IS RELIGION REALLY EVIL? - (originally published in Vanguard)
That is a fact. People have committed atrocities, discrimination, murder, hatred, rape under the disguise of religion and in the name of God. Osama Bin Laden is killing people in the name of God. Mullah Omar and the Taliban have denied women education and freedom in the name of God. David Koresh, “the last prophet” of Waco Texas, raped and physically abused young children in the name of religion.
Bob Jones Christian University refused to enroll black students until 1971 and forbade interracial dating until 2000 based on religious beliefs; “that God intended segregation of the races and that the scripture forbids interracial marriage.” Pat Robertson and Jeremiah Wright preached hatred, intolerance, discrimination all in the name of God Almighty!
Esther my friend has avoided her mom for over 10 years. “Witch craft is not my portion” she insists. Their relationship has been strained ever since her 83-year old father passed away. Their pastor insists he was killed by his wife, Esther’s mom .
“That is what happens when a Christian marries a Muslim, light and darkness don’t mix” he explains. It didn’t matter that he was elderly, diabetic and with a bad heart.
Between 1933 and 1945, six million innocent people including children were tortured, and massacred by the Nazis in Germany. Some sent to humiliating concentration camps where they were subjected to agonizing mental maltreatments.
Their only crime; they were Jews! On September 11, 2001 the landscape and mind set of America were changed forever when 3000 innocent people were murdered in their primes by fanatic lunatics fighting the “holy war” jihad in the name of Allah.
In 2009, Nigeria saw a blood bath, again, in the name of God when some idiots decided to kill innocent people in an attempt to stop the advancement of western technology. The leader of the faceless cult Boko Haram was “accidentally” killed in a crossfire by the Nigerian Military. Found in his possession were 6 or more different cellular phones… the same technology he was fighting to abolish!
A friend once proudly told me that he knows Nigerians could be fraudsters, con artists, drug peddlers, 419s but that “they will never blow themselves up.” Those were the good old days before Umar Farouk AbdulMutallab, a privileged son of a wealthy Nigerian decided to upgrade Nigerian CV to include international terrorism when he attempted to blow up flight 253 from Amsterdam to Detroit in the name of Allah. What a shame!
There is no ideological justification for strapping explosives in your underwear; just plain craziness and stupidity. AbdulMutallab can now meet his 70 virgins without his balls! Since he has successfully castrated himself, he should be a beautiful bride to his fellow inmate Richard Reid, the shoe-bomber. Underwear bomber meets shoe bomber.
The fact that he still has any teeth left speaks volume about American kindness. Were that to be in Nigeria, there would have been rubber tires around his neck and his burnt corpse deposited along the road. Better still, his body would have been ridden by “accidental discharge” by the Nigerian Police.
May be religion is not the problem after all, just a few deranged criminals using the name of God to commit atrocities. Food for thought.
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by obi amaefule on
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it is thought provoking, but same time very complicating. right 4rm the early christains to the early church, the coming together as a universal(catholic) church, to the fight and extermination of the so labelled "heretics"(Gnostics) whose crime were only their believe by way of there own intellectual interpretation of the early books(materials) before the assemblage of the present day Bible.
alot of persecution, suppression and killings of other voices except those that the church and govt of the day wanted to hear. likewise the rise of islam, similar killings and oppressions for non believers. who is wrong and right is a question that is yet to be proven. these same problems led to the present thinker groups we have today in today's Christianity and Islam.
but that some individuals and group of people use religion as a weapon to discriminate, oppress, hate, kill and other form of despicable ways is a matter of individual understanding of the faith, in most cases not even based on the books passed down to us by our earlier preachers but by the radicalism of religion based on their own ideologies. then the more of this radical ideology gained ground the more it grows wild and out of proportion. unfortunately presently is has been hijacked by individuals, government politicians and leaders, business communities, group of people for personal agendas using millions of vulnerable people which are always in large supply.
is religion to blame? yes and No.
Yes, cos it all started by the early teachers and preachers. the wars, discriminations, oppressions that went along side with the spreading of the religion by their proponents. People have seen it as a potent weapon to use for personal agendas. and it's not gonna stop.
No, cos no matter what we are and our believes, if u dont want to be used, nobody can use u. no matter how much somebody tries to convince us. there are a lot of alternative ways of solving problems and getting our messages across to the wider audience than resorting to what we are used to today.
whether in Nigeria or elsewhere, nothing can justify any form of killing by any guise. what is religion? and what make up this religion? look up and down, it's very simple answer, people. at times two or three people will sit around table to formulate and take decisions on life and death of people as it suits them. May the unseen being(God) deliver us.
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Permalink Reply by Kate Ayakor on
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God original intension for man wse not evil. Lusifa brought evil. For as many that get entangled in evil in the name of God are not doing it for God but for theri father Lusifa(satan)
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Permalink Reply by Charles Ugochukwu Okere on
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Your last parapgraph aptly sums it up: Religion is not the problem and has never been the problem of man. man is rather the problem of religion because man has abused religion and has gone ahead to pursue his own selfish course to the detriment of religion. From the book of Genesis to Revelation (i dont know of other religious books), I have never come across where the Bible commanded man to kill his neighbour whether a believer or non-believer. The Bible rather condems blood shed under any guise. Therefore, whosover kills, or uses religion to commit attrocity is an agent of darkness. God is love and cannot command any person to kill or maim another in the name of religion. So those who kill in the name of religion are on their own for no man fights for God.
