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Aug 31, 2004 It is time to admit that religion is dead. It has passed it's prime as a positive force for good in our world. Don't believe me? Allow me to explain. Lately, because of the war in Iraq, Americans became acquainted with the Islamic religion like they never would have on their own. As can be seen from the headlines the Iraqui Muslim extremists only want one thing: for the rest of the world to convert to Islam. In the west this is unthinkable because we value the freedom of religion. The Muslim terrorists who insist that we convert or die is simply appalling to us. However, the scary part for me is to realize that many Christians actually feel the same way. Go out and ask your Christian friends if they think their religion is the only true one and many will say yes. We don't have to go very far back in our history to find examples of Christians slaughtering others for the sake of their God. In fact the examples start right in the beginning of the Book of Exodus and Joshua when God supposedly commanded both Moses and Joshua to slaughter the inhabitants of the Promised Land including women and children. Since then the bloodshed has never stopped. Constantine started the modern Christian version of this genocide by threatening to kill any of his enemies who didn't convert. Then there's the bloody Crusades when pious Christian knights swooped down on the Saracens in the Middle East and killed with impunity anyone who was not a Christian. In northern Europe the conversion to Christianity was completed by the 13th century and then the Protestant Reformation came along and the killing started all over again. This time it was Christians killing other Christians because they couldn't agree on what the "truth" was. What is my point? Just this. Religion has been responsible for more killing, hatred, bloodshed and degradation than any other force on the face of the earth. In light of the recent events in the Middle East and the attack on our own country on September 11th, 2001 by Muslim extremists, I say it's time to admit that religion is more of a nuisance than a help. In fact it's all based on myth. There are Christian myths, and Muslim myths, and Hindu myths and Buddhist myths as well as many, many pagan myths. I like to refer to religion as myth- information. So, get rid of it. Throw it out in favor of reason, logic and freethinking. Don't let anyone else tell you what to believe. Find out the truth for yourself and then you'll have something real to believe in. Only by appealing to our ability to use reason and logic will we ever find true peace in this world. As long as we cling to archaic ideas about God and spirituality we will never find the common ground necessary to build a bright future for our descendants. Think about it! ------------ About the author: Keith Cantrell is a musician, artist and writer who lives in a small town in Oregon. He has worked at many different professions and currently is writing a book on the origins of the Bible entitled "The World's Most Dangerous Book." He has been a professing fundamentalist and is now struggling with atheism. His life has been spent searching for truth, and nothing but the truth. He loves comments, feedback and even verbal abuse if it is intelligent. He has 4 children and 4 grandchildren and loves everything about living in Oregon. Email: kwcantrell@yahoo.com Tell a friend about this site! ------------ |
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