“Religion Should Be Banned”
Catholic-Protestant killings in N. Ireland, Hindu-Sikh-Muslim massacres in India, Orthodox-Catholic-Muslim horror in Yugoslavia. Branch Davidian cult tragedy in Waco, Texas. Nevertheless 9/11, WTC tragedy in N.Y. Thousands or shall I say millions have died over the years over such conflicts. All these conflicts were caused by one common factor: RELIGION. The website www.dictionary.com defines Religion as being norms, values, or a way of life to an individual or community. A spiritual guide that governs the way a person lives from day to day by giving that person hope, belief, and reason to exist in this world. As world renowned journalist James Haught said “Religion is supposed to be a source of kindness and brotherhood, but it has become one of the chief causes of hatred and war.” I couldn’t agree with him more, my position is simple and clear: Ban religion and live better! By banning religion we will be able to end the never ending wars and prevent others from starting. War and religion have a long history together. In the Age of Imperialism, when religious convictions were very strong, every time a country would conquer another one it would enforce its religion on the people.
Resistance by the people was overpowered by slaughter and bloodshed. Religion was immensely important and therefore there was immense bloodshed. One example would be Mary Queen of Scots, Mary’s choices and even her execution were a result of Catholic and Protestant conflict. Banning religion will give us more freedom. For example, many religions such as Islam, Hinduism, and Christianity are against abortion, but we all know as Nuri has made clear abortion should be legalized, it is part of our rights. Banning religion would allow us to do so. Many women are reluctant to contraception because their religion considers usage of contraception a sin. Contraception is necessary in our world today for a number of reasons. To be brief contraception will limit the spread of deadly diseases such as AIDS. In addition, it would allow population control which is very necessary in our world, which is nearing a population explosion with a bleak future. Similarly, homosexuality is considered a sin in many religions, namely Christianity. If we have no religion we will liberate many people who are afraid to admit their homosexuality in fear of their religion. It would also give us the freedom to legalize homosexual marriages, which should be a fundamental right of every homosexual. More importantly, banning religion would add in reducing the racial tension, world wide.
Many times people are judged by their religion. If I don’t have a religion I won’t be judged for being a Hindu. Many Muslims have felt the growth of racial tensions after 9/11, with no religion they wouldn’t need to be worried. If religion were banned earlier, death of 6 million Jews could have been prevented, which happened in the Second World War. What more, we should learn from our mistakes. Although I believe religion is of no use, one might say religion provides trust, security, social order and most importantly a moral code. I believe in all this but in doing so religion further divides the people, as social order add to segregation and discrimination. And how can you trust the church to provide with you with security and give you a moral code when the church itself is corrupt? One example to prove the corruptness of the church would be in the 15th century when the enormous amount of money that the church possessed was mismanaged by the Pope and a few bishops and it led many working class people and poor people to starve, which in return lead to the assassinations of many political figures and religious leaders. In more recent times, an example would be the sex scandal of last year, which revealed how many leaders of churches were sexually exploiting young children.
How can millions and millions of people trust a church to provide them with moral codes when the church leaders cannot even control their sexual urges, committing sinful crimes? Having no religion would boost people’s self-esteem because one would have to make the decision of right and wrong by themselves. Religions is not useful in any positive way, it provokes and promotes violence and bloodshed. Religion limits people’s freedom and independence. It fails to live up to its’ duty of being a spiritual guide that governs the way a person lives from day to day by giving that person hope, belief, and reason to exist in this world. If anything it guides people the wrong way! Banning religion would allow us to be more complete, better people with a more independent way of thinking. It would reduce tensions and allow us to live better lives.