07-07-2017, 11:21 PM
(07-07-2017, 10:50 PM)Nebuchadnezzar Wrote: Why is religion the cause of most wars and the most death and the most suffering in the world?
I read and hear this claim all the time, even though it is completely untrue.
I would just like to know why people make this claim.
I hardly think that religion is the cause of most wars and all that (at least in modern times), but here's my take as a on-the-whole non-religious person:
Religion just gives us another unnecessary way to classify and build barriers between certain subsets of humanity. Given that it is an exercise in futility to try and argue that one religion is "more real" than the other, it inevitably leads to conflict. With more rational arguments and debates where concrete evidence or fact is involved, that doesn't exist with religion. What makes the The Holy Bible any more true or holy than The Holy Quran? How about the Torah, or Tripitaka? What makes Jesus any more a deity than Allah? There's no room for rational debate here. And when there is no room for rational discourse in a conflict, more often than not violence ensues.
The ironic part of it all is that by and large the teachings of each religion are quite similar. If instead of clinging to proper names like Bible, Quran, Jesus, Yahweh, Allah people of religion clung to the teachings themselves, the world would undoubtedly be a better place.
On the whole, I do not blame religion, I blame humanity's intolerance and stubbornness. The wars and violence get all the headlines, but religion on the personal level can hardly be considered harmful.
