RESPONSE TO "ANDREA (HUMAN BEING)"

Submitted by DANIEL REDMOND (United States), Nov 14, 2009 at 07:20

Your observations regarding the self-inflicted abuses of Islam are of course valid. In my opinion, Islam is the most barbaric and brutal of the religious regimes that dominate much of our world. But my own viewpoint is that ALL religions must disappear in order to free Mankind (and Womankind as well) from its primitive tyranny of superstitious delusion. Religion was, as author Christopher Hitchens has pointed out, "the first and the worst" attempt at explaining our existence. It arose out of the misty superstitious confusion of primitive peoples around the globe who knew nothing of physics, astronomy, or the other natural sciences that have enabled us to comprehend our universe and should have by now liberated us from religious beliefs once and for all.

Consider Christianity for example. When viewed with an objective eye it is little more than a bizarre death cult. It fosters a devaluation of our life here on Earth in favor of belief in an imaginary 'after life' that we are promised upon our death. It is obsessed with the murder of a man named Jesus, who was probably a mythical figure to begin with, and convinces its followers that it is they who bear the guilt for his death; that as miserable sinners he "died for their sins."

And to remind themselves relentlessly of all this guilt and misery their most iconic image, found everywhere in Christian homes and churches, is the crucifix---an instrument of death and torture---usually with a carved image of a dead or dying Jesus nailed to it. They place these little icons on the walls of their homes, the dashboards of their cars, even dangling from the ceiling above their beds at night. It is positively morbid. Would it not be better to rid ourselves of this strange death cult that is currently ruling much of the known world and convincing its adherents that they would be better off dead where they will go to "a better place"?

Hindu society suffers from a brutal caste system that has relegated upwards of 160 million people in India to lives as subhumans. Known as the Untouchables, Pariahs, or Dalits (Broken People, their own term) they are denied basic human rights and forced into lives of abject poverty with no hope of advancement. They are denied an education, denied access to health care, denied entrance to hotels and restaurants even if they have money, denied even the right to travel on public roads in some rural areas of India, and they are frequently the objects of religion-induced violence. It is just another example of religious oppression.

Religion has nothing to do with spirituality. Religion is a scam and a sham and always has been and the sooner it disappears from our lives the better off the world will be. At its best it has given people the false hope and comfort of dangerous delusions; at its worst it has oppressed people and led to violence against our fellow human beings.

Yes, Islam may be among the most oppressive religion, but it does not stand alone in the Pantheon of Religious Tyrannies. In one way or another, they all do the same thing.

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