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Permalink Reply by ADENIJI ADEWALE on
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This is a very good one and i love it so much. Religion per se is not evil. It is those that practice it that are evil themselves. What islam or Christianity preaches is love. No religion worth its salt will preach killing and maiming. We all should stop deceiving one another. These idiots brain-washed those that stupidly allow themselves to be brainwashed that when they suicide bomb, and kill themselves, 100 brides will be waiting for them in heaven. I want to ask. Don't they themselves like women? Have they been castrated that they don't want to sleep with these beautiful brides in heaven? If they're not, why don't they kill themselves too so that they could go to heaven and enjoy those gooddies? They're all crazy. Abdul-Muttallab is mentally sick. These nincompoops don't like any western things yet they buy exotic cars, live in beautiful houses, watch TVs and yet they don't want anything western because they're made by christians. Bunch of mad people. Religion, with emphasy on Christianity and Islam is not evil because none of the two preches evil. Those that are evil are you and i who manipulate what Bible and Quiran says to deceive people for our personal gains.
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Permalink Reply by Tunde on
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Religion is not evil!
Evil people are evil.
There is only one God.
Religion is for teaching about God.
And God is good all the time!
Some human being have evil nature in their life style, and uses religion as cover, to do evil act.
In fact, religion do more good for the society. Each one of us can check out the fact about different religion teachings.
For instance, the people that founded America are christian that moved away from there own original homeland, because of persecutions. Then, finally settle down in America . This same people, set the foundation for the Democractic system, that the world are experiencing now. The source of these American founders idea is from their religious background.
It is only a matter of time, evil people that are using religion as excuse to commit evil act will be exposed.
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Religion is not problem of mankind. Mankind is rather the problem of religion. We use religion to the detriment of ourselves, whereas it is supposed to an instrument of access to God and betterment of mankind. What an abuse!
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Permalink Reply by Ed Wasini on
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If religion is not the problem for mankind,then what is it?
Peace.
Charles Ugochukwu Okere said:Religion is not problem of mankind. Mankind is rather the problem of religion. We use religion to the detriment of ourselves, whereas it is supposed to an instrument of access to God and betterment of mankind. What an abuse!
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Most people do not understand the bible nor the quran.
They waste their energies by going to the church or mosque which are just normal buildings.
They are coded scriptures and the ignorant minds can't decode them.
The Bible is the Book of Emancipation of Man.Emancipation of man from sorrow, sickness, poverty, fear, ignorance, limitation, and finally from death.
Here is are examples from the bible and the true meanings;
1.As a token of the covenant with God, Abraham has all males in his household circumcised, Latin for(cutting off). This act is symbolic of the cutting off of our lower animal nature. In the New Testament, it is to be accomplished Spiritually, as the purification of the Consciousness which set one free from all sensual, corruptible thoughts. Circumcision is that of the Heart, in the Spirit not in the letter. Romans 2:29.
2.That every male be circumcised Gen 17:10; simply means Purification of Consciousness.
3.And in the midst of the throne,and round about the throne,were four Beastsfull of eyes before and behind Revelation 4:6;simply means "The Four Ideas Of Creation;Word,Time,Space and Atom.
Anyone who truly seek God can do that in their bedroom,sitting room or any quiet place.
The Light of God is within you;why go before an ignorant preacher who knows nothing.
Literal translations of these scriptures is like;the blind leading the blind into welter of ignorance,superstition and delusion.Religion is an Enemy of the people.
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If there is no religion, what will this world be like?
Who/what will be the center point, when it come to maintaining law and order in that society?
Note:
The true religion will help to re - awaking our human conscience that seems dull now due to our ignorant.
As i have mentioned earlier, the Democracy founder get their wisdom through inspiration from God`s teaching.
The teaching that value all human being as sons and daughters of God. May God continue to guide them all. Amen!!!
Even though religious people are not perfected individuals yet, but they can grow/develop in wisdom from time to time.
In the Bible; people of old testament age are different from new- testament age people, so also in our present age, we are not in the same situation as people of new testament age. Every age brings spiritual and physical development.
People that use religion as cover or excuse to commit evil act will pass away with time. Generation go, generation come.
God has a plan for mankind and He will fulfil it with time! AMEN!!!
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Permalink Reply by Mavos on
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What a controversy this topic has generated! I was forced to look at the profile of the contributor,only to learn later she wasn't the author. Well, she must have committed the offence of not giving credit to the author ignorantly,and perhaps,her intention was not to take the credit but to share an info she considered useful. If F.G,the author of this intellectual piece,has accepted her apology and found it in his heart to forgive her,so let it be. For we all make mistakes so many times. For Angela,the lady that brot the info,pls I must say,take everything that has transpired as a learning experience. Don't be discouraged. The 1st time and only time I made such mistake was in a project work,and my intelligent Lecturer and Supervisor, now late,disciplined me. I learnt my lessons;so we all learn by making mistakes. Nobody,I repeat, nobody, is above mistakes. But the important thing is to be humble enof to say 'I'm sorry'.
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Preaching Truths to an Ignorant is like feeding a venemous serpent with milk.
Peace and Love.
Tunde said:If there is no religion, what will this world be like?
Who/what will be the center point, when it come to maintaining law and order in that society?
Note:
The true religion will help to re - awaking our human conscience that seems dull now due to our ignorant.
As i have mentioned earlier, the Democracy founder get their wisdom through inspiration from God`s teaching.
The teaching that value all human being as sons and daughters of God. May God continue to guide them all. Amen!!!
Even though religious people are not perfected individuals yet, but they can grow/develop in wisdom from time to time.
In the Bible; people of old testament age are different from new- testament age people, so also in our present age, we are not in the same situation as people of new testament age. Every age brings spiritual and physical development.
People that use religion as cover or excuse to commit evil act will pass away with time. Generation go, generation come.
God has a plan for mankind and He will fulfil it with time! AMEN!!!
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Permalink Reply by charles amobi nwokoro on
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I believe that religion is a personal thing and not really collective.Personal relationship with your God.Its very ignorant people that make it a collective thing in the real sence of it.
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