WHY IS RELIGION BAD?

What’s wrong with a little religion, anyway? I’ve put together a list of what I think Is wrong with a little religion (because its influence isn't as little as it might look):

1) War: (not in the distant past – NOW) (not only in distant countries; i.e., war on pro-lifers/homosexuals) War is always wrong. The Holy Crusades of the tenth and twelfth centuries are one famous example, but religious wars are still going on – check the news. Religion also provides Divine justification for the subjugation of other races and even ‘other’ genders. By this I mean that religious belief is responsible for the subjugation of women which is still being practiced all over the world. The fact that we don’t hear about it very often here in America is inexplicable and unfair, but women are still being denied the right to vote and in some places aren’t allowed to leave their homes without the accompaniment of a male.

2) Science stops here; The belief that Man is not meant to know some things (such as, in the past, what was inside the human body) can stalemate science for centuries.
a) Psychic phenomenon can be disproven by scientists, but prayer and miracles, according to the religious, can’t.

b) Medicine as the enemy: in making science/medicine the enemy, the church is allowing (actually encouraging) children to die for want of care. This is a shameful use of power over children, often done under the auspices of "protecting them"! The religious don’t seem to realize how cruel and insane that is!

c) It's impossible to estimate how many times mankind has suffered terrible losses because things were "being left in God's hands." And it seems quite unfair that religion will use science when it suits the purpose.

3) Indoctrination of children: Let’s talk about the emotional, physical, sexual and spiritual abuse (which again, is not new). Let’s talk about teaching our little ones not to question anything the church says, including “Let’s go to war,” “Man is not meant to know some things,” “You don’t need medical care, you need more faith.” Yet the Bible teaches that "Faith is a gift," and we're taught it's not nice to ask for more gifts. What terrible puzzles we give them to unwind! Whether for good or bad, the children of religious parents will carry these experiences well into adulthood, perhaps to the end of their lives, without every thinking them through.

It’s very common among the religious to hear the defense that the teaching, for example, of evolution, shouldn’t be allowed because their children shouldn’t be exposed to such ideas. Perhaps this is because they realize that if given all the options, their children could very well chose to believe in evolution. This pre-emptive strike against the intellect of the child is another shameful misuse of power, and I can’t see any other reason for it than that they’re afraid their own case won’t hold up. If the religious disagree with evolution, why don’t they set out to prove it? Would God not provide them with evidence? And while we're near the subject, prohibiting things you consider offensive is not concern for the welfare or rights of others, it is CENSORSHIP.

And exposure to knowledge that homosexuals exist does not turn children into homosexuals. Science has shown us that there are differences in brain structure, to cite one example, between homosexuals and heterosexuals – that it may be a natural difference, formed before birth. If you won’t believe the science, believe the parents who find that through no fault of their own or the child’s, some children just come into the world differently-sexed. A survey of adult homosexuals reveals that they “have always known” they were different. It would appear that in condemning all homosexuals, we condemn our children to a life of shame and misery before they’re even old enough to have words for it, especially if it’s not something they’d choose to be if they had a choice. You had no control over what you were when you left the womb. Neither do they.

In studies of rats, it’s been shown that overcrowding can lead to increased homosexuality. If this is true, our children may be born homosexual because we live in overcrowded conditions, and the fault lies entirely with the parents, for living that way.

But wait a minute, what’s wrong with homosexuality anyway? It didn’t get a mention among the Biblical commandments. It turns out that the judgment of ‘wrongness’ comes not from God, but from the laws of man. One theory is that in overpopulous cities, especially in ancient times, there were so many homosexuals that the government feared there would be a very small next generation to tax. Homosexuals were executed as an example of what would happen if one didn’t get married and start producing children. It may be that homosexuality is just nature’s pretty handy way to reduce overpopulation when the ecosystem gets unbalanced. If you dislike homosexuals so much, try taking the larger view; at least they won’t reproduce, and maybe they'll raise some of our unwanted children.

4) Indoctrination of Indigenes: (still going on today); the church will teach you English, dress you in American clothes, and grant you both forgiveness for everything you’ve ever done wrong, plus eternal life, if you do – and think – exactly as they say to do. All you have to give up is your language, your culture, your art, your crafts, your heritage. The religious don’t seem to realize how uncharitable - and UNWISE - that is!

