It's time to reclaim religion | Sharon Brous

At a moment when the world seems to be spinning out of control, religion might feel irrelevant -- or like part of the problem. But Rabbi Sharon Brous believes we can reinvent religion to meet the needs of modern life. In this impassioned talk, Brous shares four principles of a revitalized religious practice and offers faith of all kinds as a hopeful counter-narrative to the numbing realities of violence, extremism and pessimism.
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[@-.._.-_...-_.._-..__..._.-.-.-]

A 16 minute video uploaded 5 minutes ago has about 100 votes and 75% of them are dislikes. Jesus, people. Learn to listen before judging.

[@zenna5062]

So the dislikes are the problem? It's okay to judge without listening as long as you judged it positively?

[@MetricImperialist]

People were liking the video before they watched the whole thing.... Why aren't you bitching about them???

[@2Grills1Kappa]

David S. >people saying religion only leads to prejudice and superficial judgment >dislike video without even watching ok.

[@last_neutrin0145]

I judged the title. "It's time to reclaim religion"... NO!... Religion has done enough, thank you. It's time for it be forgotten

[@pcuimac]

David S. I don't have to listen to dislike it or else I also have to listen to climate change deniers, perpetuum mobile engineers, astrologists, homeopaths and fascists!

[@MegaTp4]

Religion poisons everything -Christopher Hitchens

[@ShutDown777]

LETS BAN YOU

[@nacasius]

Even Hitchens found that Secular Judaism seemed to "transcend" religion with its rejection of Supernatural claims. If all religions contain only 2 basic facts, 1 good, 1 bad, and we remove the bad, what basis do you have for removing it once it only contains Good?

[@MegaTp4]

Nacasius Hitchens said it "seemed" to do that but does it really? If all religions contain something bad, removing it would not make it a religion anymore. Religion by it's definition is a bad idea and you shouldn't try to make it look good by messing with it's definition. I think Hitchens would agree with that.

[@UltraAar]

MegaTp4 that includes athiesm. theyre nuts

[@DemonZest]

"Christopher Hitchens is an idiot" -me

[@Mastermindyoung14]

it's time to discard religion.

[@geoffrobinson]

North Korea, Mao's China, & Stalin's Russia were ahead of you. That didn't go so well.

[@Mastermindyoung14]

geoffrobinson I see you're not up on your logical fallacies. Carry on.

[@grexz1]

"Atheism doesn’t kill people, Fanaticism kills people, be that religious or political. The attempt to put a lack of belief as the basis that some fanatical psychopaths committed truly hideous crimes is an fallacy, the root cause was their Psychopathy."

[@jaqueline5846]

It's time to discard bigotry. You are the reason why theists would feel the need to "reclaim" their religion- because of people demonizing it.

[@Mastermindyoung14]

Jaqueline Are you suggesting I'm a bigot? Hahaha. Oooook buddy. Ridiculous beliefs are by definition deserving of ridicule. You want a list of ridiculous theistic beliefs? How about some oppressive, dare I say bigoted, theistic beliefs? Nice try, Jackie.

[@McMordy93]

This comment thread is one of the worst I've ever seen... I'm not religious, but this was a good and an important talk. Everyone who preaches tolerance and peace should be applauded.

[@PartisanGamer]

Its time to abandon religion.

[@anthonymoore4307]

PartisanGamer yeh, its obviously all fake, there is no modern proof its real

[@4tech69]

There's no not modern proof either.

[@thedarkriver1]

here! here!

[@thedarkriver1]

Abandon religion. Got my vote!

[@PartisanGamer]

abdok - Reductio ad Hitlerum, really ?

[@morgangreen2526]

So we need religion to fight religion? Nah fam.

[@DemonZest]

you have a better idea ? yep no

[@lighto2240]

1234 5678 You think it was a religious war

[@benlabarre5547]

To fight religion, extremism, and terrorism we need to educate against dogmatism. The counter to dogmatic thinking is critical thinking, skepticism, and reason.

[@101mystic101]

This has been attempted before. It only ends in more bloodshed.

[@PuzzleMessage]

I see Religion in the title, I thumb down immediately. I listen to the talk, I put a like.

[@pumpuppthevolume]

PuzzleMessage because believing in multiple incompatible nonsense based on their excuse word faith ....will help us make people around the world less violent?

[@yankeejims]

Marcos C what are you doing, do you think you're funny? ._. because that's not funny.

[@DemonZest]

yes religion has been proven to help peoples achives moral standarts

[@dustinf49]

Religions come from a period of human pre-history when nobody had the slightest idea what was going on. we don't need it. We need to get rid of it.

[@PsychicBadger98]

Dustin 3423 I'm not religious, but to say you have the slightest idea of what's going on, you'd be lying

[@dustinf49]

You can safely assume that you have created "God' in your own image when it turns out that god hates all the same people and things that you do.

[@ShutDown777]

so what? i have no idea whats going on therefore jesus?

[@Meta_Myself]

Or you can just let it be. You owe a lot to Christianity if you like liberal western culture.

[@klansix]

it's more like you owe a lot to non believers of religion.

[@connorm3436]

People already disliking a video they haven't watched.

[@Miranox2]

People already *liking* a video they haven't watched.

[@Aspartame69]

Because its time to cut religion loose, not take ownership of it.

[@RNorthex]

to be fair, the description alone sells it if ted posted a video that said "let's bring homophobia back into our community" and it detailed in the description how going against homosexuality could further the nation, then is there even a reason to watch the entirety of the video? i'm legitimately asking, because alone the statements provided there warrants a dislike in my opinion

[@albert_vds]

Here's a TLDW: Radicalism is a problem. A routine life is a problem. Religion can solves this. Then she goes on to talk about solutions which don't need religion.

[@Jacob-gs5ov]

Connor Mortlock Do you have to watch a full video to understand its meaning?

[@royceh8627]

Lets make this the most disliked video since the last COD trailer.

[@cyrillemathieu6940]

+Royce Heath exactly what I was thinking as well

[@michaelhart1072]

Royce Heath so stupid

[@sachxtrem]

You're a child, you probably shouldnt be subscribed to TED.

