Religion, sources of all evil?

Question

Why man relay on religion to kill his kind. Catholic kill Protestants and vice versa,Moslems kill their own people,because they are from a different sect. Jews kill Moslems and vice versa. Why do we need an excuse to destroy our own species.

Answer 1

You asked this already.

Religion isn't the source of all evil, but it contributes more than its fair share.

Answer 2

When asked to give a one line summary of Judaism, Hillel (a great sage end of first century BCE to beginning of first century CE) replied "ve'ahavta lere'akha kemokha' - 'love your neighbour as you love yourself', the rest is commentary".

I am not saying Judaism is the only religion whose founding principle is mutual respect and love. This is true for all religions and it is merely the misinterpretations by manipulative and evil leaders (Abu Hamza springs to mind) coupled with the socioeconomic conditions of any given society which leads to leads to wars and hate 'based upon religion'. Quite simply, there is no such thing.

Although you can be forgiven, in today's world, for thinking that religion is the source of all evil, if you really think about it it should become blindingly obvious that the religions themselves are not the bases of the evil which emerges. Were the Crusades based on true Christianity?? No, of course not. Is Al Qaeda's 'war on the western world' based on true Islam?? No. At the end of the day, the wars which arise from religion are, in essence, a clash of cultures. As has been mentioned in other answers, if there were no religion there would no doubt be war, hate and evil in the world, I would venture to say much more than what there is now.

The greatest monstrosities known to mankind have been perpetrated by atheists, and I cannot stress enough that hate only emerges from religion when the religion itself is skewed and twisted to mean what it doesn't mean. The zealots who claim that suicide bombings are a righteous task and in line with their religion are, quite simply wrong. And after they've destroyed their own lives and those around them, they'll be heading plummeting away from that bright light they expect to see.

Also, it is also worthwhile to think about how it is very easy to calculate how much evil has come out of religion, it is infinitely more difficult to put a figure on how much good has come from it.

Whatever your problems with religion may be, it is an absurd statement to say it is the root of all evil.

Answer 3

Its like the boogieman or santa claus. It has been used to scare people into believing that they will be punished by a higher being if they fall out of line while leaving the enforcers of these beliefs free of responsibility. Its unfortunate that there is also a lot of money involved in religion which undermines the spirtual side of it. I should point out that there is a big difference between religion and spirituality. I think some "religions" are better described as organised spirituality. eg buddhism. Short answer yes.

Answer 4

Read the first part of Hitlers manifesto, It used Darwin's theory to promote the genocide against Jews, blacks, handi-capped people
etc..etc.. People can use anything for an excuse to kill others. Take away religion and they will make up another reason

Answer 5

Did Stalin's gulags have anything to do with religion?

Was Hitler's invasion of Poland and much of Europe driven by religion?

Did Japan's expansionist militarism center on religion?

If it weren't for different sects in religions for different factions to go to war over, it'd be race, colour, class, and a whole lot of other reasons. Religion is an easy scapegoat for people like you cause it's there and it's easy to generalise things to do with religion.

Answer 6

That is a illogical question.I am sorry you have been hurt in religion.True Christianity speaks of love,not hate.Love everyone as you are loved.Your argument would like talking about knives.A knife is a simple object.You could cut a nice steak.Or put it in someones chest.Just like anything else.It is all a matter of how it is used.For good or evil.Peace be with you.

Answer 7

Religion can be a source of great friction.

Yet, there are problems in countries like China and North Korea.

These countries actively suppress religion.

Answer 8

Religion is just a means of controlling the population by those seeking power. Unfortunately, this often corrupts and results in evil by those wishing to rule.

Answer 9

Religion is not the source of all evil! Its the man/woman who interprets their believes in the wrong way and then uses it in defence for killing a fellow human.
I am a Christian, but I believe that all faiths have a piece of truth in them, we have to learn to accept our brothers for who they are & work as a big team to help each other.

Answer 10

One religion will always justify it because they believe they are the chosen and righteous ones and therefore it is acceptable to rid the world of non believers,infidels or whatever you want to call them.As all religion is manmade this is of course an exercise in futility,because there is no higher order of any kind to impress with this behaviour.

Answer 11

What religion was Stalin, or Hitler or Robespierre? These people were some of the greatest mass murderers of all time, and they did it in the name of secularism.
If you are going to go around bashing religion because you are mad at God or something, you better get your facts straight or you are going to continue looking as foolish as you do here.