Advertisement
Guest User

Why religion is bad

a guest
Sep 1st, 2015
155
0
Never
Not a member of Pastebin yet? Sign Up, it unlocks many cool features!
text 4.11 KB | None | 0 0
  1. I am often asked, "Why are you so against religion?". It's hard to give a single sentence answer like the semi-curious person expects because there are a multitude of reasons behind my belief that can't be easily summarised into a short response. Because of that I am forced to say "I'm not against religion, I just disagree with aspects of it." - I guess you could say I disagree with almost all aspects of religion as a whole. However perhaps this is the opportunity I can take to truly explain, why I am so against religion.
  2.  
  3. Religion, at its roots seems as though it's something that could benefit societies, right? Preaching acceptance and love "Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself" - however, does this extend to the neighbours that don't share the same religious beliefs? Religion promotes enclosed societies and 'tribalism'. "Heretic", "Heathen" and "Infidel", all of these are terms started by various religions to describe unbelievers. Religion teaches its followers to be wary of people outside of the religion, to be suspicious and assume they have negative intentions. As the Koran says "They wish that you disbelieve as they disbelieve, and then you would be equal; therefore take not to yourselves friends of them,". The King James Version of the Bible states “Be ye not unequally yoked with unbelievers,” which as translated into the New American Standard Version, says “Do not be bound together with unbelievers”. Religion doesn’t promote beneficial communities and societies, that is, of course, unless everyone in said society is also religious - and considering it’s estimated that 36% of the world's population do not associate with any religion, it’s rather silly to be so fastidious about such an aspect of one's life. In the nicest way of looking at such statements in the various holy texts, religion can be seen as ‘warning’ it’s followers of friendships, relationships and associations with non-believers or even outright forbidding them. In a more sinister light, you could argue that outsiders are viewed as ‘enemies’ of God, people that lack morality or trust.
  4.  
  5. LINK THESE TWO PARAGRAPHS
  6.  
  7. Furthermore, a common phrase heard around religious communities is "Let go and Let God", a series of words with the intention of providing relief and relaxation to struggling people. Relief, relaxation and... Resignation? Poverty - almost half the world, a shocking 3 billion people, live on an amount less than US$2.50 a day. Surely this isn't the "work of God" but rather an issue caused by obvious flaws in global economy, an issue that could be fixed by looking at the way money and employment is dealt with world wide. It's simply a meagre excuse to put it down to "The Lord working in mysterious ways". Religion has caused a self-destructive mentality for resignation and helplessness that has spread across society like a God-created disease-causing bacteria. In multiple religions, such as Christianity, Islam, and Judaism, women are often seen as much more virtuous if they let their religion and God manage the way not only their lives are run, but that of their families too. Followers of religion don’t actively try to solve their own problems - instead they leave it for God to deal with, it’s not their problem and God will fix everything for them. In essence, religion makes people leave their issues and their struggles, let them fester and grow into more and more serious matters because they believe that some ‘deity’ of theirs will fix everything as long as they’re kind to family, friends and participate in their religious community. This extends further than just personal issues and situations, and delves far into the depths of society as a whole - (continue this/finish at a later date)
  8.  
  9. LINK HERE
  10.  
  11. The utter devotion to their belief and opinion, the little sparkle in their eyes as they tell you about all the good aspect, the denial of all the bad. Is this religion that we're talking about or a brand such as 'Apple' or 'Star Wars'? Perhaps it's both, perhaps it's one in the same. At the end of the day, from the beginning of time, religion has been a man-made institution exactly as for-profit corporations are.
Advertisement
Add Comment
Please, Sign In to add comment
Advertisement