Monday, November 23, 2009
Religion
Although religion is a source of inspiration for many, it’s also one of the biggest causes for division and discrimination today. I was raised Catholic and I went to Catholic school up until high school, and some of the things I “learned” there were just ridiculous. One of my teachers told us that ying-yangs meant that “good was evil and evil was good” (insanity!!!) and that the “peace” symbol was actually Jesus hanging upside-down on the cross (when it actually started out as a symbol against nuclear weapons). They gave us a bunch of pages worth of different symbols and musical groups that were “evil” and “immoral”. They also told us that if we didn’t believe in Catholicism, and accept Jesus as our “savior” (I never understood what this meant) we would burn in hell for all eternity. That doesn’t sound like a very forgiving God to me, which is also something they taught (God is all-loving). I feel like that even though I realized that what they were saying was crazy, there were other kids in my class that didn’t know any better because their parents were just as fanatical as my teachers were. Though when I think of some of the things I “learned” as pretty funny now that I am older, it is also kind of scary in the sense that this type of education is still going on and is even more extreme in some places. This can be seen in the real world by the way of the Israel/Palestine situation. Many of the Jews and Muslims in the region think their religion is the most “righteous” one (just like Catholics!) and it is perpetuated further by their education systems, which are basically teaching ignorance and discrimination against the “wrong” religion (Both sides are taught that the other side is sneaky and unworthy of trust). This causes both sides of the war to blindly follow what their leaders tell them and to not think about the individuals on both sides of the story that are working for peace. Religion can be an extremely positive thing, as can be seen by religious people volunteering to help others (I went to Baltimore to give away food to the homeless with my school), but it’s just very strange to me because many of the people that want to go to war are also extremely religious.
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Religion is always going to be a pretty sticky subject. I think that it's really a guiding force in a lot of peoples' lives, but I also think that people can take it way too far when they attempt to try to impose it on those around them, even when they obviously don't subscribe to the same belief system. I'm having trouble thinking of anything that's more annoying than being told that because you're in violation of someone else's beliefs (rather than something concrete like law), you deserve to be punished in some way.
ReplyDeleteParticularly with the Westboro Baptists and their picketing outside of homosexual funerals, it just turns my stomach and makes me wonder what bible they were reading to breed such a depth of intolerance!
I have to agree with you that religion causes division and discrimination but it’s a way for people to stay sane and distinguish basic things that are right and wrong. Due to the diversity of people in the world and the many differences in beliefs among the diversity it can create a chaotic environment. If someone chooses to believe something then that’s entirely their choice and should be free to believe so but people should make up stuff that they don’t know is true and teach it to other people. And every religion teaches for its followers to do “good deeds” and many times people do stray away from that concept because of other differences in religion and people think their own religion is right and that’s when conflict occurs.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Ben Boswell when he says that religion becomes a problem when we try to force beliefs on someone else. Sunday is the most segregated day in America because of religion. Religion has caused some people to kill for example the suicide bombers. In the study of Christianity was "brain washed" to believe that all were going to hell if they did not accept Christ as there savor, including the people who have never heard of Christ. If religion continues as it has; this world will always be separated.
ReplyDeleteReligion IS a touchy subject and I don't like to get into the discussion of it because Im not an arguer, and many times when you discuss religion with someone of a differnt religion, it turns into just that. Because everyone thinks that their religion is the right one. And I feel you shouldn't argue about GOD's word. Like you said, GOD is a loving GOD! I feel he loves us all no matter what religion we choose, as long as our hearts are good, and we believe in and faith in him. I also have never understood why some religions teach that GOD would allow for his children whom he created, to burn in hell forever and ever! That's a little insane to me! Not a GOD who the bible teaches is a "loving" GOD. I don't believe it! However, that's what many religions teach. The bible also says that GOD reads the heart,so back to what I said before, no matter what religion we choose, I feel if our hearts are good and we try to live by GOD's word (the bible)as close as we possibly can, he accepts us.
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