[@anthonymoore4307]

Royce Heath haha

[@chadphriday197]

why though? Im an atheist and I hate religion but it is not going anywhere. why not try to better it and leave it in the hands of responsible people?

[@yurriaanvanduyn]

Religion's still a thing?

[@AurorXZ]

Pretty sure it is. "Unaffiliated" (including unaffiliated spiritualists, agnostics, and atheists) makes up about 16% of the global ideological landscape. "No affiliation" is rising over the decades but it still ranks behind Christianity and Islam-and those are only two umbrellas out of many. There was a recent Pew Research Center study where 84% of the global population identify with a religion, and other studies show similarly.

[@robertoneto6984]

Yurriaan Van Duyn it is, unfornately

[@DemonZest]

yes and atheism is even decreasing

[@DemonZest]

cheekfun i don't wanna stop it but it is in decline (in % of global population) : www.cnsnews.com/news/article/global-study-atheists-decline-only-18-world-population-2020

[@AurorXZ]

Huh, interesting stats; thanks. Looking into this further, it appears that the unaffiliated "Nones" mentioned by me above are primarily in the West. Evidently, minority Western "Nones" are on the rise while the religious population is (more substantially) booming outside of the West, causing the global percentage of religious people to ultimately exponentially increase-and the percentage of Nones to thus exponentially decrease-by 2025. news.nationalgeographic.com/2016/04/160422-atheism-agnostic-secular-nones-rising-religion/

[@memoryhero]

_What do we want?_ Evidence-based science. _When do we want it?_ After peer review.

[@NCbassfishing24]

Hey, I saw that kid's sign on reddit too...

[@charlespatterson8412]

I agree, memoryhero. I would add that if it's not considered "Empirical Science," (and what {really!} is so perfectly elegant?) PEER REVIEW IS ONLY VALID IF it's independently and ubiquitously reviewed in a quantitatively repetitive and overtly redundant analysis. This is a continuously ongoing and unending process that should include all available angles of approach... Anything that falls short of that is "kid's stuff..." and some of us just don't play that game any more...

[@sanctuslucifer5328]

And what is it based on?

[@angelic8632002]

All respect to this obviously intelligent woman, but isn't it time we move on from dogma all together? Lets try to build a new foundation on our shared humanity instead. Food, music, art and love and so on. Lets look to the future and what we can become instead of being stuck in the past.

[@transgeek2345]

Serah Wint Essentially, Religion, she argues, is where the root of all that creative foundation and moral value derives from. In a transcendential age where people drift farther from the notion of community, further into a world of "chaos", and ultimately deepen int existential territory, the more people will seek spiritual outlets to seek more than the everyday. Spirituality is still a key fundamental of human nature, however to wield it as a device undermines its true purpose and creates stigma all around.

[@pumpuppthevolume]

Serah Wint.... humanism

[@angelic8632002]

I wouldn't call it Spiritualism. It might mean that to people of faith, but I think its a sense of meaning. Sometimes profound and some more mundane. Thing is, that is not unique to religions or faith. We are moving on wards as cultures and learning new things. And we need to revise what we seek meaning in to sidestep the baggage of our past. That said, I am not advocating for just dropping every tradition we have. Lets be sensible.

[@AtrociousNightmare]

DISCLAIMER: I'm not salty about it. Don't read it like that. I also agree with your very last point where spirituality used as a device undermines blablabla Creative foundation and moral value have nothing to do with religion though. Religion can surely be an inspiration for e.g. a good painting, the same way brutal atrocities can be, but it is not the foundation of our ability to be creative. And this is not up to discussion, science discovered and is discovering more in detail where creativity comes from. Hint: genetic code and brain, like everything else. And moral value is a simple social set of values brought on and agreed on by communities using their brain so as to arrive to a civilized standard where, to make a simple and general example, an action such as stealing is considered bad in the long-term because it brings pain to multiple people. Your second paragraph was pretty much a long list of assumptions that I consider simply inaccurate (transcendental age, chaos, drifting away from community etc.), and I can't be bothered discussing why, therefore the rest of it is just your very own personal, and arguably wrong, opinion.

[@transgeek2345]

Atrocious Nightmare Thank you for your input, and to be agree, creativity does not derive from faith indeed. However, for some people the heart of their culture is grounded in religion; food and.music is no exception, look at American Soul music. It is an infusion of both R&B and Gospel, and those roots are not forsaken even when someone says "good riddance" about gospel because they're still appreciatong something that has an origin in a spiritual foundation. As for moral values, true as that is, back when the New Testament arose, the Greek lifestyle was VERY different from what is now conceived as Western life. Greeks treated slaves horribly and engaged in very heinous sexual crimes (not talking about homophobia, trust me), and this only began to turn around after the coming of Christ and the message of the gospel. So while moral values are indeed set by society, principles deemed moral from a worldly perspective are not always in everyone's best interest. In fact, because of the New Testament, the way a slave was viewed changed rather drastically, far better than how the Greeks treated slaves.

[@user-hx1nr9ru1p]

If you need the promise of heaven to be a decent person you are inherently flawed.

[@TykoBrian7]

Adi thanks

[@MarkoKraguljac]

Promise of heaven, as offered through religion, is not intended to make desperate and miserable people decent but manageable so they can endure, serve and slave better.

[@user-hx1nr9ru1p]

Marko Kraguljac If I'm remembering correctly Nietzsche wrote about that - religion convincing people that it was okay to live their life in mediocrity due to the promise of the next one being better.

[@abdok]

atheists don't believe in definitive statements. so you may not exist nor even have spoken. just a random collection of mutated cells with no purpose and reason.... mad 👍

[@busTedOaS]

> "atheists don't believe in definitive statements." *scratches head*

[@ArabiaGamers]

The video is 16 minutes long. 3 minutes has passed since it was uploaded. People are disliking, where are the likes?

[@horatiohuskisson5471]

Arabia Gamers probably because of the title

[@transgeek2345]

Arabia Gamers Second anyone sees the word "Religion" people down vote it to oblivion.

[@nacasius]

Likes and Dislike no longer represent the quality of the video but reaction to the content. In this case the more dislike the better, aka the Rebecca Black Effect

[@pumpuppthevolume]

Arabia Gamers likes for reclaiming believing in complete nonsense based on faith?

