The typical punk view is that all organised religion is a crutch that 
    keeps people down.  However there are many who don't agree that is has
    to be, nor should be like that.

    xjeffx said "I don't believe in a god or in organised religion, 
    Christianity especially. Believing in something which we don't know 
    definitively exists, is absurd to me. Religion (Christianity) is
    oppression of the people. ...In the words of Karl Marx "Religion is the 
    opium of the people." What is meant by this is that people rely on 
    religion like a drug. When things get bad, they take a little, like 
    when they get fired, they would pray and feel better. Then something 
    else happens and they go take a little more. Eventually they are 
    "addicted" or in other words "faithful" to religion and god, like a 
    drug, which is their way of escape from reality." [6]

    Christians would respond that they agree that this sux and that it is 
    some bad elements within Christianity that give the whole scene a bad 
    name. True Christianity is about truth and not blind faith so your 
    belief has to be backed up by historical fact and reason.  Its sort of 
    like the hardcore scene - there are all these kids who haven't got a 
    clue but just smoke, drink and fuck themselves into oblivion. These kids 
    give HC a bad name. Then there are the few kids who are straight-edge, 
    who take life seriously and do something positive.  Even within sXe 
    there are the militant and hardline elements that distort the rest of 
    the movement.

    On 18 Jun 1997 X calculus X <bwrenn@cslab!vt!edu> wrote:
    "The guy who only turns to God when he is down is not a true Christian.
    He thinks of God more or less as his imaginary friend. Being Christian 
    involves understanding who Jesus is and how following his teachings 
    will enable you to work towards bettering your own life.  This is not a 
    crutch at all.  This has some degree of parallelism to sXe in that it 
    involves follwing priciples and beleifs."

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