Religion

As a college student at a religious university, it is required that I take a shitload of theology and philosophy courses to graduate.

So, I’m sitting in this philosophy course and the professor is talking about the “war of culture.” He said that most often religion is a major defining factor for culture. (I’m thinking, WTF? Really?) AND when there is a conflict, is MOST often about religion. He started rattling stuff off like
1. Armenian genocide in Turkey (1.5 million deaths)
2. Jewish Holocaust in Germany (11 million deaths)
3. Rwandan Genocide (1 million deaths)
4. Muslim-Christian crusades (9 million)
5. France Huguenot vs. Catholic (4 million)
6. Protestants vs. Catholics in Ireland
7. Jews vs. Muslims in the Middle East
And the list goes on and on and on….

My initial thought is, “why the hell can’t we all just get along?”

I think religion is akin to professional sports. If I am a fan of the Spurs, I might decorate my room/office, get a tattoo, wear a t-shirt, and get a bumper sticker with Spurs symbols. Likewise, often, people who are religious will get a “cross” tattoo, hang a cross in their room/office, wear a hijab (Muslim headpiece), etc. If I am a Spurs fan, I will attend Spurs games (or watch them on tv), watch sports commentary on espn, and perhaps read sports illustrated. If I am religious, I will go to church, listen to religious speakers, and read the religious text of choice.

Do me a favor. Observe some of these sports fans. They paint their bodies head to toe. They get massively drunk. They yell, scream, and cry.

Why is it then that the Mets fans never have a Yankee’s genocide?

I mean, really, what are we fighting over? OK, so I’m not going to get into your heaven because I don’t believe in your God. OK. Cool. Why does this concern you? Hey- as long as you’re getting in, why do you care what I believe in?

Period. End of story. Agree to disagree.

Maybe I’m missing some HUGE key element. But I totally DON’T get why people kill other people because of “god”.

In my opinion, God is a cover story for the real reasons i.e. power, land, resources or just plain greed. Like the Iliad, it was not about Helen, Helen was just the excuse allowing people to justify it. Now that does not mean that everyone involved is there for the same reasons, some may honestly believe it was Gods will......some ignorant and some are zealots. Well thats my take..........in wars like that look for the ones that benefit from it and there will be your culprits.

You ask a lot of deep questions. (Meant as a compliment)

The deep rooted conflicts you mention exhibit the true ugliness of the fanatics who waged them. These fanatics do not do these things for logical reasons and to try to determine one that you can blame for the cause of the conflict is an exercise in futility.

The same thing can be said for politics.

I dont really think you can compare being a fan of a sports team to religious affiliation. Religion gives people purpose, or a reason for living... means to an end. Usually explaining why we are here etc.. a belief some think is worth fighting for. I personally think war of religion is stupid and everyone should be allowed to practice whatever they believe in their own way as long as it does not harm others, but its more than what its like to be a fan of sports. However soccer in Europe is cause for many riots/gangs and such. Similar yet on a much smaller scale.. probly few deaths.

As a high school drop out who is pretty much a couch potato I see alot of crap on tv and only retain a smidgen of it...lol ok thats me trying to be silly please dont take offense but let me respond in my simple ways to express my opinion ty.

From what little I know and what few religions Ive been exposed to, they all seem to be peaceful. I speak of the religions themselves not the people who believe and follow them, not the people preach it and sway believers to follow. I dont know all the beliefs that go into these religions but do they preach War in the their teachings? Why preach war into religion? It doesnt make sense. I think of religion as a set of guidelines/rules to follow for the masses to consume and conform to, but not blindly. Also its a common bond of the community for that particular religion. If you have no religion then you have no guidelines/rules to follow to keep you on a path. What that path is i dont know Im not you. But if religion isnt your thing then its simply about having a good set of rules/guidelines/code to live by that helps you focus and lead the most positive life you can.

I think of it also like a tool... Imagine a hammer, a carpenter teaches you how to hold it, use it and maintain it and from that you can create with it and prosper. Yet this simple tool can be wielded as a weapon, a tool of death and destruction and can be used to gain for greed and smite with anger. So ya in some of these wars, the strong believers were probably duped by a leader that used and twisted religion as a driving force to get what they wanted. I agree with SAman37 about religion being a cover story, but I say more that religion is not to blame but a tool misused in these wars...lol, I laugh because well... Watch the movie "Book of Eli" that is now out in theatres, it touches on this subject of religion and war, religion as positive force or a tool to manipulate for ones greed.
I agree with Cerberus also, comparing religion to sports is kinda not good but I see were you were going with it. Ugh soccer hooligans, lol. Well I know Im not as edumedcated as you others and some of my thoughts have holes you could drive a mack truck through but Im just expressing mehself for the threads sake and to get thoughts outta my head. Peace be with you.

