Religion...

A true believer of God has a dream, a hope, the he will live, eat and eventually die in the arms of God … To achieve this dream he can take lives, devour pity & die trying… A curious question comes to my mind when I think of this.. If there was no religion would we have found ant other reason to kill each other? I really don't think so... Honestly speaking, I do not feel obliged to believe that the same God who has endowed us with sense, reason and intellect has intended to forgo their use just to achieve HIM in the afterlife… These inflammatory ideas and philosophies are what are deceiving the people and making them believe that killing in the name of their God will help them achieve salvation. Utterly ridiculous… History being my advocate, you can see that from time immemorial, wars have been fought in the name of God. Starting from as early as the Crusades, Christians and Muslims killing each other for religious superiority and strength, came the war of the Christian Jew division… These wars have profound repercussions on the events of the world still… Even today, a devout Catholic cannot tolerate a Muslim in church... The Jews cannot forgive the Christians for the cruelties inflicted upon them in not only early times after Christ but even during the horrific times of World War II… I ask you…Weren’t the merciless killings of millions of Jews a colossal example of religious intolerance?? My friends, can you point to any wars which have occurred or are likely to occur between POLYTHEISTIC believers? Taoists against Buddhists? Animists of one sort against animists of another? I don't think so. James Hillman suggests that we ought to think hard about that case. I think he's absolutely right. Close to home… The Babri Masjid controversy was the finest example of religious prejudice in India… A fight over where previously a Hindu temple stood… It was hard to digest, how could a mosque replace the so called prestigious throne of the Hindu Gods?? Riots, mass killings, a state of utter chaos, all because a place of holy worship was not agreed upon by the “pious” Hindus… Shocking isn't it?? These are not the only instances of religious conflicts; time restricts me to narrate this endless list of wrong doings committed on the basis of religion... Ireland, Nigeria, Iran, Afghanistan, Burundi, Kashmir and Sri Lanka are just the tip of the iceberg….My friends, religion knows no bounds in promoting hatred among its embracers… Whether it be conflicts among the Protestant or Catholics of Christianity, The Sunni and the Shi’a clans of Muslims… The endless Hindu groups… All these groups are eventually killing their brothers of the world and religion has blindfolded them into believing that this is actually a good thing…Outrageous… Now I vie deeper into what prompts these people into being so violent and merciless at a point of time… According to me it’s the Holy books which are actually supposed to show how to achieve peace and tranquility… Ironic isn’t it?? Let me talk of my religion first… The Mahabharata…. An epic exhibiting a colossal war… Having elements such as lust, hatred, jealousy and, of course, violence… We as children are taught to live by the values specified in these books and if these very books exemplify values of hatred, lust and violence we’ll grow to be peace loving people right?? The Ramayana says war is justified if it results in the defeat of evil… Mr. George W. Bush says the same thing… But how many of us are really convinced by his antics in Office?? None here… Christians next…The violence exhibited in the crucifiction of Christ is known to us all… Children are taught the bible in school… what do you expect them to learn from this?? Another example; the documentary Jesus Camp; it walks you through the religious sect of an Evangelist church. In the documentary itself, you have a clear view of their extremist beliefs. Remember that I am showing you how our religions or no less extreme than those of terrorists (eventually violent people). Evangelists sacrifice their children to God much like extremist families do... and we say religion doesn’t spur violent feelings... PSHAW..!!! I must mention here that I am not an anti-religious freak of any sort… I stand here to state the facts which I fell are necessary for the development of this world as an integrated unit… No hard feelings people… My friends, a man can lose fame and fortune and still accept the world and its cruelties but no man stands idle when the very faith in God with which he fights the world upon is made a mockery of… THIS is what results in problems… The deterioration of ideological beliefs… Finally I would like state that we cannot be dogmatic about the role religion plays in influencing the people it embraces…. And being ignorant and not doing so is a cookbook of recipes headed towards destruction.