Talk Back 14
Why Religion?
by Anonymous
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First off I would like to take this small line of text to introduce myself, I am a 14-year-old boy, I am currently in High School and I live in what is considered a "church town."
Obviously a brainwashed teenager would most likely be your first thoughts about me, however I was actually raised to be a freethinking child. You see my parents, grandparents, and friends vary in religion, from Jewish, to Mormon, to Christian, to Agnostic and Atheistic beliefs, and I myself was allowed to choose whichever religion suited my beliefs and I was allowed to listen to various family and friends as they attempted to convince me that their way of belief is the "right" one. This was a very depressing time for me, as you can imagine. I was a man of science, I needed proof, I even attempted to argue with some of my friends on the subject and their response was usually short, and often painful, yes kids can be cruel, but no one told me they carry blunt objects!
Something struck me after that moment, wouldn't we all be better off without a religion? I have read some of the various arguments concerning religion aiding with the teaching of moral values, but is it not true that religion has killed more people than anything else? How many wars have been started over religious debates? How many wars are still ongoing because of differences in religion? Can you honestly say that if religion were not present we would suddenly revert to Anarchist Government?
Humans will kill; this is something that is in our blood. I believe we are just looking for a good reason to kill, and I’ll be damned if religion isn't one of the best reasons we've developed. We wage war, gain land and money, and all in the name of God! Sounds like a sweat deal doesn't it? I ask you, where are your moral teachings now?
How hard is it to recruit an army without religion?
If you tell 10,000 men, "We need to fight because this other country has all sorts of nice stuff that I want."
How many of them will come to your aid?
But if you tell 10,000 men, "This country is full of heathens! Vile godless creatures of Satan, and they must be destroyed, as they threaten your very existence. God is on our side men, we can not lose!"
Then how many will willingly aid you? I wager to say almost all of those men will help you, because after all God is on their side.
How can so many intelligent human beings believe in something that has no basis in fact? If I wrote a 1000-page book stating that some big white guy who lives in clouds created the universe, would you believe it? What if I recruited five other writers to aid me, revised the book several times, and then distributed it as a historical document, would I not be laughed out of the writing community? Exactly, of course I would, but this is exactly what the bible says.
If you grind something into someone's mind long enough they will eventually believe it to be true, have the authors of the bible not done the very same? Have you seen god, do you know god, have you spoken to god? If you have then did he tell you to kill people? As so many mass murders have claimed, did he tell you to build a baseball field in the middle of your crop? Did he tell you that you would go to Hell because even though he is all forgiving he has decided to let this one pass by?
This is absolutely absurd that adults could believe in something so childish, and what is equally absurd, parents actually try to convince their children of the very same mythological nonsense. "Well you see honey, the Tooth fairy takes your teeth away and gives you money, Santa brings you presents, the Easter Bunny gives you candy, and God grants all your wishes, but you have to be good or you won’t get anything." As a child I never could conceive of a scare tactic so large, so inexplicably horrible, but it is true, and millions of parents raise their children using it. I find it sad really; we have live in a world filled with disillusion.