[@IdkIdk-pv1mx]

Hitler killed all the people that would've had grandchildren that would've liked it before watching it. Because he had "God mit unst"

[@leland61]

There are a lot of negatives in these comments and there are a lot of people who only heard what they project and not what the Rabbi said, this too is obvious from the comments. She did not talk about GOD. She talked about human beings coming together to acclaim their worth and value and their power to work in the world - this world. Open your ears and pay attention. Those of you who brought god into this discussion are not paying attention except to your own negativity.

[@jinyan4866]

I agree, Leland. I was so touched by how they dedicated to take the responsibility to make a difference in the world.

[@BiophysicalChemist]

Leland Somers What goes up, must come down. Humanity has been misusing 'religion' as a weapon for a long time, and no matter how much I would love for all the zealots on both sides to just open their eyes and shut their mouths for two seconds and see the obvious Truth right in front of them, I know there's nothing to be done at this point now but just enjoy the ride. Everything will even out eventually, at least until we're hit by the next big wave of human nature. Life would be boring and colorless if we were all the way we think we should be anyways - without problems to solve and people to disagree with, what would be the purpose of living?

[@kidgoku31]

Regardless of talking about a higher being or not. I am and always have been agnostic. I'm a decent person, not perfect, but I have and understand morals and know right from wrong, none of that is attributed to religion. In this day and age we don't need religion, and in my opinion we don't need to reclaim something that can be used for evil acts. People need hope and dreams, I get that, but there's ways of achieving that without making up stories about a higher being creating us and everything around us to provide them. Maybe you see it as negative to want to abolish organised religion, but I see it as a step forward, and a necessary one at that to unite all humans as one

[@kidgoku31]

Philip I appreciate that I don't know everything about those scriptures, and I'm not saying burn all the religious documents from around the world. But what we do need to do is stop using them as a basis on how to live our lives, we're advanced enough as a species to be able to create our own moral codes. We already have, and they come in the form of laws, which can be changed and updated. religious texts however, don't get changed. I'm not saying they're bad, we shouldn't be using texts that were written 100's of years ago as guide lines to live in modern times. I admit I don't know everything about each and every religion, and I don't have an answer for the future. I do however understand that we're never going to progress if we carry on with outdated traditions and teachings

[@carpentertom4451]

Rather, the problem is she is remaining in the divide of existing religions, It doesn't solve the problem. Humanity has to go beyond religion and replace is with values we can all agree on.

[@heypachuco1991]

I can't believe so many people hate on this TEDTalk. Sharon Brous call for religion to be a force for good is something we should all agree on. A shift towards love, justice, dignity and equality for all.

[@SaHaRaSquad]

Education is a better and more universal force for good and doesn't require people to believe inconsistent bullshit.

[@OtKH00]

Unity can only be achieved if we shift away from religion.

[@Dookie6891]

Actually, the best thing we could do is just stop using the word religion. The words we use to define and separate things is the single most poisonous and resilient fume in existence.

[@gregpeacock6733]

religion causes so much suffering in the world, we have to find a way to move passed religious dogma

[@pumpuppthevolume]

believing in Zeus myths ....force for good .....hmm well intelligent people already can take a story and look at the lessons from it

[@babatulani6361]

TED wtf are you doing

[@danpope3812]

Right on the first, worng on the second.

[@LuxiBelle]

CIRCUMCISE ABORTIONS

[@LorcaLoca]

Confirmed, Dan pope supports murder of babies.

[@danpope3812]

False, yep, yes I do. Preferably on pay-per-view.

[@LorcaLoca]

Disgusting.

[@tomhasling]

TED........embarrassing. Truly embarrassing. Your brand is diluting daily.

[@tomhasling]

Player 0001 right. She has a strong opinion about something which she has no evidence for. Religion and irrationality is how we got here and her silliness is supporting that as she herself says (watch the video). Let's try rationality instead. The modern world is the product of rationality. If religion disappeared, we would be better off. If science disappeared god help us (ironically).

[@tomhasling]

Player 0001 I will totally grant that her position seems like it is reasonable and not aggressive. The problem is that her fundamentalist basis is baseless. So it is fundamentally a misdirection and useless? Yes of course it is. Let's say you are lost in a desert and you stumble across someone and they say go that way for salvation. You could go that way or say, "Why?" They say, "because I have a book that says you should." And any rational person would obviously respond, "What are you smoking?" Come on. That is pathetic. That is what you are asking people to accept.

[@jaqueline5846]

That's funny, because you seem to be an expert on their brand, which is to promote ideas, something for which you do not seem to care.

[@connernickerson5509]

On the face of things, I acknowledge the need to form religions. After all, not every person is capable (or willing) to make the rational leap to the realization that no gods exist. In the interim, then, in order to preserve the integrity of civilization, religious reform, particularly in Islam, is required. It's just frustrating, because the true solution is to eradicate religious thought all together.

[@retro527]

The existence of God(s) cannot be proven or disproven. While believing in a higher power isn't rational in modern times, it's not wrong either. Which is why religions everywhere need a reform for modernity.

[@samestrada5563]

Retro Controller Well said.

[@samestrada5563]

Conner Nickerson, Retro Controller is right. It cannot be proven or disproven. Note: I'm agnostic, by the way. So that there's no confusion on where I stand.

[@sachxtrem]

There are people far, far more rational than you and I who consider themselves fundamentalists in their religion. There is so much more to religion that you dont understand.

[@pumpuppthevolume]

Conner Nickerson meh that's why we have a police force

[@Miquelodeon87]

Right now, Richard Dawkins is right in the back of my mind saying: "Love, justice, equality and dignity? We don't need religion for that..." And you know what? He's absolutely right. And you can even add Freedom in the mix.

[@mopsman]

Well, she said at the beginning of the talk that everything was a mess. She stated it was a fact. Isn't that proof that we need god? Or is that proof there is no god? This is confusing.

[@Miquelodeon87]

mopsman that's proof that everything was a mess, and nothing else than that. I don't think you understand what evidence is.

