Alright, so recently I have gotten quite fed up with religion. Let me start off, I'm personally an Agnostic - I don't believe in a certain religion, but due to the complexity and intelectually of this world, I'm open to the possibility of there being some kind of a higher being. The reason why I've gotten so fed up lately is that I've noticed that several of my friends are in fact religious.
Now, I don't really have a problem with religious people in general, although I do think it is silly for someone to believe in something written in a book which is supposedly 2000 years old. My problem, is when people "religionize" their lives. This is when someone let their religion control their way of being and dictate certain aspects of their lives, such as nutrition (this is the case for many muslims and jews). At each party, my friend has been looking at me and my other friends with envy whenever we have been consuming alcohol. He has told me that he does indeed want to try it, but that he can't because of his religion. Now, I'm not defending alcohol or drugs, but I do think that it is a shame when people are held back from being who they want and doing what they want, because of religion. There are of course people, who are not like this at all. In fact, sometimes, religion can cause people to not care about being a good person - as it gives them the possibillity to just repent after every "sin" they've commited.
In my opinion, everyone was born an atheist/agnostic. You might state that many people "need" religion, but by saying this you basically say that people who don't have a religious inherit some kind of superiority. I don't think non-religious people are more intelligent than religious people, as I believe that 90% of religious people are religious only because their parents taught them to be. Very few people discover religion as a grown up. Basically, I think religion is a false need given to people by their parents (in the vast majority of cases), and being a need (something you couldn't do without) it makes you weaker.
There are of course other aspects of religion as well, many of which I'd describe as being very dark. I went to a christian junior high school myself, so I have witnessed for 3 years of my life what religion can potentially do to people. Religion has worked as a tool of control and segregation since the beginning - it is the reason for tons of wars and an awful lot of blood has been shed in the name of religion. This still happens today, and i honestly cannot conceive of how anyone would willingly associate themselves with something that is the cause of so much despair. Another thing I noticed, going to that school, was that the people there did indeed have a feeling of superiority. I was looked down upon as if I was a bad person, due to the fact that I was not religious.
Then you have the problem related to religious discussions, or criticizing religions - it is just not accepted among many religious people. Personally, I find it incredibly silly to believe in an invisible man who lives in the sky and watches your every move. In fact, I find it unreasonable for people to expect me to fully understand and respect that they believe in such things. I would not expect them to be able to hold a straight face either, had I told them that I believe in an invisible unicorn that follows me around all the time. Before you ask - yes, these two things are just as silly.
Now, even if you do happen to believe in God, and believe that the stories in The Bible or The Quran are true, then I'm fine with that. However, I find it disturbing when people choose to actually worship the people/someone written about in such a book. Call me disrespectful as much as you want, but I do find it hard to accept that people believe in Noahs ArK and such stories like the one about Jesus rising up from the grave. I cannot help but think of it as anything but a clear sign of ignorance. Religion seems like an easy answer to it all - it makes people less curious about the actual origin of life (as I do not believe in the one described in The Bible), and thus holds the human race back from evolving - not to mention all the wars and violence it is constantly causing.
So, what do you people think, OT? Am I being unreasonable? What's your answer to religion? It would be nice if we could get a little discussion going here.
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