Originally posted by TaraLou
I think that religion, a manmade tool to control people, is the number one reason why people in this world do not get on together.
It is the number one reason for wars - always has been.
Therefore, it is the number one reason for starvation and suffering.
And it is the number one reason for killing innocents - and I include soldiers in this.
Surely we should get on together and help each other, as human beings?
And surely we should try to save our planet?
I am going to disagree with parts of this post, yes religions also create wars, well the old ones, but if you look at the time from World War I to
Granada, such was not based off of religion, but politcal ideology.
To flat out take away from religion to ban it, it will lead to the downfall of society. I would submit that the number one reason for killing
innocents is not from too much religion, but a lack of it.
Religion, on the whole and the majority of the time, if you take it down to its base levels, taking out the parables of such, teaches morality. The
concepts of what is right and wrong is there, in its purest form, no matter what the words are, the concepts are there. The idea of something better
or worse after death is there as well to guide people who believe to live a good life. I revieved this from someone who is jewish and I believe this
sums it up:
I am a Jew, and every single one of my ancestors was Jewish. And it does not bother me even a little bit when people call those beautiful lit up,
bejeweled trees, Christmas trees. I don't feel threatened. I don't feel discriminated against. That's what they are, Christmas trees.
It doesn't bother me a bit when people say, 'Merry Christmas' to me. I don't think they are slighting me or getting ready to put me in a ghetto.
In fact, I kind of like it. It shows that we are all brothers and sisters celebrating this happy time of year. It doesn't bother me at all that
there is a manger scene on display at a key intersection near my beach house in Malibu . If people want a creche, it's just as fine with me as is
the Menorah a few hundred yards away.
I don't like getting pushed around for being a Jew, and I don't think Christians like getting pushed around for being Christians. I think people
who believe in God are sick and tired of getting pushed around, period.. I have no idea where the concept came from, that America is an explicitly
atheist country. I can't find it in the Constitution and I don't like it being shoved down my throat.
Or maybe I can put it another way: where did the idea come from that we should worship celebrities and we aren't allowed to worship God as we
understand Him? I guess that's a sign that I'm getting old, too. But there are a lot of us who are wondering where these celebrities came from and
where the America we knew went to.
In light of the many jokes we send to one another for a laugh, this is a little different: This is not intended to be a joke; it's not funny, it's
intended to get you thinking.
Billy Graham's daughter was interviewed on the Early Show and Jane Clayson asked her 'How could God let something like this happen?' (regarding
Hurricane Katrina).. Anne Graham gave an extremely profound and insightful response. She said, 'I believe God is deeply saddened by this, just as
we are, but for years we've been telling God to get out of our schools, to get out of our government and to get out of our lives.. And being the
gentleman He is, I believe He has calmly backed out. How can we expect God to give us His blessing and His protection if we demand He leave us
alone?'
In light of recent events... terrorists attack, school shootings, etc. I think it started when Madeleine Murray O'Hare (she was murdered, her body
found a few years ago) complained she didn't want prayer in our schools, and we said OK. Then someone said you better not read the Bible in school.
The Bible says thou shalt not kill; thou shalt not steal, and love your neighbor as yourself. And we said OK.
Then Dr. Benjamin Spock said we shouldn't spank our children when they misbehave, because their little personalities would be warped and we might
damage their self-esteem (Dr. Spock's son committed suicide). We said an expert should know what he's talking about. And we said okay.
Now we're asking ourselves why our children have no conscience, why they don't know right from wrong, and why it doesn't bother them to kill
strangers, their classmates, and themselves..
Probably, if we think about it long and hard enough, we can figure it out. I think it has a great deal to do with 'WE REAP WHAT WE SOW.'
Funny how simple it is for people to trash God and then wonder why the world's going to hell. Funny how we believe what the newspapers say, but
question what the Bible says. Funny how you can send 'jokes' through e-mail and they spread like wildfire, but when you start sending messages
regarding the Lord, people think twice about sharing. Funny how lewd, crude, vulgar and obscene articles pass freely through cyberspace, but public
discussion of God is suppressed in the school and workplace.
Are you laughing yet?
