Growing up
in the United States the thought of religion is everywhere, it’s on our money it’s
in our anthem, it seems no matter where you go religion will find you. Now this
will not be a blog bashing religion I will just be outlining the reasons I feel
people as a whole have grown out of religion.
When
religion started it was because people didn't understand the vast world that
surrounded them and they were confused by things that we see today and can
explain. With the roots of religion based around Polytheism or the belief in
many gods there was a god for everything, there was a sun god and a god for the
harvest and a god of war. There were countless numbers of gods that differed in
every religion, and as man progressed as a whole the gods started to be a cause
for war and violence. During the Spanish inquisition in 1478 countless people
that believed in the Jewish faith were outcast by the Catholic Church. People
believed the Jews to be less than the Catholics even though they belonged to
the same state and lived almost the same lives but the worshiped a different
god. This link shows all of the effects that the inquisition had on both the Jewish
and the Moorish population of Spain
(http://www.thenagain.info/webchron/westeurope/spaninqui.html) there are
countless other conflicts that started because of a dispute between religions.
Most people would say that religion gives people hope and while I can’t argue
that it doesn't I can say it should be taken less seriously.
Another main reason why religion was so needed in the past
was because of the lack of medical science. Take for example the worshiping of
the goddess of the harvest in ancient Egypt. If a harvest failed they would
blame the gods. They wouldn't think that maybe there wasn't enough water or the
winds effected the crops so they shouldn't plant them there they would just
question the gods and get on with their lives. Now in today’s society we know
more than people 100 years ago ever thought we would. We have come from a
country based on tobacco to a country that is run by one of the biggest
governments in the world. We have come so far and grown out of so many other
things why can’t religion be one of them.
The way
I see modern religion and again this is only my opinion, I see it as a large
scale and one of the longest running scams in the world. When people go to
church and they pay the tithe even if they are struggling to put food on the
table they keep paying the church. This website (http://tithinginfo.com/) shows
that the average American is paying 30-35% of their annual salary to the
church. Now while the congregation is living I poverty the pastors are living
the good life. Take for example the church that was close to my house growing
up, now I lived in a middle class town but there were some people that were
considered under the poverty line because of unemployment and every week I would
see them either walking to church or carpooling because there car was in the
shop and they didn't
know if they could afford the mechanic bills. Then while
those people are walking into the church the pastors arrive in the brand new Mercedes
Benz. When I saw this I started to question why we did what we did. Why did we
go to a certain building every Sunday and listen to someone read us a book and
sing songs? Why was my family shelling thousands of dollars putting our way of
life in jeopardy but only cushioning the life’s of the pastors? Why do we
devote so much time to a building when god knows all? The way I see it religion
has caused more harm than good at least in my case. I have not gone to church
in 11 years and I plan to keep it that way. I have changed my view on how the
bible is not a holy book to me, to me it is just another book.
