Essay/Term paper: Religion

Essay, term paper, research paper:  History Essays

Religion


According to the dictionary "religion is the service and worship of God
or the supernatural."1  I challenge that definition.  It is true that all
religions do involve the worship of some supernatural force, however, it is
also true that no religion in history has ever stopped at that. For a more
complete definition of the word religion we also have to examine two other
aspects. How has it affected man over the centuries? And what is the true
motivation of its leadership?  Some would have you believe that it has brought
peace and harmony to the world and that its leaders are motivated by the
service of their god.

I suggest that a more accurate definition of word would be as follows.
Religion, a feudal system of government which uses fear, hate and sometimes
lies to control and manipulate people for the betterment of a select group of
individuals.

To better illustrate this point let's look at just three of the
countless examples that human history has to offer.  The Inquisition, "judicial
institution, established by the papacy in the Middle Ages, charged with seeking
out, trying, and sentencing people guilty of heresy."2  Heretics were
considered enemies of the state.  The penalty for heresy was torture and death. 
The crucifixion of Jesus Christ, "Jesus was taken to Golgotha and nailed to a
cross, the Roman punishment for political offenders and criminals."2  The
Crusades, "The name Crusade (from Latin, "Cross") was also applied, to the wars
against pagan peoples, Christian heretics, and political foes of the papacy."2 
All three examples illustrate how man has used God to justify his greed and
quest for power.  When the leadership was challenged, it used devine decree to
justify the murder and torture of the innocent. We are expected to believe that
a non-physical being order the religious leadership to aquire riches and land,
often at the demise of the poor and helpless.  The misuse of God isn't limited
to the Ancient world.  Today we have people like Louis Farakahn and Adolph
Hitler and David Koresch who use god to propagate racism and hate, there by
giving them the power unite and control a given segment of the population.

As you can plainly see, religion is much more than the worship of a
supernatural force as its leaders would have us believe.  It is in fact, a
method by which a society is governed and controlled.  "God created man, man
created religion, it is therefore corrupt."