Has anyone noticed all of the civil unrest in the world lately? If you have noticed it, have you also noticed that it’s mostly religion related? I did. Just today. When I noticed the new round of unrest in Iraq is religious based and arguably the worst fighting since Saddam.
Is religion outdated?
What I mean is that have always been battles and even wars waged over religious beliefs, but has the time come to say that we’ve outgrown them? Have we outgrown religion? Not mentally or spiritually, but from a practical worldview sense. Can we really afford to keep having battles over religious beliefs? Think of it this way… look at the US Civil War: lotta deaths from that war. More than previous wars. Why? Soldiers in battle had lined up in rows and marched on each other slowly, just like soldiers had done in every war since the Middle Ages. Old school mentality. What they didn’t take into account was how much weapons had advanced by that point in time: this type of warfare was more dangerous because the weapons had advanced. Old school mentality plus new school weaponry eqauls a higher body count: they never thought to duck and cover!
How about now? Weapons are far more effective. Almost anyone could can arm an army with minimal effort… imagine if the French had access to the kind of weapons we have now, during their revolution. Or consider Northern Ireland: would their unrest have been so bloody if it had happened 100 years earlier, before people could make bombs at home? If you had a foot locker to fill with weapons from the 1800’s and another to fill with weapons from 2000, which could cause more damage per pound? Hands down, 2000.
I dunno.
What I do know is that we don’t seem to have many physical battles in the US caused by religion. Oh, we have violence, sure. Related to crime, abuse, and even sexual orientation, but not to religion. Some people even say that that rate of violence in America is caused by a decrease in religious beliefs… I don’t know if I can agree with that. We have a shit load of problems, sure, but is it more or less than what we would have if the Catholics and Protestants in the US battled each other every day based on beliefs? I’m betting that there would be a hell of a lot more bloodshed, if we had religious battles being waged in the US…
but that’s just my thought.
Honestly, I don’t have an answer for it, but it’s still a good question: would we have less strife and conflict in the world if religion was boxed up and put on a shelf?
Absolutely. Think about it..the crusades are a perfect example. Religion brings about violence, because it’s something that in general, people feel extremely passionate about. In their minds..they are correct, and everything that logically seems irrational makes perfect sense to them. It’s outdated. People who know how to think on their own know this.
but for the love of god how can you say such things?…
look at the seccond qoute on this page
http://www.quotationspage.com/quotes/Steven_Weinberg
I agree, with the quote but this is different… these uprisings aren’t about good people doing evil things – it’s more about people *doing* things that they wouldn’t have done at all, otherwise. I’m not saying they’re being evil for killing ppl over a cartoon… I’m saying it’s simply silly to use it as justification.
But for the love of god Tim, don’t you pay attention in history class? Don’t you ever think about WHY?
you have to realise I am not one bit religious
I was just trying to say that many people hold god foremost in their hearts and would never give that up even if it cost them their life or the lives of half the worlds population.
Posted on: February 27, 2006 at 12:20 PM by Anna
Absolutely. Think about it..the crusades are a perfect example. Religion brings about violence, because it’s something that in general, people feel extremely passionate about. In their minds..they are correct, and everything that logically seems irrational makes perfect sense to them. It’s outdated. People who know how to think on their own know this.
You are so right on the money…..Religon has caused more death and more people have been murderd in the name of “God” then any other cause through out history.
And it still goes forth to this day killing in the name of “God” ….the Iraq war for example the U.S. government thinks “God” is on thier side….and the nut jobs they are fighting think the same…..So if “God” is on both sides then who is truely in the right?
I think Catholics feel the most guilt out of all religon as it was Romen catholics who nail the son of “God” to the cross true?