Problem With Religion.

Religion And Hatred.


There are many religions around today from the well-known ones like Islam and Catholic to rarer ones like Wicca. One thing they all seem to have in common is a hatred of a type of person or followers of another religion. This is one of the main issues that puts me off the whole idea of organised religion.

Now, I believe there is "something more" but whether that is a god looking down benignly from the heavens, a whole host of gods like the Romans & Greeks believed or even that this whole universe & everything in it is a part of some alien schoolkids science experiment and we are in fact a side effect of that; like a living, breathing, thinking mould, I just don't know.
In some ways I'd like to think there is a god, that everything happens for a reason and is part of some bigger plan for us all but I'm not so sure that is the case.

There are so many wars and hatreds whose foundations are built in religion from the crusades in history when christians tried to make everyone worship their god only to the decades of hatred between catholics and protestants to the recent attacks on people from other religions by extreme islam followers. Can there really be a god who wants us to kill people just for having a different opinion to ours?

Then there's those who hate an entire religion like many arabic nations and the Jewish and those who try to recruit people to their religion like those inconvenient knocks on the door by members of a certain religion who want to leave you a multitude of books on how you are sinning but god can forgive if you would only change and follow that churches rules.
Would this mean that the life-saving surgeon or charity worker who has worked all his life to benefit others not be allowed into heaven (if such a place exists) just because they have never gone to church? What if this same man, this totally selfless and giving man was gay?
To some people that would mean a trip to hell no matter how good a person he was.

What about those who are divorced? Has god given up on them because one spouse decided to leave the other or one spouse continually hit and abused the other till it came down to a choice between life and divorce or staying married and death. How can punishing these people be what a loving and merciful god would want for us?

I'd much rather believe in a god (I don't like the idea of many different gods ala the Greeks and Romans) who was merciful and loving to all no matter what race, religion, gender or sexual orientation. A god who cares for all and banishes no-one. A religion where I don't have to refuse medical treatment, donate thousands of pounds I haven't got or totally change my thoughts and day to day habits.

The Society of Friends / Quakers is one religion I really like the sound of, I agree with many of the requirements and religious aspects of this religion but it also seems to be a religion where you need a comfortable income so you can give to the numerous charities and organisations they help. I find it hard just surviving from day to day and sadly there is no money left for charitable donations although I wish it were otherwise.