Why I hate religion.

Religion is one of the worst things that can happen to someone. Faith is fine; belief is good. Trying your best to be a good person within the context of that faith or belief is a laudable goal, but not if religion gets involved.


I mean, religion is one of the most divisive, excluding pigeonholes we Homo sapiens have devised for ourselves. Who cares if you are Catholic or Protestant? The Northern Irish do. What's the huge difference between the Jews and the Christians, persecuting each other for centuries? A testament and a hippie.
I personally identify as agnostic. I believe there might be something out there bigger than myself, a safe place for the souls of my mother and all those who've gone before us. But I don't claim to know what that is, so I prefer not to claim I do.

Religion causes hatred. It encourages bigotry and fear and intolerance. Faith is a wonderful, beautiful thing, and some days I truly wish that I could believe with my whole heart in something I can't see or prove. I think I'd be happier if I could.

But using the "Word of God" (or Allah) to hate, to kill, to ostracize, to bully, to punish, to confine? "God" should not be about those things. The unspeakable atrocities carried out in any god's name are not the fault of faith or belief. They are the fault of religion.

Religion does not create communities. It teaches islationism and intolerance, especially in the "One True Way" religions.

Having been raised in a cult (look it up; Catholicism is a cult) and since broken away from it, I gotta say the idea of a less-structured faith appeals, but I still haven't found anything that truly speaks to me.

Maybe I'll find it; maybe I won't. But you know the worst way to get someone hooked on your particular brand of Kool-aid? Forcing it down their throats. Coming to my door and telling me that I am going to hell is not the way to get me to come to your church. Even if you promise me brownies.