Why do all religions cause so many of the problems on this planet? Why is religion so evil?

Question

And before you uneducated Christians try to plead innocence, Christians were some of the most evil of all in the middle ages.

Answer 1

Each religion thinks they are the promised ones and at least one of their crowd talks to their GOD and re reassures them they are the ones. Then their God tells them it is OK to kill the other people.

Answer 2

First of all religions are an organization of falible mortal men and women. Men and women who do not necessarily practice what they preach.

In the case of Chrisitianity, it clearly had fallen into the prophecied apostacy during the middleages. (See Matt 7:15 and 2 Thes 2:3) Much has been done bring the religion of Jesus Christ back into conformance with his gospel in the years since those dark times, both inside and outside of the Catholic Church. Whether or not those changes and improvements have been adequate in the eyes of God are another question.

Jesus declared, "Not every one that saith unto me Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my father which is in heaven. (Matthew 7:21)

There have clearly been people in every religion, sometimes even leaders, who while professing to represent God, have gone their own way. (Isaiah 53:6) This is inevitable when we organize mortals into groups.

Some religions have gone to great lengths to ensure that the institution is protected from the foibles of it's membership. This is as it should be. Religions which haven't are suffering the consquences of their compromise.

I believe that true religion is yet found upon the earth and if you search you will find it. Jesus gave you a clue when he said, "By thier fruits, ye shall know them" (Matt 7:20) In his sermon on the mount he gave many of the things you should look for:

Do they (as an organization, not necessarily all members):
Turn the other cheek,
Go the extra mile,
Love their enemies,
Suffer persecution
Love God and their neighbors
Care for the poor
Keep God's commandments.....?

Are they:
Humble
Meek
Forgiving
Prayerful
Faithful.....?

If they are, they will not be envolved in the evil which has you so disgusted. They may on occasion have members who are, but true religion will take steps to eradicate that as well.

Answer 3

I think religion is or was intended to bring communities together. Give people something to believe in - well that's what I gathered from studying archaeology and anthropology. Unfortunately, i think religion has lost its way in our societies and lives, because of the people behind it. So many different religions, and hardly any of them agree.. They can't all be right, they can't al be wrong. Its the extremists we must watch out for.. I can't believe people say we're racist and bigoted in this country, after watching an episode of dispatches -"undercover mosque" The things the extremists were saying about people of other cultures and religions - they sounded so barbaric.. I'm agnostic, but I often wish no one had come up with the idea of religion, its caused more trouble than good in our little world.. There's just so much hatred generated from it.

Answer 4

Like all the great religions the essence of Islam is pure and set out for the benevolence of mankind. It is only human beings that take the helm of affairs and corrupt that essence for their own purposes and bring it down to a man made concept or even business of religion. It is this aspect that brings about turmoil and conflict in all religions so let’s not blame Mohamed, Lord Jesus, Guru Nanak, Buddha, Lao Tzu, Lord Krishna or any other great saint or incarnation for the state of affairs we have created so far. It would be far better for members of each religion to study the essence of another religion and see the stark similarities that exist rather than the pretext of claiming ones own religion is the only way. As the Great William Blake told the world “All religions are one”.

Kind Regards Sean

Answer 5

Religion is not evil. People are evil. It's human nature to belong or be a part of a group. Religions are groups with a common purpose and agenda in their worship of God. If someone is a member of another faith and worships in a different way, they are automatically a target for other groups. It's the same way with politics, as you well know. As long as you believe in God, you don't even need a religion. But if you are a member of a church, practice your faith and don't pay any attention to what others say or think about you or your religion. God intended for us to all worship him together, but unfortunately that's not the way it is.

Answer 6

Religion doesn't have a monopoly on causing problems in the world, check out the former Soviet Union, communist China and Cambodia (to name a few) - all states that wouldn't allow any form of religion.

In answer to your questions:

1. Because people of evil intent attempt to justify their actions through a twisting of religion.

2. It isn't, on the whole. People, though, can be.

Answer 7

Religions don't really cause the problems on the planet. It may seem that way because so many of the problems are spoken of in religious terms.

The problems are caused by peoples drive to power. We have an atavistic sort of territoriality about us, and we want to control as many resources as we can. This tends to make us aggressive in our approach to others who might currently have control over those resources. If on the other hand, we control the resources, we will tend to be extremely protective of them.

Where religion comes in is when the leaders of any given society find it necessary to whip up support for an aggressive act or some defensive behavior, they begin to cite "God" as willing the act or behavior in question. This is one aspect of what Jared Diamond, in "Guns, Germs and Steel," called "religion in service to kleptocracy."

I suspect that were religion absent, we'd still find some way to justify our predatory behavior towards our fellow man.

Answer 8

I don't think religion is evil at all, it gives culture some set morals and rules to live by so there will be no chaos. I think mostly its people who misinterpret their religion(in any religion not just one specific one) that causes them to be so extreme and evil. This is just my theory, I hope no one takes this as an offense.

Answer 9

They are competing businesses. Followers equal money and power. Once you get all of the available people signed up, you must begin looking for converts. That is where the squabble begins. It is like elephant seal harems where the beach masters keep stealing cows from each other. The acronym war came from the religions. It stands for We Are Right.

Answer 10

Religion is not the problem.. it is the people with the problem as we all have different beliefes and we all think ours is the right one which causes arguments etc...Its the same with everything...
Never ever talk religion or politics amongst friends!

Answer 11

Religion is the justice towards God. Individual human persons are responsible through sin for the misery of the world.