“God has no religion.”
― Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi
It seems like Religion is the cause of most conflicts. And this is true not only today but since history has been recorded. And this begs the questions, "Is Religion the cause of wars".
Interestingly, I feel based on my limited understanding of history that religion is indeed responsible for most conflicts. However, I also believe that religion is the primary reason for peace.
The above seems to be contradictory in nature. How can something that is responsible for an event also be responsible for the opposite of that event ? Whilst this seems to be counter intuitive, it can be true. Whether it is or not, is something that you can decide for yourself.
First lets see whether the assumption that the same thing that is responsible for something can also be responsible for the exact opposite. Take an example of medicine and operations. A large number of people die when undergoing an operation. Thereby implying that operations kill people. However an even larger number of people have their life span extended because of those very same operations. Hence an operation ore advancement in medicine whilst responsible for more deaths than normal, is responsible for saving a far larger number of lives.
And this is true of religion. Religion is what keeps 99.9% of people honest. The fear of the future punishment for deeds done as well as the promise of rewards in the after life are sufficient incentive for most individuals to follow the generally acceptable moral ethics and codes. This lets society to function in a manner that is generally fair and peaceful.
And whilst there have been several conflicts and wars, the fact of the matter is that overall the periods of peace and harmony far outnumber them. And if we believe that religion was responsible for these, we will have to credit religion for our generally peaceful lives.
So whether or not you are a religious person, you have religion to thank for the wonderful and generally peaceful life we live.
― Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi
It seems like Religion is the cause of most conflicts. And this is true not only today but since history has been recorded. And this begs the questions, "Is Religion the cause of wars".
Interestingly, I feel based on my limited understanding of history that religion is indeed responsible for most conflicts. However, I also believe that religion is the primary reason for peace.
The above seems to be contradictory in nature. How can something that is responsible for an event also be responsible for the opposite of that event ? Whilst this seems to be counter intuitive, it can be true. Whether it is or not, is something that you can decide for yourself.
First lets see whether the assumption that the same thing that is responsible for something can also be responsible for the exact opposite. Take an example of medicine and operations. A large number of people die when undergoing an operation. Thereby implying that operations kill people. However an even larger number of people have their life span extended because of those very same operations. Hence an operation ore advancement in medicine whilst responsible for more deaths than normal, is responsible for saving a far larger number of lives.
And this is true of religion. Religion is what keeps 99.9% of people honest. The fear of the future punishment for deeds done as well as the promise of rewards in the after life are sufficient incentive for most individuals to follow the generally acceptable moral ethics and codes. This lets society to function in a manner that is generally fair and peaceful.
And whilst there have been several conflicts and wars, the fact of the matter is that overall the periods of peace and harmony far outnumber them. And if we believe that religion was responsible for these, we will have to credit religion for our generally peaceful lives.
So whether or not you are a religious person, you have religion to thank for the wonderful and generally peaceful life we live.
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