Essay, Research Paper: Religion

"Religion" According to the dictionary "religion is the service and worship ofGod or the supernatural."1 I challenge that definition. It is true that allreligions do involve the worship of some supernatural force, however, itis also true that no religion in history has ever stopped at that. For amore complete definition of the word religion we also have to examinetwo other aspects. How has it affected man over the centuries? Andwhat is the true motivation of its leadership? Some would have youbelieve that it has brought peace and harmony to the world and that itsleaders are motivated by the service of their god. I suggest that a more accurate definition of word would be asfollows. Religion, a feudal system of government which uses fear, hate andsometimes lies to control and manipulate people for the betterment of aselect groupof individuals. To better illustrate this point let's look at just three of the countlessexamples that human history has to offer. The Inquisition, "judicialinstitution, established by the papacy in the Middle Ages, charged withseeking out, trying, and sentencing people guilty of heresy."2 Heretics
were considered enemies of the state. The penalty for heresy wastorture and death. The crucifixion of Jesus Christ, "Jesus was taken toGolgotha and nailed to a cross, the Roman punishment for politicaloffenders and criminals."2 The Crusades, "The name Crusade (fromLatin, "Cross") was also applied, to the wars against pagan peoples,Christian heretics, and political foes of the papacy."2 All threeexamples illustrate how man has used God to justify his greed and questfor power. When the leadership was challenged, it used devine decree tojustify the murder and torture of the innocent. We are expected tobelieve that a non-physical being order the religious leadership to aquireriches and land, often at the demise of the poor and helpless. Themisuse of God isn't limited to the Ancient world. Today we have peoplelike Louis Farakahn and Adolph Hitler and David Koresch who use godto propagate racism and hate, there by giving them the power unite andcontrol a given segment of the population. As you can plainly see, religion is much more than the worship ofa supernatural force as its leaders would have us believe. It is in fact, amethod by which a society is governed and controlled. "God createdman, man created religion, it is therefore corrupt."