Friday, January 1, 2010

Religion is Evil

I submit that Religion is Evil.

Let us start with the definition of Evil:
evil
    Spelled Pronunciation [ee-vuh l] –adjective
1. morally wrong or bad; immoral; wicked: evil deeds; an evil life.
2. harmful; injurious: evil laws.
3. characterized or accompanied by misfortune or suffering; unfortunate; disastrous: to be fallen on evil days.
4. due to actual or imputed bad conduct or character: an evil reputation.
5. marked by anger, irritability, irascibility, etc.: He is known for his evil disposition


In its simplest form, Evil is deeds that are harmful, or lead to misfortune or suffering.

If someone walking down a street, sees an old woman next to them slip, fall get hurt and choose not to lend assistance, just walk away…. Is that Evil? In this case it’s a failure of a deed that leads to harm, misfortune and suffering. The court systems will find you liable if you have some problem with your property – a hole, broken sidewalk, hazardous waste, etc - and choose not to remedy. Thus, failure to act, is itself a deed that can be evil when it leads to harm, misfortune and suffering.

Religions greatest crime against humanity is stops thought. It requires “faith”, which by definition is simple acceptance without challenge. Don’t think about it… just accept.

The result is that people stop looking for answers to problems in times of strife, and “believe” God will save them. They believe all they have to do is be “faithful’ or “sacrifice” , and they will be rescued to some “paradise”.


As proof, just look at the Flagellant Movement. These are the dolts that whip or torture themselves because they believe their suffering brings them closer to Jesus and his suffering. The Flagellant Movement was born during the black plague.



People believed the Plague was a punishment from God because of mans wickedness. They didn’t try to figure it out, they didn’t clean, wash, get rid of rats or flea’s, they just fell back on “faith” and whipped themselves. Had that effort and energy been spent trying to understand the problem, then fixing the problem, millions of people could have been saved… Not by the hand of god, but by people learning, doing, acting, working. This is a clear case of “Faith” failing humanity ultimately leading to the deaths of millions.

Is this historical tragedy so far in the past? Unfortunately no, this same mindless hindrance to reason and action continues in the name of faith and god. The growing population of Evangelicals and their obsession with “The Rapture” could lead us to the same dire consequences as the Flagellants. They see all the horrible things in current news and rejoice, because they believe “god” is coming to take them to paradise. Lets not try and help humanity, fix problems, make the future better for our children, lets just pray and be faithful waiting for “his glorious return”. Let’s outlaw stem cell research, lets teach dogma in school as fact, lets suppress new ideas…

All these are current, they are happening today.
They are done in the name of Religion.
They lead to leads to harm, misfortune and suffering.

There are no atheists strapping bombs to themselves with the intent of killing as many as possible. These are all Religious people.

The inescapable conclusion is that Religion is Evil.