These behaviors are selfish and sanctimonious. If missionaries are afraid natives will say something they won’t understand, why don’t they use the peaceful and respectful expedient of learning the language of the natives?

Here is a truth; listen! People of other faiths believe in their gods just as much as you believe in yours. Their gods promise them a paradisial afterlife, protects them, and answers their prayers, just as yours does. The fact that they believe in a god by a different name doesn’t make them evil. Like you, they’re sincere believers just trying to get through this life, trying to make a living, raising their families as best they can. Zealous religious leaders on both sides invoke the ‘evil’ card because it makes them a good living, not to mention winning the adoration of the crowd. That doesn’t make it real, or right. And who says God only appeared to one people in one place, during one period of history, in this vast universe over all of which He rules?

Other religions are not the opposite of yours, they are the same. These ‘others’ believe in a god who is just and merciful, have a moral code based on the same needs, are prayerful and sincere in their devotions. If your god is infinite, can’t you accept that he may be known by different names in different languages/cultures? Why would you resent them for worshiping in their own way? Why is it any of your business how they worship? All religions agree that god is the source of all good things. All their prophets and holy teachers (and/or messiahs) agree that one should be honest, treat one’s fellows well, and be the best human one can be. How can this be reconciled with the idea that we should kill each other? Any religion that has caused war to be made should be ashamed of itself.

5) The church pays no taxes; This is the Mother of All Loopholes, and probably causes the rise of as many “religions” as true belief. And it’s not that the church is poor. Every year American churches rake in an average of 630 billion dollars (and that figure doesn't even include special funds or projects - just the basic tithing).

6) The church wiggles its way around the law: suicide is a crime, euthanasia is a crime, so why isn’t it a crime to handle (allegedly) poisonous snakes and encourage others to do so? Shouldn’t that be illegal, too? And why don’t they ever ‘wrangle’ snakes in the wild? Because they’d actually BE poisonous?

7) The image of the Virgin Mary; last seen on the side of an SUV, rendered in bird poop. Is this guy allowed to wash his car now? Will people bow in prayer when it passes? What ever happened to that Jesus potato chip? Did it rot away? If so, is it still holy? It’s toast or traffic signs or some new crazy thing every week. When the non-religious hallucinate like this, they’re arrested. The religious don’t seem to realize how insane this looks!

8) WE WILL BE SAVED: Perhaps the most destructive belief of all is that God will come to Earth in all His glory and fix everything. He will force peace among nations, and presumably remediate the environmental damage humans have caused. This belief may cause the religious to think it’s not our job (because it’s not possible, or because it’s not our ‘place’) to make peace among nations. And peace is like any other goal; you can’t get there if you don’t try. The same is true for environmental remediation. We may not be able to undo everything we’ve done to our planet, but if we don’t even try, believing some higher power will eventually do it for us, we have failed to fix anything by failing to try. There may be some justice to be found in this attitude after all. If the earth suffers a prolonged warming period and many species die, the harm to the planet itself may be minimal. It’s possible the environment will equalize itself again in a few hundred thousand years or so, but it’s not unlikely that one of the species to be lost will be human. So the problem will be ‘fixed,’ and new species will no doubt evolve to fill our niche. One can only hope they will be wiser than we. Even if humans survive the new conditions we’ve hastened to create, the extreme loss of life, the loss of our civilization and probable loss of our history could make these descendents unrecognizable. Will they still believe in a god? And if so, would we recognize him?

If you believe instead that aliens are coming to help us, the same argument holds true, but with a twist. I would only add that unless extra-terrestrials are a lot more altruistic than we are, they’ll probably wait until we’ve wiped ourselves out before coming to claim this beautiful and unique planet for themselves. Why would they bother to make war on us, further damaging the planet, when with a little patience, it can be theirs with no effort at all?

9)PRAYING FOR PEACE: Certainly it would seem that no harm could come from such a prayer, but that may not be true. Those who are praying for peace are not inspired to go out and make it happen, but are content to leave it in God’s hands. Well, we've been praying for peace for centuries, and it's no closer now than it was then.

If all we really have is each other, think of the time wasted praying for peace, and think of what would have happened if all those hours of praying had been spent DOING.