Pages

Wednesday, September 22, 2010

Religion—Who Needs It?

Do people need religion?

Look at the world around us. There is war, conflict, division, racism, slavery, hate, and many other atrocities that are caused by people who practice one religion or another.

Who needs religion when its existence creates or contributes to, among other things, pain, misery, manipulation, chagrin, division, resentment, caste system, etc.?

No wait! Maybe I should have asked a different question: Who is the cause of these ungodly practices—religion or people? I believe that it is, not religion, but people who are the cause of these ungodly practices.

People do indeed need religion to keep them from committing more heinous acts. When practiced properly, religion averts people from evil and its byproduct. But when misunderstood and used for selfish reasons, religion can become the source of inspiration for the most ungodly and deadliest cruelty.

Now, who needs religion?

Ironically, it is people who consider themselves religious, especially extremists and fanatics, who need religion. I am not talking about religion corrupted by “religious” people, but religion in its authenticity. If and when people practice their religions the way God and the founder of their respective religion wanted it to be understood and practiced, there will be no more war, conflict, division, racism, slavery, hate, and the like.

Who needs religion? We all need itin its pure form.

No comments:

Post a Comment