[@mopsman]

No, she doesn't. That was my point.

[@truthbetold8233]

While religions may be boring, full of condemnation, divisive and somewhat outdated, the main issue with religions are that they tend to be based around unsupported, if not demonstrably false, claims about the nature of reality. Religion may have convinced society that faith is a virtue but it simply is not, critical thinking, skepticism and doubt are values worth embracing and faith stands in direct opposition to those values. We may gain hope from pretending to know that our dead loved ones live on in some sort of paradise or that a loving god is watching over us but we do not know these things and there are good reasons to doubt these things, to rely on faith and pretend otherwise is patently dishonest.

[@demonshaz]

Miquel Torres in my religion Richard Dawkins is a great prophet sent by Darwin my almighty god. peace be upon them

[@emmy9345]

*encourage the belief of things without evidence*. i would just let religion die. Edit: to prove how Swiss i am i have neither liked nor disliked the video.

[@emmy9345]

im not banning anything, i say let it die [insert Aloysius O'Hare Meme]

[@Meta_Myself]

They would argue there is much evidence, at least for God.

[@emmy9345]

Meta Self no

[@Meta_Myself]

***** Here's 20: www.peterkreeft.com/topics-more/20_arguments-gods-existence.htm

[@Striker163videos]

+Meta Self not in the slightest. God is a primitive concept. Humans are not intellectually evolved enough to know what a god could be. It'd be more likely that your "God" is a life form or essence that is intellectually more advanced than us, but that would still be living, therefore not a god. If aliens came down right now there would be a portion of the population that would worship them as gods, that's how primitive the ideal of god is.

[@AndrewJasonQuan]

Have to say, I like what she had to say and rather disheartened by the responses below. Religion encompasses so many systems of belief and it's so incredibly overly simplistic and careless to generalize and dismiss them all. It is true many bad things have occurred in the name of religion, but many religions have made great strides to furthering good while the less savoury ones die out. Without religion, we wouldn't have many of the charities, hospitals, laws or America. That's not to say all religions are helpful, but before we throw the baby out with the bath water, we should take a better look at what each religion actually teaches and not how it is portrayed in the media or the internet.

[@antoniusweezel876]

The fundamental problem with this is assuming people are rejecting religion because it "isn't relevent" rather than because it's bullshit. These ideas are fundamentally at odds with a realistic view of the world and reality. Optimism is entirely possible and generally a good thing. But all that's happening is an attempt to shoehorn religion into a younger generation. Spirituality is a good thing, and is entirely independant of religion. That is certainly something that could do with more attention today, but religion is purely draconian.

[@mopsman]

We need spirituality? You can't even define it. It's silly woowoo.

[@abstractjem]

+Antonius Weezel Absolutely agree... well said!!:o)

[@antoniusweezel876]

mopsman "the quality of being concerned with the human spirit or soul as opposed to material or physical things." - that isn't synonymous with the persistent religious soul, or some magic ghost living inside you. I'm talking about actually considering philisophical metaphysics and what it means to exists, art culture etc.

[@mopsman]

woowoo, define metaphysics, woowoo

[@antoniusweezel876]

It's literally a google away.

[@oots4790]

I think everyone needs to take a step back and actually listen to this talk. She's essentially saying religious extremism and 'Going through the motions' is what is killing religion in the modern age. AND that it's the job of current religious leaders to fix it. They're the problem THEY must be the solution. This is not even close to a proselytized message telling us to be baptized or were dammed. Who actually watched this video?

[@EdwinLuciano]

"She's essentially saying religious extremism and 'Going through the motions' is what is killing religion in the modern age." Both of those are a product of organized religion itself. Religious extremism is a product of organized religion. You don't find extremists in religions that are not institutionalized. Standardization of rituals make religion boring, by definition. Saying the same prayers, doing the same rituals, singing the same hymns, becomes automatic after a while. But saying the same prayers, doing the same rituals and singing the same hymns in kind of what an organized religion is! And she's a rabbi so she is part of a religious institution and that mean she is really killing organized religion every day.

[@vampyricon7026]

Utah Raven No, the problem is she misidentified the problem. The problem, if it can even be called that, is people understand faith isn't a reliable method to understand things, and that there is no evidence for any gods.

[@Charles-fi7ww]

This lady is so intelligent, ambitious and inspirational and people are ignoring her and are automatically dismissing her opinions and experiences because she said the word "religion". But hey it was her goal to do "something" and not "everything", she has done something. She has inspired me. Even if you all remain hateful people who argue on the internet, she has still reached out and inspired me. God bless.

[@isaacthefallenapple15]

I'm so glad to see so many people in the comments speak out against religion. Let's get rid of it and move on to something greater that can unite us: art, love, science; human things should glue us together, not superhuman ones.

[@crimsoncorsair9250]

YES ! it is ! stop asking for feminism and BLM, there is more prejudice against religion than racism and sexism

[@connorm3436]

Crimson Corsair, people have rights, ideologies don't.

[@vittoriocodogno2584]

more prejudice against religion? You know there has never been an openly atheist president. Atheism is simply an electoral disadvantage for most politicians. Religious belief is and has always been considered a desirable trait.

[@thewinematcher]

Thank you for sharing, Rabbi Sharon Brous! This was a great speech; you are an amazing speaker. You bring up many important points and I too share hope in your vision.

[@20timbit]

The biggest problem with religion is people forcing others to accept their idea of whats right. Don't tell an atheist he's immoral and don't tell a theist he's wrong. Keep opinions to yourselves!

[@20timbit]

I'm not sure if your being a troll or not but I believe that a human being should choose if wants to be circumcised or not at a later age, say 12. Abortions on the other hand is more complicated because people's ideas of when a fetus is "human" will differ from person to person. I am a pro choice man myself but i do see why people believe in pro life.

[@simaopereira3697]

he´s a troll/spamer

[@OtKH00]

Keep opinions to yourself? You mean that we should all just create an Echo Chamber. The problem is that theism forces you to become illogical due to its reliance on faith. Do not keep to yourself, but instead discuss without fighting, and if that is not possible, then fundamentally the topic of discussion is flawed. No growth has ever been achieved on a theory, or opinion that has never been challenged, and you should be ashamed for suggesting that ignoring our problems will fix them.

