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De Max Coutinho
What is the purpose of religion: to teach how to love or to teach how to hate?
How to Love
When properly taught, any religion is about teaching humans how to love each other. When we speak of love we speak not of a sentiment for someone we appreciate with all heart, nay; we speak of love in a sense that we understand that all people were created by G-d, then we comprehend the differences between people, we accept and respect them which in the end translates into a natural flow of affection for others, therefore ultimately leading to peaceful interaction.
How to hate
When taught for purposes of manipulation and control, any religion is about teaching humans how to hate each other. “That religion is fake, ours is the true one”, “Those people are dangerous, terrorists”, “Only one path will lead you to heaven”, “Our religion is the ultimate message” etc etc…all this causes mistrust and eventually hatred among people, therefore, generating conflict and destruction.
Looking in the mirror Principle
Religions exist to try to control evil inclinations in Human Beings; but when we look at all of them it is safe to say they spend too much time looking outwards instead of looking inwards. For instance:
As a Jew, what should anyone care about what Christians and Muslims do or say? There are endless problems that need to be fixed in Judaism before anyone can open one’s mouth to criticise others.
As a Muslim, why focusing on Jews and Christians? Focus on your problems, and G-d knows there are plenty of them to solve. Why spend hours debating the mistakes in the New Testament when there are clearly some questionable “facts” in the Quran as well?
As a Christian, why the complex of superiority? The Church has 28,000 sub-variants of Christian “thoughts” each with its own set of problems to solve, some of them extremely serious, and yet they always think their path is the only way to salvation and everybody is a sinner…
How tiresome.
Religion should bring people closer to G-d, not to chase them away from Him. Now, don’t get me wrong: religion is not a marketing tool, like the colourful kind of Religion (the sort that supports everything G-d said is forbidden), no. Religion is not a political weapon either. True religion is a deep connection to G-d. It’s ecstasy through His Light. Happiness.
If you put a group of people from different religions in a controlled environment, void of politics, you will see that they will get along just fine in spite of their differences. Add a religious figure and politics to the mix: and you have hatred and conflict.
No wonder people drift away from religion…they want peace.
(Image: Nativity with St Francis and St Lawrence - Caravaggio)
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