Kelsey+M’s+OpEd+Article



// By Kelsey M. //**
 * "People Should Work With People"

This is not about the existence of a god, because I have realized that you can’t argue fiction against anything, especially empty logical claim (that sort of thing is more for a forum, not an essay). Although I would like to say that while followers of the faith talk about their belief as if it were fact, I should be allowed to express my beliefs with that same factual stance.

Religion, in all, is something that I honestly believe the world could do without. Now before anyone raises their pitchforks or applause, I would like to establish that not __all__ of my reasoning is negatively directed at religion (even though it may seem that way).

To get the basics out of the way first, religion is clearly a major fuel to war and conflict. Like countries and sports teams, different religions have rarely carried on without feeling passionate animosity towards another. I’ll be honest in saying that I don’t know the great details to many of these clashes, but I do know that they occurred with religion somewhere in the lead. Because I don’t want this to be a history lecture, here is a sort of scrambled list of “shitty religious squabble” keywords that I would like to quickly go though. First are the Crusades! To briefly and blatantly quote Wikipedia, “The Crusades were a series of religiously sanctioned military campaigns waged by much of Latin Christian Europe. The specific crusades to restore Christian control of the Holy Land were fought over a period of nearly 200 years, between 1095 and 1291.” Wow, dang, alright, next. Something we are probably more fammiliar with now: Muslims, Jews, Palestine, and Israel! There is also Islam and offensive military jihad- which is argued by some to be a global conquest of sorts. Speaking of which, I have also discovered that Nazism during the holocaust //is said// to have originated from old Arian theology. Where that is true or not, Himmler did say he carried with him a copy of the Bhagavad-Gita, which apparently eased his guilt and detached himself from his actions (If anyone forgot who Himmler was, he’s the guy that came up with the Final Solution). These are all examples of blood lost over religion. Hopefully by this time my point is had, because I’m sure the list goes on.

Okay, so let’s focus on something other than religious hate. You might be saying, “Hey Kelsey, that’s not fair to focus on all the religious wars that might not have been influenced directly from the religion itself, and that war is just God’s way of testing us.” (To which I might reply “directly or indirectly, it is still caused by religion”, and “no it’s not”) But more importantly you might say that Religion teaches good conduct and good morals. Sure it does, but with just a little bit of common sense (and not to mention elementary school), one shouldn’t have to believe in a god to know that killing and stealing is not the right thing to do. If you can’t get that from common sense (which some people sadly don’t), there is something seriously wrong and you probably shouldn’t live independently.

These are just some general arguments often made against religion. However one of the main things that I have personal qualm with, is how religion constantly causes people to cover their eyes. One example is evolution- Until a year or so ago, I didn’t even know that there was a debate over evolution. I wasn’t quite sure how religion could refute scientific research and evidence, but hey god works in mysterious ways. Religion also influences people into believing that gay sex, and even just sex in general is an evil thing. I could be wrong, but I thought the point of a species was to reproduce, live, evolve, and for the human species to also feel passion, emotion and happiness within a lifetime. Why is someone else’s joy in a relationship, straight or gay, an evil thing? Why let a pregnant woman ruin her life, as well as the baby’s, because of her not being able to support it? Why close yourself off from the modern world and technology, just because your religion says to- you are wearing shoes aren’t you? I’m drifting from religion to religion on these assorted points, but the main point is that religion often holds us as a people back.

One person, with motive in one hand and luck in the other, can do far more than the person with both hands clasped around a god. People often become reliant on god. He is there to comfort them, and they take comfort in him, all the while distancing themselves from the current here and now world. People spend so much time with someone that might not even be listening, and they don’t put other actual people at the front of the line when anything is needed. This is why we don’t know about each other, this is often why people don’t get along (On the individual and international level). Some can spend their entire lives preparing for an afterlife that might not even be there when they reach the doorsteps, just like how Gatsby wasted away a part of his life, only to find an empty end. Even those that do not vehemently or strenuously strive towards god, could spend that little time they have with god towards something more constructive, more meaningful.*

Many of the things I have said may only relate to a small amount of individuals, half of a certain religion, or even just a minority of the people in one religion. Or I may have said something that is only indirectly and not purposefully caused by religion. Whether is it a portion or a whole it still causes the same damage, leading or contributing.

All in all, I believe that cons of religion heavily outweigh the pros. The world could probably do well without.


 * (Why would a Warrior spend valuable skill points in mana, when he could use those to improve something he actually needs, like strength, defense and dexterity? This analogy was too nerdy and awesome to put into the actual rant)media type="file" key="kelseym-muckraker-0910.mp3"