[@pumpuppthevolume]

meh screw that roast each other if any other attempt at conversation fail

[@DylanGeick]

This sentiment is perhaps more dangerous than religious ideologies themselves. We must not remain silent in the face of human ignorance or ethical impurities. We have an obligation to debate and stand up for our beliefs, thus society decides what is right and evolves naturally. Speak your opinions loud and clear!

[@jaydenherrera4177]

I grew up being a Jehovah witness, it's a sect of Christianity, there they heavily pressure you to not pursue anything but what they have to offer, if you choose to go to college after high school graduation it's looked at by their people as choosing worldly views, but if you live with your parents for the rest of your days preaching and not ever getting a job that's viewed as good. Religion was a good job at trying to bring people out from a dark past and into hope, but I believe it's the wrong kind of hope, we should all strive to better our society and not move towards a hope of everlasting life that will never come. People just don't want to accept the sad truth that we created the god idea, only we, only humans, only you can do something to make a change.

[@benjaminrodgers5063]

Love this!! Anyone who thinks religion is a license to hate, belittle, or control others needs to go back and actually read their sacred text, and should do so in the context in which it was written. And yes, TED Talks on religion are relevant because religion is relevant to our lives and our conversations.

[@sidewinder2057]

Did majority actually watched this presentation before giving it a dislike?

[@diygarygaming]

No. Let's not make the world religious again. That's where all these problems started.

[@DaveWhoa]

"It's time to reclaim religion!" - yeah, take all those ancient figments of human imagination when man thought Earth was the center of the universe, which science simply ignores due to them having no serious basis or scientific validity, and MAKE THEM YOUR OWN! But please do not exclude Easter Bunny from your mumbojumbo, as at least he answers prayers.

[@anamfyp4321]

humans need a code of living i.e. Laws and follow in this era without the involvement of supernatural

[@anamfyp4321]

I don't believe in extremism and stuff... Muslims blaming jews and all others Jews and others blaming muslims and so on... No this will not bring peace and harmony

[@Meta_Myself]

You need a supernatural entity to create the universe.

[@frankeinfish]

You are saying that as if it is a fact, which it is not...

[@pumpuppthevolume]

humanism

[@pumpuppthevolume]

Meta Self.....u need Zeus to explain lightning

[@denisecrawley4332]

I agree with Rabbi Brous wholeheartedly. Great Ted Talk. Faith, like most of us, has been the victim of power and control. I refuse to submit that faith should be abandoned; that believing in a greater power and being grateful for the things you have are outdated ideas we should abandon. Power and control have manipulated many faiths, and power and control should be abandoned.

[@J.N.R.Doyal86]

"Human decency isn't derived from religion. It peoceeds it." - Hitchens

[@LordBummingtonThe3rd]

I'd prefer if TED starting posting more Science/Technology videos again

[@Ciuin_Sam]

I think part of moving forward as a species and looking to the future, is not in abandoning the spirituality of religion, but finally being able to accept others for their spiritual beliefs, whatever they may be. The important part of this of course, is that non-religious people should not feel the need to enforce their beliefs on spiritual people, and vice versa. Religion and spirituality is an inherently human quality and the presence of religion should not be cause for fear in others. Part of maturing as a species is being able to accept others for their differences and not feel the desire to change everyone else, whatever your background is.

[@sakurakasumi4664]

This is exactly the attitude I am so grateful to hear ~ I see projection of fear and false prophesy yet I rarely see the unity and peace under the oneness that is our humanity and ability to ascend out animal layer to love and create share and grow. I am grateful to know that the spiritual community of multifaith is unifying .^___^~ Never in earths history has ever such a thing been. ~♡~ These are great times when we consider all humanity has been through to get here. Thank you for this uplifting speech.

[@Enderflow219]

See's a religion themed video, grabs popcorn, scrolls down the comments

[@bonitagibb8825]

This was so inspiring and amazing! Thank you, this talk was very much needed today.

[@williamandrews3482]

I like the idea that she is advocating, reforming religion from an old and sometimes violent thing to something more understandable and modern, but i believe that this will do nothing to stop those who use religion as a reason or explanation to hate or hurt. It is a noble and great she is doing and I do believe that she should continue it, but it seems impractical and impossible to use this as a major tool against the hate that is spread by other larger, older and stronger religions.

[@Carmen-mp3je]

Bravo!!! Bravo for this passionate and smart woman, far away from abandoning God now more than ever we need to have it present in our lives; but as she says, in a more conscient way, not in a repetitive

[@Carmen-mp3je]

Routine

[@shellissab9719]

Trying to convince people to believe in religion is like trying to throw a rope to someone who wants to drown, and all I can do is throw the rope but it takes the other person to save themselves

[@tomasmalin]

Well said.

[@noxabellus]

I believe in God not in religion. I don't want the world to forget about God, but I do want the world to move on from religion. People will always take good ideas and turn them into screwed up belief structures.

[@raywilliams6717]

I consider science a religion and I'm an atheist. Lol any deep look at String Theory will make that argument. It requires tax exemption And subsidy, inordinate introspection and questioning, doubt and reaffirmation, and a subset of the population to devote thier lives to establishing dogma. And the actors involved are all just flawed individuals like Crick, Shannon, Hoyle, and oooh so many others. Frankly even "rational" people say idiotic things. That goes back to the *founding* of Rationalism: Descartes who blundered with the Cogito. If we acknowledge that there's methods but no end point, we'll finally all be innately aware of Evolutionary Theory, and it's correlary, the Law of Effect (which is just Utilitarianism but without "ethical" backage). Of course at least the evidence and benefits are self-evident and not up to Insanely divergent interpretations (unless you count Quantum Mechanics, which.... Yikes). But there's no argument from me that we destroyed all of the Old Gods by utilizing thermodynamics and chemistry. The only ones left are the ones imagined by Arthur C. Clarke or Kurzwiel.

