens to your own society whenever there's a presidential election! Rampant fear and prejudice, division, hatred, attack and counterattack, slander, lies, innuendo, propaganda. All accomplished by politics.

Politics, my friend, IS a religion all of its own...with its gods and goddesses, its public rituals, and its bloody sacrifices. In my opinion it is the most dangerous religion of them all.