Religion is evil

Submitted by John Gray (Sweden), Aug 2, 2002 at 08:44

Either side, pro- or anti-Islam, can quote scripture till they are blue in the face to no effect. It is the religious element which makes today's terrorists such a deadly threat.

By "religious element" I mean: faith in a true, better world beyond this (heaven) and the consequent disdain of this "lower" world; rejection of rational argument in favor of hysterical exhortations to holy war and then acting on it, i.e. killing those disagreeing with him. This is not a unique feature of Islam. The more earnest the believer is, the more his glance will wander upwards away from this earth, and the more he will despise this-wordly happiness (wealth, luxury, sex, etc.) Notice the Taliban's wish to return Afghan society to the Dark Ages.

Why were the two greatest symbols of this-worldly power-- the WTC and the Pentagon--hit? For a truly religious man (in the sense above) the WTC towers especially must have stood for Satan on Earth, symbols of greed and material wealth.

This must be--and already has been--understood by the Bush administration. It has been understood and then rejected, as evidenced by the insistence on that Islam, i.e. religion, had nothing to do with 9/11. And further: to accept it would mean that Iran would have been the first target after the al Qaeda, and not Iraq, which is more secular. As long as Bush and his inept crew continue to appease every religionist at home and abroad, Islamic terrorism will go on, and it will get a lot worse.

John Gray

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