Religion

Disclamer: This post contains issues that some may deem sensitive. It was not written as an attack on any particular religion but rather religion as a whole. The author strongly discourages those with strong religious beliefs to read this post. Apologies to those who may find this offensive. This post is not intended to strain relationships between religions.

I don’t like religion. I dare to say that I hate it. Organized religion always had one purpose and a better life was never it.

What is religion? Religion is power over the masses. Imagine there were 3 main clubs in school. The successfulness of a club would be gauged by the number of memberships it has. And of course, if a club had a majority membership, they’d be more powerful in dialogs with other clubs. If they were so huge, decisions made by school authorities might even have to go through them.

With that analogy, I refer it back to religion. It is the same now and throughout the ages. In the early centuries, a pope had more power that any king in Europe. China was and still is scared of the Dalai Lama and his potential threat. A Muslim country just has to declare that their religion is being under attack and they will suddenly have a nation of troops.

But it’s not only about power. Money is another thing. To ask $1 each from a base of 1billion followers would generate $1bil a week. When it is written in the Bible and Quran that is it compulsory to given back a percentage of earnings, I am skeptical. Are we supposed to be buying our way into heaven? I’m sure it is used for the administration of that particular religion but who monitors their spending? They seem to have a better turnover than most private companies.
While working in a café in Penang, we sometimes get monks coming in to eat and they carry credit cards but not just any credit card. It’s platinum. I’ve come across a pastor who openly admitted to me that the more people in his church, the better his living would be. He even gave me a quota he needs to hit so he can go for a holiday in Bali.

I’m not criticizing followers of any religion because I still believe that religion can be a guide on how to live ones life. But to follow blindly and extremely is something dangerous. A guideline is something you read and choose which parts to follow and which to ignore. Why put your life into the hands of God when you can do something better that is trust your own instinct which is believed to have come from Him?