[@rosaa3934]

I wonder if the people commenting even saw the video. This is a very beautiful way to think about religion. And I know religion it is not for everybody, but the idea that people come together as a community inspired by love and service is what religion should be about. She is acknowledging that religion has changed (as it should have) since it's beginning, and now it's time to reshape it to our new world. And being part of a group that preaches love and makes us see how much good in this world EACH of us can make is not by any means a bad idea. It is much better than the culture of individualism and cynicism that we have. She is amazing.

[@sunsetnoiser]

Great talk. We will never be able to stop asking the "why" question but religion as we have it now, separated into different subsets with different lies (like Jesus is the son of some kind of personalized god - give me proof, or all the "you have to do"´s), takes more from humanity than it gives. Let us treat every thought as a theory and not give in to separations of humans. What all religions need to do, is to reject certain rules and "truths" to find their common core after thousands of years in subdivision. As long as religion is what it is now, i shall not call myself religious nor defend it.

[@nitelite78]

It's time for God, if he exists, to show himself.

[@sunsetnoiser]

I wonder if, say a true supernatural being comes to our little earth, we would worship it or try to kill it haha

[@anthonymoore4307]

Clemens Lindner probably the last one XD people would be gettin the nukes ready XD

[@sunsetnoiser]

Anthony Moore hahaha, but for real, as long as we don't see it's power, we don't fear it

[@nitelite78]

***** Christians would argue that has already happened. Also, an omnipotent god could reveal itself to all humans individually in such a way that no human would react in such a way.

[@andrea-co3xi]

If there is a god, why would he feel the need to show himself in order for humans to believe in him?

[@Elrumel]

huh, comments are enabled... HELLO TED !

[@LorcaLoca]

Oh god you just reminded me of the last upload.

[@meghanmangini7147]

Although a lot of these comments are negative, I would like to add some positivity. I thought this talk was very well done and very true. In a time where there is no concrete things to hold on to, religion is the answer. People do use it for bad, but (as this video said), it's route is meant to give hope and spread compassion! Thank you for this! I loved it! Religion is not dead, and it is not prehistoric!

[@KnowArt]

I'd rather preach science, but for those who can't or don't want to, something like a soft, positive religion of love might be a good thing to keep them from losing their sense of purpose and getting depressed.

[@Music-mi5gg]

You guys should at *least* at the very, very fucking least just watch the video. I don't think religion is healthy myself but just try to gain some insight and more perspective on it.

[@ixamraxi]

So the solution to the inherent problems of tribalism... is more tribalism? You can't fix religion, because the problems with religion are systemic. Labeling an experience of community and fellowship as "religious" doesn't make it religious. You could do everything you're currently doing, without calling it religion, and you would still have had the same experience. Trying to keep it "religious" is unnecessary baggage, and undermines the foundation of what your intentions are. It's like keeping your gall bladder attached, after it exploded, because you've had it so long and can't imagine being without it. Why not just excise the entire concept of religion, and focus specifically on things like community, humanity and fellowship? We could even call it something new and exciting, like "humanism". Oh wait...

[@idkman2633]

So nice to see a religious person loving of all religions. The answer is acceptance. Imagine if everyone were allowed to pray to each their own God. If the only rule was not to harm, so that people had choices outside their own religion.

[@pjsingh2735]

religion isn't the problems, humans are. selfishness is, corruption is, greed is, hate is, we all need a reality check.

[@AlexanderLeister]

Wow TED. Wow. You have fallen from grace in a very short amount of time.

[@Chris-mb3zh]

If by reclaim you mean junk it, then yes.

[@IanPenny]

I am an atheist, and I do not believe that the future of the human race is in the hands of religions, but it is true that we are beings who seek a meaning for life when it is very likely that we will never find it, The alternative for all those people who can not wake up in the morning without a god to worship, what Sharon explains is a better way of expressing, without violence and without interfering with the progress of the rest of humanity that can live with the taste of what knowledge and science gives us.

[@piratepear]

Why so much hate on this video? - This video isn't about religion>evolution you know, it's about a need to unite the religious forces to have them work for the common good and not slouch back into idleness. It's about making religion=peace and prosperity and not violence and fear.

[@robthehitmanrude]

i have a solution! More cause!

[@robthehitmanrude]

FYI, i disliked only after watching the whole thing.

[@andrea-co3xi]

Why is there so much hate in the comments section? Faith is a beautiful thing that gives hope and insight to many, why are people so bitter about it?

[@emmy9345]

because of the countless deaths it has caused over the millennia. Sources: Crusades, Jihads, Holy Wars in general.

[@andrea-co3xi]

+Max but people do those things, not religions or gods, and people are extraordinarily talented to find something (be it religion, patriotism or traditions) to excuse their violence, greed and hatred

[@emmy9345]

yes people did do those things, in name of their gods, they were able to organise these wars because of centralised religious Dogma

[@barbarbe111]

TED's viewer golbaly think that big decisions of a comunity must be made with objectivity rationnality and logic. Supertition is the easyest way to do bad choices. Some trols in comments but a lots of very interessting one too.

[@andrea-co3xi]

+Max thing is, no religion condones murder or violence-- dogma actually preaches peace, so it's still people finding excuses for their hatred

[@SarahAllen]

Wow...I can't believe the number of close minded responses to this very inspiring talk. It truly seems like we have a problem of people not understanding what religion really is or should be, which I guess is her point. Religion and science are by no means incompatible. They're part of one beautiful whole.

[@mtoejr]

I'm not a religious person, but she had a nice message of tolerance and if more of those that wish to worship a higher power had her way of thinking I'm sure the world would be a better place.

[@rws531]

It's time to Reclaim TED Talks.

[@Chidds]

Wha--! People cherry picking religion?! Like that hasn't been done before!

[@monibahmad]

The reviews only show how much education the so called enlightened and aware community needs on religion. Beautiful talk. Thank you very much. I did watch it till the very end before commenting or giving a thumbs up as opposed to most people who came with their heads closed and left with their heads equally (if not more) closed.

[@furkell]

Science is my religion. Although it can't explain many of my questions, I still believe in it.

[@ifonefan1147]

I agree with your premise: religion is the problem. I disagreed with you conclusion: we need to fix religion. I can see how your business model wants to keep religion but what we need to do is get rid of religion.

