Religion__Arguing_the_Impossible

Religion: Arguing the Impossible Religion has become much less common than it once was just a few decades ago, and with good reason. The scientific community has made great discoveries to solidify the theory of evolution which has caused religious organizations to have nothing to say about evolution except deny it because their god is all powerful. This would be a valid counter-argument if the creationist theory had concrete evidence behind it. Despite all the evidence that points common sense toward Evolution, the devout, in their ignorance, refuse to see the facts and label Evolution as just as much a theory as creation. It is ignorance such as this that displays how the devout are making regular contributions to Earth’s many misfortunes. There are many reasons why those strongly devoted to their faith are doing wrong in this world; Wars and death in the name of God, religious individuals and organizations manipulating the general public in order to force religion down other’s throats, and the protection of sexual offenders in the catholic church. It is these problems, among others, that show that religion should not even be given the power it already has. It is not uncommon for people to die “in the name of god” in present day. Extremist cults such as the Ku-Klux Klan and the Army of God are killing based on anything from race, to the victim’s profession. These “Extremist Cults” are just small scratches compared to the damage done by the Thirty Years War. It is estimated that up to 11.5 million people were killed in a war that placed Protestants against Catholics of the Holy Roman Empire. The Protestants revolted against Bohemian King Ferdinand. This war could have lasted only 5 years, from 1618 to 1623, and shown a much lower death toll, but other Countries got involved and the war began to stray from its original purpose until most of those fighting had no idea what they were even fighting for anymore. It is mystifying that something as minor as a dispute between two branches of the same religion can escalate into a war which occupies 30 years, kills 11.5 million and causes “a tremendous decrease in German population; devastation of German agriculture; ruin of German commerce and industry; the breakup of the Holy Roman Empire, which was a mere shell in the succeeding centuries; and the decline of Hapsburg greatness.” 1 but this is merely an example of how the devout have caused such tremendous damage to the Earth and the individuals inhabiting it. These dilemmas are not exclusively caused by Christianity though. Islam has their way of inflicting death upon those who do not agree with Muslim faith; this is known as a Jihad. Jihad translates to “struggle” in English, but the connotation which goes along with the word implies terrorism, particularly suicide bombings. “Jihad is your duty under any ruler, be he godly or wicked... Nobody who dies and finds good from Allah (in the Hereafter) would wish to come back to this world even if he were given the whole world and whatever is in it except the martyr who, on seeing the superiority of martyrdom, would like to come back to the world and get killed again (in Allah’s cause.) ...He who dies without having taken part in a campaign, dies in a kind of unbelief.” 2 In Sam Harris’ paraphrased section of the Koran; he shows how devout Muslims make a terrible impact on the Earth by killing themselves along with assorted other people. There is absolutely nothing wrong with Martyrdom, but when one is dying for their beliefs, they should not force others to death for a cause they do not believe in. The devout are always forcing religion down throats as well. Arguably, teaching school children about Creationism is much worse than death caused by religion, because children are our future. They are the ones who will run our society in the future, and if they are being taught creationism as a means of science, then surely Holy Wars will ensue. In Maryanna, Georgia, the Cob County school board has added to their Science curriculum, after being bombarded with pressure by Creationists, a mandatory teaching of the “evidence” of “intelligent design.” But what exactly is intelligent design' Its religion, however, intelligent design can be legally taught in public schools, religion cannot be. Penn Jilette explains why:“The problem we’re having is that we belong to a club called The USA. As members, we pay dues called taxes to support public government run schools. Those schools run according to our clubs handbook, otherwise known as the United States Constitution. The Constitution states that our club steers clear of religion. That is the deal we made.” 3 So not only is teaching creation a terrible choice for a healthy future, it is also unconstitutional. By teaching something illegal and unconstitutional that has absolutely no proof to support the proposed theory, what are children really learning' They are learning that it is acceptable to force others to believe what you believe, no matter the circumstances, and that is a sheer misfortune. Manipulating people for the purpose of force-feeding religious beliefs isn’t new either. One particular incident stands out in US history, The Salem