If you have no religion then you have no guidelines/rules to follow to keep you on a path. Originally Posted by Aftershock

I was going to protest loudly. But you followed up with this:

But if religion isnt your thing then its simply about having a good set of rules/guidelines/code to live by that helps you focus and lead the most positive life you can. Originally Posted by Aftershock

So, okay. Never mind.

Religion gives people purpose. War is not waged over religion. People in power, people who are seeking power wage war. These zealouts use religion as a means to an end. They manipulate religious teachings for their own benefits. Wars are not waged in order to convince others that "my God is better". That is simply the facade that people in power use to get what they want.

Do you really think radical muslims want to convert Americans over to Islam? Do you think they care so much about our salvation that they want to help us reach heaven? It has nothing to do with religion. It is all about power and the struggle for more.

I agree with SA man. Brittany is definately a thinker.....kudos.

To my understanding the Holocaust wasnt over religion it was POWER!! The Rwanda genocide is the conflict between two different types of people and the way there cultures are different and in this case religion plays a little role. Most of genocide isnt because of religion its due to power and control like dragon210 stated.
I think what you are saying is right that just because we dont believe in the same thing doesnt mean we should kill each other however everyone being different is what makes the world go round!
I am not saying that what they do is right/wrong anything like that but religion is just part of the factor to these events. In your religion classes you will also realize that history repeats itself. The war in Isreal has been going on FOREVER!!
Have fun in your class I had to take a lot of religion classes at my University also!

Yes, yes Book of Eli was pretty awesome... not at all what I expected but I did enjoy it. Some wars over religion were a result of oppression. If the king named a certain official religion over the land and pushed it on the people, and those who believed otherwise would be punished. The pilgrims who came to and "discovered" America were fleeing religious persecution. If you dont have have the option to leave maybe you have to stay and fight? But ya it all comes back to power... those in power think what they believe is right and force those with less power to believe the same whether that's what the religion preaches or not.

So Brittany I'm curious, why did you choose to attend a religious school?

The inherent problem with organized religion is that man is the one who has had to interpret it.

I have tried many times to re-discover the religion of my youth, but I find that even if the preacher/pastor/father gives a meaningful sermon, and the collection plate is passed around for the needy, the sick and the poor, I still cant get past the fact that he is rolling around in a brand new Caddy, wearing nice clothes and living in a nice neighborhood.

I guess it's just harder and harder to have faith in man, then it used to be.

Hi Brit...as always you put up the most provocative thoughts for comment. LOL
My advice to my kids was if you go to college you accept their input from their point of view..learn it..(you don't have to agree)....graduate...and move on with your life. Most often you'll notice that a "Professor" has never lived in the real world, met a payroll, financed a business or made the critical decisions related to their course of study. Yet, they have often written or co-written the book you have to pay $165 for to attend their class....I think the majority of them are FOS which makes their point of view worthless...but you can't give them the bird until you have the degree in your hand and you are off the property....cheers...HandyG

The inherent problem with organized religion is that man is the one who has had to interpret it.

I have tried many times to re-discover the religion of my youth, but I find that even if the preacher/pastor/father gives a meaningful sermon, and the collection plate is passed around for the needy, the sick and the poor, I still cant get past the fact that he is rolling around in a brand new Caddy, wearing nice clothes and living in a nice neighborhood.

I guess it's just harder and harder to have faith in man, then it used to be. Originally Posted by rgvpapi

Sounds a lot like these all too common, non-denominational mega-churches that preach - the more money you give, the more God will give back to you.

I'll throw in my 2 cents.

It's been said many times, by people who are very much against religion, that God is the reason for more deaths than anything else. And, on the surface, this seems to be true. However, as most people have pointed out, these wars weren't really about religion, they were about power. Religion was just the excuse used. I guess killing in the name of God sounds more noble than killing in the name of "I really want that piece of land."

By the way, your comparison to sports is OK, as long as you don't bring up soccer fans, also known as soccer hooligans. You almost see mini-wars in the stands at these matches.

I left school just a year away from graduating with a BA in Theology. I really liked this topic.