[Wren57]

Religion and death are the two things man has the hardest time understanding; perhaps because they can't be understood.

What makes a person religous? Is it the notion that there is a diety out there, and a person feels its presence and therefore obeys it and worships it, or is it, as Agent Smith would say, "A temporary construct of a feeble human intellect trying desperatly to justify an existance that is without meaning or purpose." This debate will never end, and this debate is not the purpose of this thread.

While we can not truly understand religion or death, we do have the ability to understand the relation between the two; religion is directly correlated to death. Now, before you naysay, yes, all people die, and no, not all people are religous. Regardless, there is irrefutable evidence that religion leads to death. Throughout history, wars have been waged by man claiming to have the authority of God. How silly. Nearly every religion I can think of that exists is based on love, acceptance and peace. Given these three core values of every religion, why is it that so many people feel it is their right, nay, their duty, to carry out wars in direct violation of these principles? These wars range from a single person being condescending to another due to different beliefs all the way to full scale military operations. The only reason I've ever heard of is the quest to convert and assimilate. I understand the desire to propogate one's ideas to others, but for the means to contradict the purpose and meaning of the ends completely discredits and invalidates all possibility of the very nature and goal of the war; peace. Why is it so difficult for each individual to realize that he/she is one of 6+ billion alive today and one of billions before, and that no one person or group of persons has any right to enforce any religous belief on any other, because there is no way of knowing what the true "correct religion" is. As long as nobody on Earth knows for a fact what God wants us to be doing on Earth, why fight about it? Why not form personal beleifs, and focus on living your own life according to those. Surely God does not want us fighting, for any reason, especially not under the premise it is for him.

I challenge each and every one of you to re-examine your religous beliefs, reconsider how you approach others' beliefs, and how God lives through love, acceptance and peace; not hate, genocide and oppression. Something to consider, and certainly something that could make this world a better place.