Witch Trials. The Puritan church, influenced by Martin Luther, one of the first men to be openly protestant, was very strict in its practices. There was no room for the abnormal, however, mass hysteria developed throughout the village of Salem, and over 150 men and women were accused of witchcraft, a dire sin, trials were held and roughly 30 people were murdered in one of the most horrifying pieces of American history. The church pointed the first finger, and force-fed Salem into believing it by terrifying them with the prospect of a neighbour being a witch. In Arthur Miller’s The Crucible, John Proctor and company deal with the Witch Trials and face the power of the Church, to which John expresses “There are many others who stay away from church these days because you hardly ever mention God anymore.” 4 John knows that since the Witch Trials have been introduced, people are so caught up in the dogma that they are forgetting what they are even in Church for. The hysteria that common folk become enticed with takes over and the Church becomes irrelevant, which shows the manipulation the Church has completed by scaring its people into pointing fingers. Perhaps the biggest scandals in religious history are the many incidents of sexual assault by men of the Catholic Church. At St. Joseph’s Training School for boys in the 1980s, some of the Christian Brothers, who kept the school in operation, were accused of committing sexual assault against a former student. The police and the church both made an effort to keep the story from the press, however, it was unsuccessful. Suddenly, more than 700 reports had surfaced that had taken place between the 1940s and 1960s. "I saw many young children beaten up and strapped. I saw Brother --- wake up young children and take them to a room to sexually assault them. I saw children handcuffed to a pillar in the basement. They would be pushed and kicked. I saw Brother --- use a pool table stick to hit children if they would not have anal sex with him. Children were given cold showers then strapped. If I told any Brothers that another Brother tried to have sex with me, I would be strapped." 5 The horror surrounding cases such as these is unbearable, yet no one in the Catholic Church is doing anything to prevent it, and so the cases come and go, some cases even slip under the radar for many years because the victim is too traumatized to share their unfortunate story. The St. Joseph’s case was not handled by Vatican procedure, had it been, no one would have known about it. The Vatican published a document in 1962 entitled “Crimen Sollicitationis” (translates to “The Crime of Enticement” ) and the general public had no knowledge of its existence until 2003, 41 years later, when it was obtained by a former priest. It is an order to all arch-bishops, bishops, cardinals, and heads of religious orders on how to exactly deal with accusations of childhood sexual abuse by a cleric. The document clearly states that “anyone involved in a sex abuse investigation, the accuser and the accused, ‘..are to be restrained under a perpetual silence... in all matters and with all persons, under the penalty of excommunication.’ That’s Vatican for shut your mouth and go to hell.’ ” 6 This document is proof of an organized Church cover-up, a selfish effort to keep themselves from looking bad but, upon it backfiring, made the Vatican look worse. What is even worse is the additional order given by former prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, who has since become Pope Benedict XVI, Joseph Ratzinger. This order was written out of desperation of the church not keeping their investigations secretive enough. When Ratzinger held the title of prefect “he issued a confidential order to every bishop that all sex abuse investigations were to be held top-secret until 10 years after the victim reached adulthood.” 6 Now, not only must people be silent during the investigation, but also until 10 years after they reach adulthood. In Canada, this would be 19 years of age. By the time one has turned 29 and is ready to make accusations, the sexual abuser could be dead, relocated, or any number of other escapes. This shows how not only the people who follow the Catholic Faith, but also the man who is the supposed infallible word of god, protects rapists and miscellaneous other sex offenders. Who knows what else he is hiding' After a decrease in popularity of religion, believers seem to feel obligated to ensure the upkeep of their faith by starting wars and murdering in the name of god, using the tactic of manipulation to enable them to force religion upon others, and covering up horrifying stories that will scare people away from the church. Evolution, although it has evidence supporting it, seems to be much more of a theory than creation, from the perspective of both sides. Creationists believe that there is no other possible way to explain the glory of this universe, and that Evolution is a theory that scientists put together because they are sinners. Whereas Evolutionists believe that the evolutionary theory is a developing into something more, and understand that the creationist theory is simply man made stories of someone doing something impossible.