9/11. Attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon kill 3,000 people. Attacks carried out by Arab terrorists in the name of Islam. Islam.........a religion. It caused me to do some thinking. Some thinking about all the suffering and death that religion and religious beliefs have caused humankind. All the death and destruction in the name of religion.
From the beginning of man's history, religious belief has caused suffering and death. Surely, the caveman that refused to bow down to the tribe's holy totem was thrown off a cliff or into a fire. Offending the gods was punishable by death. Early Chrisitians were thrown to the lions. During the crusades, millions of Muslims and Jews and other "non-believers" were slaughtered. Cities were burned to the ground. All in the name of religion. The Jews have been persecuted constantly just
because they were Jews. The Nazis killed over six million of them. Thousands of people died during the Spanish Inquisition. All in the name of religion. The Mayans, Aztecs and Incans all made human sacrifices to their gods. The Japanese conducted human wave attacks and kamikaze raids, willing to sacrifice their lives for the emperor.....their living god. Cult leaders have been able to get people to kill themselves or others; Jonestown, Waco, the Tate/Bianca murders. All because of religious beliefs.
Some religions advocate the death and destruction of "non-believers". Religious texts refer to these heretics as dogs and infidels. Some branches of Christianity preach that those that believe in and accept Jesus Christ as their lord and saviour will have everlasting life. All others will perish and be cast into a lake of fire for all eternity. In another religion, a person that blows himelf up along with 70 other people in a crowded marketplace is a martyr. He will instantly find himself in paradise. In some religions, if you marry a non-believer you can be stoned to death for adultery; if you convert to another religion and refuse to renounce that religion, you can be hanged.
We are told what to believe and how to worship by our religious leaders. Yet they sexually molest young children and are caught with prostitutes in seedy motel rooms. Ordaining female ministers in one religion resulted in many churches breaking away from that religion. In another, female priests are automatically excommunicated. Few religions condone homosexuality, being gay is a sin. The supreme being is portrayed as vain and
vengeful. "Worship me or suffer eternal damnation." I believe that if there is a god, he is kind and loving with arms open to all. I cannot believe that the little boy in China is doomed because he has Buddha on his dresser. I cannot believe that the 68% of the world's population that don't recognize the Chrisitian god are doomed. I can't believe that all the people that aren't Muslims are doomed. But this is what religion teaches.
Imagine there's no heaven
It's easy if you try
No hell below us
Above us only sky
Imagine all the people
Living for today
Imagine there's no countries
It isn't hard to do
Nothing to kill or die for
And no religion too
Imagine all the people
Living life in peace
Imagine no possessions
I wonder if you can
No need for greed or hunger
A brotherhood of man
Imagine all the people
Sharing all the world
You may think I'm a dreamer
But I'm not the only one
I hope someday you'll join us
And the world will live as one
----John Lennon
From the beginning of man's history, religious belief has caused suffering and death. Surely, the caveman that refused to bow down to the tribe's holy totem was thrown off a cliff or into a fire. Offending the gods was punishable by death. Early Chrisitians were thrown to the lions. During the crusades, millions of Muslims and Jews and other "non-believers" were slaughtered. Cities were burned to the ground. All in the name of religion. The Jews have been persecuted constantly just
because they were Jews. The Nazis killed over six million of them. Thousands of people died during the Spanish Inquisition. All in the name of religion. The Mayans, Aztecs and Incans all made human sacrifices to their gods. The Japanese conducted human wave attacks and kamikaze raids, willing to sacrifice their lives for the emperor.....their living god. Cult leaders have been able to get people to kill themselves or others; Jonestown, Waco, the Tate/Bianca murders. All because of religious beliefs.Some religions advocate the death and destruction of "non-believers". Religious texts refer to these heretics as dogs and infidels. Some branches of Christianity preach that those that believe in and accept Jesus Christ as their lord and saviour will have everlasting life. All others will perish and be cast into a lake of fire for all eternity. In another religion, a person that blows himelf up along with 70 other people in a crowded marketplace is a martyr. He will instantly find himself in paradise. In some religions, if you marry a non-believer you can be stoned to death for adultery; if you convert to another religion and refuse to renounce that religion, you can be hanged.
We are told what to believe and how to worship by our religious leaders. Yet they sexually molest young children and are caught with prostitutes in seedy motel rooms. Ordaining female ministers in one religion resulted in many churches breaking away from that religion. In another, female priests are automatically excommunicated. Few religions condone homosexuality, being gay is a sin. The supreme being is portrayed as vain and
vengeful. "Worship me or suffer eternal damnation." I believe that if there is a god, he is kind and loving with arms open to all. I cannot believe that the little boy in China is doomed because he has Buddha on his dresser. I cannot believe that the 68% of the world's population that don't recognize the Chrisitian god are doomed. I can't believe that all the people that aren't Muslims are doomed. But this is what religion teaches.Imagine there's no heaven
It's easy if you try
No hell below us
Above us only sky
Imagine all the people
Living for today
Imagine there's no countries
It isn't hard to do
Nothing to kill or die for
And no religion too
Imagine all the people
Living life in peace
Imagine no possessions
I wonder if you can
No need for greed or hunger
A brotherhood of man
Imagine all the people
Sharing all the world
You may think I'm a dreamer
But I'm not the only one
I hope someday you'll join us
And the world will live as one
----John Lennon
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