Losing My Religion - An Excerpt
Religion... Since its conception, it has inspired destruction, and needless death. The bible, Talmud, and Koran all speak of great battles. The Greek and Roman civilizations destroyed native cultures by the handful to assert their culture and religion over the natives. The Romans slaughtered Jews and Christians. The Crusades were all fought to claim a “holy land” which killed 500,000 people. In a population of just a few hundred million, that’s a huge amount. The inquisitions held in Western Europe decimated anyone who wasn't a Christian. The Holocaust was genocide of a religious group. Ireland, Israel, the entire Middle East... all up in arms over whose God is better. And how many cultures are still hurting from the influence of religion? How many countries in Africa fighting after western missionaries set up societies for the native cultures and fled? The Sudan, Rwanda... just a few still embroiled in conflict.
We all know the story of Galileo, no? How he ventured a scientific theory that later proved to be true, but disagreed with the church? Where would we be if Galileo never spoke? If he was like the rest of the sheep, happy to be told how things were without second guessing? The church apologized for that incident 300 years later! 300 years?! That’s how long it took for the church to accept that the universe wasn't geocentric?
What religion accepts as fact is relative to the times. Before man achieved sustained flight, we thought heaven was in the skies and the angels sat on clouds. We couldn't dig too far into the ground, so of course hell was underground. Now? No, no no. Heaven and Hell are places that don't exist on the physical plane, they're another place entirely.
Granted, religion has provided a basis for society as we know it today. In the time when people were few and far from each other, it drew them together and formed communities. Religion has motivated people to help each other, provide homes and medicine, time and money for each other. And for a pre-modern society, that is a great asset. But hasn't religion served its cause? Hasn't religion outworn its welcome? There are homeless outreach programs, drug rehab programs, organizations that provide provisions for starving people in Africa. But do we need a book to tell us that we should be nice? Sure, these are great things these people are doing, but why do it in the name of some higher power when we can claim it for the sake of humanity? “Humans can be infinitely kind”, the message should be, not “humans can be infinitely kind when receiving God's love.” It's about motivation. And there are much better motivators than religion when religion has a track record like that.
Again, war is so destructive. Not only does it cripple countries involved, it can drive civilization backwards. Lives are lost, schools destroyed, disease runs rampant. Why do we need more reasons for this? Karl Marx once said that religion and poverty go hand in hand. Another of his theories suggested that all wars have roots in class struggle. In societies with poverty, there is sure to be class struggle. Therefore, religion and war go hand in hand. We should be working for a better tomorrow, not a war-filled tomorrow.
In conclusion, whether or not there is a God in the end, life is what you make of it. No book needs to tell us how to be a decent human being. We don't need a higher power to direct us into being good people. To resign ourselves to living our lives being kind so we can go into heaven is selfish and wasteful. Live a good life for the sake of living a good life. Be kind for the sake of having kindness returned. Don't believe everything that it is you heard, no matter how many times it is told.
We all know the story of Galileo, no? How he ventured a scientific theory that later proved to be true, but disagreed with the church? Where would we be if Galileo never spoke? If he was like the rest of the sheep, happy to be told how things were without second guessing? The church apologized for that incident 300 years later! 300 years?! That’s how long it took for the church to accept that the universe wasn't geocentric?
What religion accepts as fact is relative to the times. Before man achieved sustained flight, we thought heaven was in the skies and the angels sat on clouds. We couldn't dig too far into the ground, so of course hell was underground. Now? No, no no. Heaven and Hell are places that don't exist on the physical plane, they're another place entirely.
Granted, religion has provided a basis for society as we know it today. In the time when people were few and far from each other, it drew them together and formed communities. Religion has motivated people to help each other, provide homes and medicine, time and money for each other. And for a pre-modern society, that is a great asset. But hasn't religion served its cause? Hasn't religion outworn its welcome? There are homeless outreach programs, drug rehab programs, organizations that provide provisions for starving people in Africa. But do we need a book to tell us that we should be nice? Sure, these are great things these people are doing, but why do it in the name of some higher power when we can claim it for the sake of humanity? “Humans can be infinitely kind”, the message should be, not “humans can be infinitely kind when receiving God's love.” It's about motivation. And there are much better motivators than religion when religion has a track record like that.
Again, war is so destructive. Not only does it cripple countries involved, it can drive civilization backwards. Lives are lost, schools destroyed, disease runs rampant. Why do we need more reasons for this? Karl Marx once said that religion and poverty go hand in hand. Another of his theories suggested that all wars have roots in class struggle. In societies with poverty, there is sure to be class struggle. Therefore, religion and war go hand in hand. We should be working for a better tomorrow, not a war-filled tomorrow.
In conclusion, whether or not there is a God in the end, life is what you make of it. No book needs to tell us how to be a decent human being. We don't need a higher power to direct us into being good people. To resign ourselves to living our lives being kind so we can go into heaven is selfish and wasteful. Live a good life for the sake of living a good life. Be kind for the sake of having kindness returned. Don't believe everything that it is you heard, no matter how many times it is told.
1 comment:
This is shocking and horrific. Looks like the same tactics used by muslim extremists to teach their children hate through religion. Hate and kill all free thinking non-religious persons because they are the enemy. We have a new breed of terrorists being formed and they are American CHRISTIANS! Keep the info out there, maybe there's a way we can stop this before it's to late.
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