[@LuxiBelle]

If we can't get rid off it, we might "fix" it. We have changed religion in the past and we can do so again.

[@ifonefan1147]

Why can't we get rid of it?

[@pumpuppthevolume]

we'll get rid of it by education and critical thought

[@mopsman]

Let's subcontract fixing religion to ISIS, they are doing a great job so far.

[@lordtachanka85]

We need to get rid of religion to so we can move on and accomplish great things that religious people disprove of

[@tuumboon61]

Jesus loves you all

[@breadfan7433]

And, most importantly, he swallows.

[@holytrashify]

Jesus is the King

[@breadfan7433]

Blasphemy! Elvis is the King, and everybody knows that. Even the heathen Wikipedia, which falsely claims that Elvis is dead, acknowledges that Elvis is the King. Jesus has never even produced a single that made it to the Billboard charts, and he couldn't dance to save his life. He's OK as an artist, don't get me wrong, some of his tricks (walking on water comes to mind) were neat, but definitely not as brilliant as the King. Now repent and praise Elvis.

[@holytrashify]

***** NO! JESUS IS THE KING!! nobody comes to the father except through him

[@breadfan7433]

Ha! If nobody comes to the father except through Jesus, Jesus is clearly a bouncer. So he cannot be the King. Elvis is the King, I win.

[@tanyablais5793]

I wish she had acknowledged the fact that there are millions of Christians in our country and churches everywhere that agree with her 100% and are living out their faith by doing exactly what she's advocating.

[@juansantiago358]

Why so many dislikes? Although this is about religion the message is inclusive and doesn't promote hate. I don't care if people decide to believe in god as long as they don't put other people down for not doing the same. We all should live and let live. I'm an atheist btw.

[@braianr.7]

It's funny how they call themselves "intellectual beings" and they dislike the video just because the title says "religion", pathetic

[@mopsman]

It funny how you claim to be smarter then everyone and offer no evidence for anything you say. Pathetic.

[@braianr.7]

***** that's what a person with a brain is supposed to do :)

[@mopsman]

QED, pathetic

[@smoothawee]

it's funny how you perceive your opinions as truth, specially when it comes to what drives other people's actions.

[@kianchristoffern]

She is very nice, has a big heart. But this was a waste of time; religion should die faster, if anything; in it's wake spiritual gatherings might form and gain a history. The problem we have is not a lack of religion, but that capitalist marketing psychology threatens fill the void of meaning left after the demise of widespread dogmatic religion.

[@leeyewleung]

For others to accept your view, learn to be open and accept he other's view first. Yes we all have our own principles, but let's be respectful to the values that are held on by others. TED is a place for people to share, without judgement, without prejudice, without discrimination. This talk made me take time for introspection, who do I really matter to?

[@bradleynorth2671]

Especially enjoyed how transparent she is about what religion is today, and what it was always meant to be. The ideals outlined in here are those we should all follow to create a more loving and free world. Religious or not.

[@breadfan7433]

Oh, TED. How careless of you. You misspelled the verb "reject" in the title.

[@lacheena13]

I cannot believe how many people have disliked this video without, CLEARLY, even watching the video! You simply cannot claim to be accepting, non-judgmental, and empathetic if you immediately see the word 'religion' and completely shut off your brain. Her message is that religion in it's essence is supposed to, and does, bring many people together for a greater purpose. Are people imperfect and do they decide to use their religions for separation and hate? Yes. Does that mean that every Christian, Muslim, Hindu, or Jew is inherently evil and intolerant? Absolutely not! Assholes come in all shapes and sizes, both self-proclaimed religious or athiest. Every single person who is judging this woman's message without even hearing her out is a giant hypocrite. It seems that, today, it is okay to be everything EXCEPT a believer in God. Well, I'm a believer in God and I know that I'm here to spread love and justice instead of judgment and hatred. If you're too stubborn to give religious people credit for any good in this world at all, then you're blinded by pride and ego.

[@EdwinLuciano]

A little exercise that will hopefully illustrate a point: "You simply cannot claim to be accepting, non-judgmental, and empathetic if you immediately see the word 'rap music' and completely shut off your brain. Her message is that rap music in it's essence is supposed to, and does, bring many people together for a greater purpose. Are people imperfect and do they decide to use rap music for separation and hate? Yes. Does that mean that every rap artist is inherently evil and intolerant? Absolutely not!" This is your first paragraph where I just replaced the word "religion" with "rap music" except at the end where I replaced a few religions with "rap artists." I think it's nonsense to say "rap music" is evil or that religion is. But both "religion" and "rap music" are words that associate with bad news and it can be argued that it's well deserved. Human beings use shortcuts to make decisions (and that's what things like stereotypes and bigotry count on) and to a lot people religion is nothing but another human institution that is rotten to its core. Believers and non-believers alike.

[@lacheena13]

I agree, and that's why stereotypes and bigotry should have no place here. I'd be willing to bet that many, if not most, people who automatically disliked this video without even listening to her speak are people who claim to be open-minded and accepting of all types of people. All people except people who believe in God, that is. That is hypocrisy.

[@EdwinLuciano]

lacheena13 I would wager that a lot of people who believe in God also disliked the video and it's not because they are self-hating theists. If the title of the talk had been "It's time to reclaim God" Rabbi Brous would have gotten less dislikes. I think there are people who have negatives feelings when they see the word "God" but many more have those same feelings when they see the word "religion." The founder of the Christian faith was a man who, according to the Gospels, started a small riot in the Temple in Jerusalem because he felt a religious organization had turned God's house into a den of thieves. Jesus wasn't rejecting God but he was rejecting religion in the form it existed. Don't conflate God with religion.

[@genesises]

Which in conclusions leads the previous commenter to seem somewhat close minded as well! How bout that! Everything is not black & white!?

[@AerialDroneography]

It's time to reject religion

[@danielgrayling4287]

This talk is an opportunity to exercise the open-mindedness for which TED listeners are famous. And yet, I don't see it here in the comments.

[@last_neutrin0145]

Sooo.. bury your head in the sand is the solution?

