If religion is so great, why have so many people died over it?

Answer 1

Who say that religion is great?

Answer 2

It's not religion that kills people, people kill people .... Seriously, it's because of people's need to believe in something that can explain all the sufferings and inequities experienced in th world, so that we naturally gravitate towards a religion - one that speaks most to our heart (I guess one that seem to answer most of our questions about life). It is an attempt to find meaning and deeper purpose for life and religion becomes our source of answer and comfort (physical and psychological). However, because people, culture, social mores, tradition, etc diffeisrs from one another, so does the religion that had grown or sprouted out these. These difference in religious interpretation that is the source of so many conflicts that lead to a multitude of deaths over centuries. It is entirely man-made, contrived by humans as a source of comfort which ironically turned into instrument of hatred and division among human beings.

Answer 3

If life is so great why have so many people died?

Answer 4

All religion is bad. Even christianity when it becomes a religion.

I am a christian. Christianity is supposed to be a relationship with God, not a religion of ordinances, tradition and liturgy.

Therefore when Jesus returns even half of all christians will be left behind I discuss this bad christian religion here:

http://www.kingdom-gospel.com/two.html

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Answer 5

yes, you are right, organized religion was the cause of horrible death and suffering. However, atheist rulers in the 20th century are responsible for 50,000,000+ deaths, Stalin and those who followed him, Pol Pot, Mao Tse Dong, rulers of Eastern Europe, Congo, the list is long...

Answer 6

Because those who live by evil man made religions kill those who live by the True Word of God, as well as those who live by anything that goes against their made up rituals.

Answer 7

Human Suffering—Will It Ever End?

GRUESOME scenes after a bomb explodes in a crowded market of Sarajevo; massacres and mayhem in Rwanda; starving children clamoring for food in Somalia; dazed families counting their losses after an earthquake in Los Angeles; helpless victims of flood-ravaged Bangladesh. Such scenes of human suffering confront us daily on TV or in magazines and newspapers.

A sad effect of human suffering is that it causes some people to lose faith in God. “The existence of evil has always provided the most serious impediment to faith,” according to a statement published by a Jewish community in the United States. The writers refer to deaths in Nazi concentration camps like Auschwitz and from bombs such as the one that exploded over Hiroshima. “The question of how a just and powerful God could allow the annihilation of so many innocent lives haunts the religious conscience and staggers the imagination,” say the authors.

Sadly, the endless flow of tragic reports may have a numbing effect on human emotions. As long as friends and relatives are not involved, many find themselves hardly moved by the suffering of others.

Yet, the fact that we are capable of feeling compassion, at least for our own loved ones, should tell us something about our Maker. The Bible says that man was created “in God’s image” and “according to [his] likeness.” (Genesis 1:26, 27) This does not mean that humans are like God in appearance. No, for Jesus Christ explained that “God is a Spirit,” and “a spirit does not have flesh and bones.” (John 4:24; Luke 24:39) Being made in God’s likeness refers to our potential for displaying godlike qualities. Therefore, since normal humans feel compassion for those who suffer, we must conclude that man’s Creator, Jehovah God, is compassionate and that he feels deeply for his suffering human creation.—Compare Luke 11:13.

One way in which God has shown his compassion is by providing mankind with a written explanation of the cause of suffering. This he has done in his Word, the Bible. The Bible clearly shows that God created man to enjoy life, not to suffer. (Genesis 2:7-9) It also reveals that the first humans brought suffering upon themselves by rejecting God’s righteous rule.—Deuteronomy 32:4, 5; Romans 5:12.

In spite of this, God still feels compassion for suffering humanity. This is clearly shown in his promise to bring an end to human suffering. “Look! The tent of God is with mankind, and he will reside with them, and they will be his peoples. And God himself will be with them. And he will wipe out every tear from their eyes, and death will be no more, neither will mourning nor outcry nor pain be anymore. The former things have passed away.”—Revelation 21:3, 4; see also Isaiah 25:8; 65:17-25; Romans 8:19-21.

These wonderful promises prove that God is sensitive to human suffering and that he is determined to bring an end to it. But what exactly caused human suffering in the first place, and why has God permitted it to continue until our day?

Answer 8

Religion is a demon in sheep's clothing.

"With or without religion, you would have good people doing good things and evil people doing evil things. But for good people to do evil things, that takes religion" -Steven Weinberg, winner of the 1979 Nobel Prize in physics

Answer 9

do you mean such as martyrs who die out of persecution? well i think the fact that theyre willing to die is testament to why its so great.

or do you mean in wars between nations or political oppression? kind of like the 100 million+ who died in Stalin's mass genocide or Mao's great leap foward....... no, wait, those were Atheists.

Answer 10

Hello Darth,

Satan is the bad guy and is trying to get as many as he can.

Bulldog