Religion vs God
Religion vs God
Does this sound familiar? You go you share the Word of God with someone and the first thing out of their mouth is “I don’t believe in religion” “I hate Religion” or my personal favorite “Keep your religion to yourself.” Nowadays when hear/say the word religion in most cases it’s met with the same disgust as the words pedophile, rapist, child molester, and murderer. Atheist and non-believer use this word to keep God at bay. They too often confuse Religion with God.
There are many of examples of how the word religion got such negative reputation. If you ask any Atheist or any non-believer about God the first thing out of their mouth is "What about the Crusades?" A violent series of seven religious wars. "Proud knights in the Crusades would march towards forgiveness of their sins, filled with greed. Bloodshed, they believed, was worth it, dying was worth it. Marching towards Jerusalem with victory in their eyes, they would take anyone who stood in their way of victory.”
French Wars of Religion- In16th Century France there was a succession of wars between Roman Catholics and Protestants (Huguenots primarily). These series of wars were known as the Wars of Religion."
Thirty Years War- "In the first half of the 17th century, the German states, Scandinavia (Sweden, primarily) and Poland were beset by religious warfare. Roman Catholicism and Calvinism figured in the opposing sides of this conflict, though Catholic France did take the side of the Protestants but purely for political reasons."
"India is a nation of extraordinary religious, cultural and linguistic diversity, but sadly it is no stranger to intolerance. Mahatma Gandhi died at the hands of a Hindu fanatic in 1948, and since then religious riots have cast a pall on India’s commitment to secularism and religious pluralism. Unfortunately, at a time when India itself has been a victim of religiously inspired terror from abroad, most notably, its deeply troubled neighbor, Pakistan, it faces a growing spate of violent religious and cultural intolerance at home."
What they fail to understand that all of these wars were fought in the name of Religion, not God. Greedy and power hungry men seeking after their own agenda and conquest. Thousands of people have fought and died: bombs, guns, fighting, bloodshed, tears, pain and sorrow at the will of man, not for the glory of the One True God.
I don't like religion. Religion is not of God. "Jesus is the most influential person who has ever lived. The difference between Jesus and religion is that Jesus is God's way to reach man, and religion is man's way to reach God." unknown