[@christianmichels7105]

Everyone in the comments complaining about there being no evidence for God, yet the opposite "scientific" argument says all matter came from nothing. If you ask me the biggest piece of evidence for God is that matter and living things exist! How can you get information and intelligence (such as in our DNA) from nothing? Science cannot explain this.

[@vampyricon7026]

Christian Michels The scientific argument is "we don't know". You try to claim this is a drawback of science, but this is exactly what science does right. It is honest with itself, admitting that we don't know what happened. The approach religion takes is "god(s) did it", then assert it as fact and not allow it to be questioned. We can see, by the simple fact that you are using a product of science, whether science or religion is more effective.

[@suzanalima4722]

Sharon, dispite the haters, it was a good talk. But, is difficult to monotheistic religions cooperate with each other since the core of each religion is "I AM right, the other is wrong". But... we all are humans, we all have that in common.

[@etxeberre1]

I live with the love and humanity my family taught me, not the church.

[@saganl7857]

I'm not religious my self, spiritual perhaps, but I totally agree with this speaker. Sad to see so many dislikes. This is the type of reform religion needs. Some of us may be beyond needing religion as a crutch but if this gets religious people away from extremism and fundamentalism then I'm all for it. So what if someone beliefs in supernatural things, only their actions matter and how they treat others. But I guess this video has the unholy trinity for some ted viewers, seeing that it has religion, a women speaker, and social justice all at once. TRIGGERING INTENSIFIES, lol

[@felipeg2878]

Really beautiful and inspiring speech.

[@robertoneto6984]

basically she is saying that we should use religion to solve the problems we wouldn't have if religion did not exist in the first place

[@ultramarinewaters9325]

This was a wonderful talk. I really enjoyed it and felt the passion and truth of your message. May God bless you and may He guide the lost sheep who have commented in this video.

[@claudianaranjo6422]

Agradezco esta charla TED y la he llevado a las aulas.

[@nickvk1aa450]

One of best TED talks. Relevant, passionate and timely.

[@Margar02]

I found myself missing the sense of support and community and shared values of church, but had long become discouraged with dogma and cliques. Then I discovered the Unitarian Universalist church. I've never felt as spiritually and humanly connected and inspired.

[@brcici]

Great speech! Just what we need to hear these days.

[@iviewthetube]

She was right about one thing and one thing only: "Our hearts hurt from that failed religion of extremism."

[@jyggaswoop2774]

The only people worrying about religion are people with nothing else in their lives...there are more important things like school getting a good paying job etc.

[@danpope3812]

That is nonsence and if you thorght about what you just said for even an instance you'd see why. Religion is in most govenments in the world, they have a say as to what laws are passed or not. Their are ppl that beleive in fairytales deciding how I live and die. Would you be happy if the next gen grow up, get in to power and beleived that Harry Potter was baced on fact and we should change the way we live to better suit his teachings? If you think religion only effects the religous it is you that is not looking around and seeing the important things happening in real.

[@Dookie6891]

Dan Pope So what you're saying is that you're just terrified of your government, and despite what you believe you'll follow them. Governments were birthed by people trying to be gods, and they still persist fooling poor souls that fear them. The great thing about religion is that the beginning and the end starts with you. The question is, would you rather be wrong pursuing the unknown, or the known? There are far worse things to believe in than Harry Potter by the way. There's a lot of good morals to glean from its legacy.

[@danpope3812]

Dookie, I'll be honest, yes I am afraid of my govenment. That does not mean I follow the law to the letter, far from it, but if I am caught doing what I believe to be right but is againest the law I can have my life/freedom taken away from me and if it just so happens that I'm breaking a law that is in place coz some old folk back in the day believed in fairytales I'm being punished because of someone eles' beliefs. Look, you are at the bed side of your best friend, you have known them all your life, you love them. They are dying coz they have cancer. There is nothing the docs can do accept keep them alive in as little pain as possible. They face months of getting worse before their body finally gives up. They roll over to and ask you to put a pillow over their face. You can't, you want to, but you can't, you have to watch them get smaller and smaller, weaker and weaker. Euthanaiser is not legle, giving ppl the right to die while they can still hold their head high is illegle, instead because of religion they must suffer. This is by far not the only scenario in which religion can and does take control of non-beleivers lives. And just a heads up, when someone make an obviously over dramatic comparson to something don't try and make it sound like a ligitimet point, it makes you sound like a nit-picker, I bet you start a lot a sentences with 'Well..... Actully......'

[@DemonZest]

importance is a very subjective thing, i find it pretty sad the fact that you consider a good paying job central in your life.

[@shellissab9719]

Jygga Swoop I've never heard such ignorant words. When you die everything in your life will vanish, religious people are religious so that when they die, then they'll wake up to good things, a heaven, rather than a dark empty and meaningless void

[@SolidReader]

The amount of people hating a video that promotes peace and unity its truly sad. They dont even realize the irony that they are behaving like zealots themselves.

[@KristofLossie]

Religion is a phase a species goes through when it evolves enough intelligence to ask profound questions but not enough to answer them.

[@mikejames5520]

Incredible message, unfortunately lost in the medium of religion.

[@jonlam562]

It's unfortunate people aren't even watching the video. I'm not religious in the slightest and there's a great message in this video. You don't have to be religious to accept this message either.

[@ConejitoPequenito]

That was a really well-rounded Ted talk, I loved it

[@ageofatheism6638]

The only difference between fundamentalists and mainstream moderate faithfull is their interpretation of a book and how literally they follow it's teachings.She even said as much in the video that she "chose' to take a passage and reverse it's interpretation. Most of the time humans will take the path that they believe is the right one for them and their immediate friends and family. This is the default tribal position we have inherited from our ancestors to help our tribe survive . Our understanding and acknowledgement of this is the first step of the process in acceptance of "outsiders" to our modern tribes. This lady gives a speech with complicated solutions when all you need to do is follow a few basic rules. 1.Respect the basic human rights of every human . 2. Follow the laws of the country you live in and if you don't like them then, either seek to change them or move! 3.Promote love and understanding and not hate. I always look at religion from this perspective. Imagine a world where every person had what hey wanted and needed till the end of time. What reasons would there be to go to war over or fight ? There is only one, Religion It is the great divider and the sad thing is it's all bullshit!