They’re not so far from Nazism. Both take children and start brainwashing them at an early age.
When a kid is influenced at that age, they aren’t smart enough to apply a logical reasoning and differentiate between ideology (religion, political position, even sports can be applied to this) and truth (I mean, you can’t deny the truth).

Everyone should read some philosophy books. Psychology should help too.

I have struggled with my faith for years. Being raised Christian, especially in the Southern Baptist Church makes one think that any questioning whatsoever is tantamount to blasphemy. That brand of Christianity is absolute. It is based on one interpretation of the Bible and it’s essential to accept that interpretation as an infallible document that leaves little if any room for interpretation. Of course, that same interpretation has justified racism, slavery and countless other human evils that have eventually fallen out of favor in the mainstream. We’ve got a long way to go on race in America, but at least a candidate can no longer be considered viable if he or she is a blatant segregationist. Trent Lott would likely disagree, but still…

From the amount of study I’ve done, I know that the Bible is the work of men. And it’s a work that has been changed, edited, added to and subtracted from by some very, very fallible men.

I have come to the slightly New-Agey conclusion that things are not as absolute as all the various religions tell us they are. I do believe in God. But in my opinion, God is bigger than any one religion. In fact, I think God’s test for humanity is to see if we can find a way to live together without killing each other in His name. So far, we’ve failed. Ann Coulter would have us believe that the solution is to invade the offending countries, kill their leaders and convert their population to Christianity. Yeah. Cause the Crusades really turned out well, didn’t they?

I do not believe that there is one true shining path to Heaven, and most Christians will use that belief to say that I am not a real Christian. So be it. I think that the basic tenets of all the big religions are fundamentally the same, and we fight wars over the details. To choose Christianity, for me, is to just choose to live by the teachings of Jesus. Now, I’ve broken any number of the Ten Commandments, and in no way does my life live up to the account of Christ’s life in the Bible. I’m certainly not aspiring to be a master proselytizer. I think you can lead by example. I try to be nice. That’s basically the root of my life. I try to be honest, nice, helpful and generous. If I can work from that premise, things will be cool.

But those details…whew…once you get into those it’s a slippery slope. It’s the inconsistencies that kill me. People will rage vitriolically when someone breaks the Levitical law prohibiting gay sex, but those same loudmouths will totally ignore all the other laws like touching pigs and sitting near a menstrual wife. Now, my wife may be grumpy once a month, but that’s no need for me to avoid sitting with her, is it?

@ weisheng: I guess it will be a never-ending battle the one between the believer and the non-believer.
Most of the problem, IMHO, lies in the fact that religions mold ones mind to make her/him become a person who doesn’t like to question things and when faced with “logical assumptions” or facts tries to reply using dogmas that have been instilled in her/his mind during the years.

As an example, I once debated the concept of religion overnight with a friend and when stuck, she simply resorted to using the phrase “because God believes in me” or “because God sees fit”. I guess the logical approach of atheists and the spiritual approach of the religious are destined never to agree. Sadly, after professing that Christianity was the religion of love (in light of today’s Islamic terrorism), I reminded her of the Crusades of which she had never heard of.

Religion follows the word of a higher being through words written by Man. So are those words the work of Man or the work of God? The intolerance seen in so many monotheistic religions like Christianity and Islam is a flaw of humankind.

If only more sceptics of religion would speak out like you have. Thanks for your excellent article.

As for your view of life, it’s definitely the most romantic way to view at it and I partly agree with it, because even though there were a scheme, it’s not for us to grasp.
We can’t and never will grasp the meaning/cause of life, and that’s for a simple reason: we will never be able to explain the universe, because it’s something we don’t have experience about.

religion used to be the politics of its time, the moral fiber, the set of social rules to live by. it had a practical use, it gave a structure to society.
but today, now that politics is dealt by the politicians (like the greek in their time before it lay dormant until the french revolution) it’s only a means of finding solace. and that, i respect, because it’s a psychological need.

Religions have quite an amount of power in their hands, and as usual the presence of power implies the willing of having more. Not sure if I made my point…

The fact is that, to me, Religion = control. Hence all the interferences in politics, as in everyday life.

Referring to Catholicism, which is the religion I know best too, I have the feeling that something’s wrong.

The whole thing is based not on respectable values such as tolerance, brotherhood, love or be open-minded towards other people etc., but mostly on the one thing that is more effective, if your goal is that to have power and control masses of people: the sense of guilt.

That’s not how things are supposed to go, isn’t it?