Are priestly class of every religion responsible for all the violence in the world?

Question

Priests of every religion because of the obsession for their own religion, knowingly and unknowingly spread mistrust and hate towards other religions. They think that their almighty is supreme and others are fake so must be converted to their own religion or eliminated. they want to control people minds and pockets in the name of religion and God. And to create fear among the public that they and their religion is at stake is the easiest way to control them.

Answer 1

You are being oversweeping in your generalizations.

There are many religions that are more than happy to accept the divinity of gods in other religions, and therefore would not even go so far as to say that they are right and others wrong.

There are many religions that have no interest in coverting other people, particularly ones that believe in predestination and the like. Those with a firm enough faith in the future likewise take no interest that I've observed in eliminating 'enemies of the faith' - they don't NEED to!

There are many religions who not only do not propogate fear, but are entirely opposed to it. It was a religion that first suggested to me that people should fear nothing because they tend to become what they fear. These are often far more interested in charity than in grasping for money or power. Indeed, it shouldn't be too hard to find hundreds, if not thousands, of charitable movements founded by many different religions, even if you choose to suspect their original motives for starting the charity.

So all in all I think you need to narrow your scope. Your bitterness is not entirely unmeritied - there certainly are religions and religious practitioners who ARE guilty of all the things you accuse. But ALL of them? Not by a long shot.

Answer 2

Only Christian and Muslim priests have fought ever since their inceptions on the grounds of religion and hold records of forcefully converting entire races and generations.
The Buddhist, Hindus, Zorastrians have never converted anybody in any Battle.
Think about it The Romans attacked the Jews and defeated them but never forcefully converted them into Roman Religion
But the Spaniards were forcefully converted by armies of the Church , (use of Spanish Rack)
The Muslim Armies Forced the Zorastrians to escape Iran and now many Zorastrians live in India where they freely practice their Faith.

Answer 3

I really dislike lumping all priests into categories like that, it's stereo-typing and distasteful.

But I do agree that power-hungry people use religion to get others to blindly follow them, and that does include some priests in the past as well as now.

Answer 4

Not all religions have priests. Actually many don't.

Answer 5

The preaching of the gospel is foolishness to those who refuse to believe!

Answer 6

I would disagree with your question.

I don't have a "priest" in my faith (Christianity).

Jesus teaches us to love one another...not violence, love.

Answer 7

mainly responsibility are fundamentalist Muslim's

Answer 8

In the Foreword, Two Thousand Years—The First Millennium: The Birth of Christianity to the Crusades, English writer and broadcaster Melvyn Bragg endorses his words, however, which raises a serious question about whether religion in general really has been a force for good. He says: “Christianity also owes me an explanation.” For what does he want an explanation? “For the bigotry, the wickedness, the inhumanity and the wilful ignorance which has also characterized much of its ‘history,’” he says.

Many would say that bigotry, wickedness, inhumanity, and willful ignorance have marked most of the world’s religions throughout history. Their view is that religion simply poses as a benefactor of mankind—that under its facade of virtue and holiness, it is in reality full of hypocrisy and lies. (Matthew 23:27, 28.) “No statement is more common in our literature than that religion is of peculiar value in connection with civilization,” says A Rationalist Encyclopædia. “And none is more massively discredited by the facts of history,” it continues.

Pick up any newspaper today, and you will find almost endless examples of religious leaders who preach love, peace, and compassion but who fan the flames of hatred and invoke the name of God to legitimize their brutal conflicts. No wonder many people feel that religion is more often than not a destructive force in life.

Better With No Religion?

Some have even concluded, as did English philosopher Bertrand Russell, that it would be good if in time “every kind of religious belief [would] die out.” In their view, the removal of religion is the only lasting solution to all of mankind’s problems. They may choose to forget, however, that those who reject religion can engender just as much hatred and intolerance as those who espouse it. Religion writer Karen Armstrong reminds us: “At the very least, the Holocaust showed that a secularist ideology [can] be just as lethal as any religious crusade.”—The Battle for God—Fundamentalism in Judaism, Christianity and Islam.

Is the solution to those problems to get rid of all religion? Consider what the Bible has to say about this. The answer may surprise you.

“WHEN religion is not encouraging strife it is acting as a drug which numbs the human conscience and fills the human brain with escapist fantasies. . . . It causes human beings to be narrow, superstitious, full of hatred and fear.” The former Methodist missionary who wrote that added: “These charges are true. There is bad and good religion.”—Start Your Own Religion.

Yet, who can deny the facts of history? To a large extent, religion—defined as “the service and worship of God or the supernatural”—has a shocking record. It should enlighten and inspire us. More often than not, however, what it does is engender strife, intolerance, and hatred. Why is that?

It certainly is not just Christendom that has given religion a poor reputation. Think of the fundamentalist versions of “militant piety,” for example, that former nun Karen Armstrong says have been spawned by “every major religious tradition.” According to Armstrong, one crucial test of any religion is that it should lead to “practical compassion.” What has been the record of fundamentalist religions in this regard? “Fundamentalist faith,” she writes, “be it Jewish, Christian, or Muslim, fails this crucial test if it becomes a theology of rage and hatred.” (The Battle for God—Fundamentalism in Judaism, Christianity and Islam) But is it only the “fundamentalist” brand of religion that has failed this test and become “a theology of rage and hatred”? History shows otherwise.

Satan has, in fact, built up a world empire of false religion, identified by rage, hatred, and almost endless bloodshed. The Bible calls this empire “Babylon the Great, the mother of harlots and of the disgusting things of the earth,” and it is pictured as a prostitute who rides on the back of a beastlike political system. It is noteworthy that she is held accountable for “the blood . . . of all those who have been slaughtered on the earth.”—Revelation 17:4-6; 18:24.

So it is only partly true that religion lies at the root of all of mankind’s problems. False religion does. Yet, God intends to remove all false religion very soon now. (Revelation 17:16, 17; 18:21) His command to anyone who loves justice and righteousness is: “Get out of her (that is, Babylon the Great, the world empire of false religion), my people, if you do not want to share with her in her sins, and if you do not want to receive part of her plagues. For her sins have massed together clear up to heaven, and God has called her acts of injustice to mind.” (Revelation 18:4, 5) Yes, God himself is deeply offended by religion that ‘encourages strife, numbs the human conscience, fills the brain with escapist fantasies, and causes people to be narrow-minded, superstitious, and full of hatred and fear.’

In the meantime, God is gathering into the pure religion those who love truth. It is the religion that adheres to the principles and teachings of a loving, just, and compassionate Creator. (Micah 4:1, 2; Zephaniah 3:8, 9; Matthew 13:30.) You can be part of it. If you would like more information on how to identify pure religion, feel free to contact Jehovah’s Witnesses at the local Kingdom Hall. Or visit http://www.watchtower.org

Answer 9

yes they are the one who can do something about the war

Answer 10

Well, before this is over, whoever you are, and you're probably bogus, you'll wish you had!