What Would The World Be Like Without Religion?

What would life be like without religion?  That is a very important question.  It is a question that more and more people should endeavor to ask themselves.  It is a question which may have the answer to many of what troubles this world of ours.  For many people religion is an essential part of their existence.  Some people cannot go one meal without praying, thankful for the food that they have.  Some people cannot go the entire day without praying at least once.  On the surface, such a pious existence is commendable.  We should all strive to have the type of discipline necessary to live such a blessed life.  But there is another part of religion which I find troubling, and which has reared its head every few centuries.

Religion has been used as a guide and to a greater extent, a reason for committing all types of atrocities around the world.  From the crusades to modern day terrorism, religion has been the rock which has given people the confidence and the justification for their atrocities.  And while we can condemn the perpetrators of these evil acts, we must be careful not to use religion as the scape goat, the same way the perpetrators use religion as reason.  The very fact that people throughout human existence have used religion as a base for violence, is a betrayal of their religious belief itself.  No religion asks that its followers go out and commit mass murder.  No religion gives any man or woman the tool to go out and take from another, the precious life they have been given.  Yet, every few decades, some people around the world, be they Christian, Muslim or otherwise, have taken up arms in the name of defending a religious belief which does not need to be defended.

In light of the events in London recently, it will not take long before Islam is back in the news, being portrayed by the likes of O'Reilly and the Faux News crew as a religion of murder and terrorism.  It will not take long before innocent Muslims walking down the street of any western country will begin to feel the threat of danger, the otherworldly feeling of being tagged "other", the absence of warmth and the unbearable feeling of displacement.  All this is going to happen, but it shouldn't.  People who claim Islam while committing their crime are betraying their religion, but beyond that, they're betraying their fellow Muslims.  So it is important to pose that question, what would the world be like without religion?