Schwab: If not God, hold religion to account for Mideast massacres

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

By Sid Schwab / Herald Columnist

Could it be, given God’s apparent penchant for mass murder and genocide, having wiped all of humanity except for one family on one occasion and, later, all the first-born sons of Egyptian mothers, citizens of Sodom and Gomorrah, Lot’s wife, etc., that the horrifying bloodbath now happening, yet again, in the Middle East, is going according to His plan?

In any case, going back far enough, it began with religious hatred.

If the inevitability of death had caused people to realize what a rare gift life is and how its brevity calls us to make the most of it — charitably, empathetically, with open hearts — there’d have been no need for religion. Instead, imperfectly as we’ve evolved, or, if you prefer, were created, we’re wasting this incalculable wonder, mostly in the name of one religion or another.

-snip-

With hundreds of religions in the world invoking thousands of gods, believers in whom are as certain of the supremacy of theirs as are the believers in all the others, how can any claim exclusivity? Especially those who commit mass murder and genocides in the name of whoever it is they pray to. When I lost two nieces, each in their 20s — each beautiful in form and spirit, brilliant and loving, the kind that everyone considered their best friend — one in a tragic accident, the other from a sudden illness, I saw no godly plan. If it was, it was of someone I wouldn’t invite to dinner.

https://www.heraldnet.com/opinion/schwab-if-not-god-hold-religion-to-account-for-mideast-massacres/

[pandr32]

1. Excellent.

Thank you for posting it.

[anciano]

2. "The most detestable wickedness, the most horrid cruelties, and the greatest miseries,

that have afflicted the human race have had their origin in this thing called revelation, or revealed religion." --- Thomas Paine

[Martin68]

3. I don't believe God killed anyone. I don't believe there is a God. That killing was done by an for

people, who later used God as an excuse.What is happening between Hamas and Israel is based as much on the right to territory and land as it is to any religious belief. Netanayahu has encouraged thousands of Israelis to settle on Palestinian land against international law. Israel's border wall has destroyed Palestinian farms that have been there for generations. That's a land issue. Israel has run roughshod ope Palestinian rights to their land, and has stolen land for settlements.

[Skittles]

4. so fucking tired of religious delusions

religion has been a seriously destructive force in this world

[Earth-shine]

5. Why does this superior being need us to worship him and tell him how great he is?

That's a terrible, God-sized insecurity.

The more evolved I become, the less the opinions of others matter.