We are delving into the territory of controversy. I'd like to make an important disclaimer here:
What you're about to read reflects only and only my opinions on the topics. Any of your beliefs for strong or weak they are shouldn't be moved by what I'm about to tell. And if they are, I couldn't care less.
Having said this, let me tell you, I don't believe in religion because... there's a lot to say about it.
The Political Problem
One of the my main issues with religion is the fact that it's a political institution. Wanna read some history and understand that faith has been for centuries a great control mechanism for rulers. Christianity is what it is today because of all the campaigns funded by the church to create an image. The idea of divine right was still a thing until the French Revolution came by to change the status quo of politics. Monarchies still exist, but people stopped believing there was a god involved in the whole deal.
And I get the idea of having faith as a bidding agent of society. The north or Africa and portion of Spain were controlled by the Muslims for over 400 years. That would have been possible without unity in creeds.
But then again isn't it a thing that there are schism in religions because people can't decide if they believe in the same thing?
Look at churches nowadays trying to keep telling people what to do. It would work if only they had the same kind of power they did centuries ago.
The Intolerance Issue
It seems a fair deal to incite hate against others because they don't have the same creed. Religious intolerance is as deep a problem as racism. It seems to be ingrained in society. It's a weed with deep roots. The centuries of fighting over hegemony in the world have derived in this case. The most famous examples of this problems have been attributed to masacres of certain groups during the ages. The Jews during the Assyrian conquest were driven out of their lands and slaughtered. They had a similar fate during World War II. Christians were persecuted before Roman Emperor Constantine made their religion the official faith of the Empire. And then again, it isn't weird at all listening to people say attrocities about someone because they don't like their faith. Let alone when we say we don't believe in any of that.
It seems the freedom of creed is a right only fit for those who actually believe on something.
Oh, bother.
How many massacres have been committed all that the intolerance of certain religious groups? It goes beyond that. Cultures have lost part of their identities thanks to this intolerance.
Romanticizing Suffering
There isn't a single thing that makes me dislike religion more than the idea of making suffering an act of spiritual cleansing or moral high ground. It's a stupid concept.
Suffering is inherently bad. We don't actually learn anything from. We are who we are thanks to our resilience and ability to cope with trauma. We could do a lot of taking away all the excess pain we carry on throughout life.
Trying to make this a strong point of faith sounds like a masoquists dream or something very weird in every sense. There's a common idea of living in poverty, not having commodities and always giving even when you don't have. All these are praised by religions. Why? I don't see the priests of many religions living bad lives or taking voted of poverty. Do they still flay themselves with whips when they sin?
During which stage of development of the whole religious idea was the theme of suffering as something worthwhile adopted?
Children suffering from terminal illness don't deserve such things, nor do people who suffer from conditions that prevent them from having normal lives. Yet, it seems these cruel fates are examples for religiom to talk about faith or keep a semblance of knowing what's right.
It's plain cruelty. That's what it is.
There is lots of reasons to keep talking about why I don't believe on religion. But I gotta stop at some point.
Thanks for reading. If there's any comments you want to add, be my guest and drop them in the comment section.
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