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Andrew Mega
Dr. Aborside
LBST 2102-001
15 October 2016

The Beast that is Religion

I grew up in a catholic family, I went to church, I attended Sunday school, I even got
confirmed yet I never did embrace my religion. In fact I have never embraced any religion. Some
people might call me anti-religious or an atheist, but I like to call myself a realist. I do not really
know how I came to be in this category. Maybe it was how I saw the world around me and the
events that unfolded in it. Or it could be that I had negative religious experiences when I was
young that forever set me on this path. In hind sight I think it was a little bit of both. Over the
next few paragraphs I will dive into my thoughts about religion and its negative affects on the
world. What makes me a realist is that I will also discuss the positives of religion and how the
world needs something to believe in. So sit back and enjoy as I rant for a few minutes!
First a little background on myself so you can understand where I am coming from. My
name is Andrew Mega. I grew up in an Italian household that was fairly involved in the catholic
church, especially my extended family. I went to church although not as regularly as most
families. My parents both work in the medical field and were constantly busy which is why
church was often forgotten about. Despite that, I was enrolled in Sunday school when I was
young under the pressure of my grandparents. I stayed for all 8 years of Sunday school believe it

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or not and I was confirmed in high school. That is when my true feelings for religion shined
through.
The world is in rough shape right now. The Middle East is a mess. Europe is under
constant threat of terrorism and here in the USA we are under many forms of unrest. It is a crazy
world out there but if you strip back all the details and you look at the root of all these problems
one might come to an interesting conclusion. Religion is the base of almost all conflicts. 90
percent of all wars are fought for some reason that is related to religion. We are talking hundreds
of millions of people who have lost their lives because of religion. One of the worst events in
human history, the holocaust, was fueled by religion. Catholic hatred toward the Jewish faith led
to the worst treatment of human life ever recorded. Since 2001 3,500 americans and 500
Europeans have lost their lives due to terrorist attacks. This is a small number compared to the
near 4 million Muslims in the Middle East that have been affected. Bet you can not guess the
reason behind all these deaths, thats right religion. This problem of religion causing death is not
just a fad found in the modern world. Dating back as far as the 7th century. I look at this data and
I see a massive flaw in the religious system, but why does religion create conflict.
It is an undeniable fact that religion is the biggest cause of war and oppression in the
world, but why. When you look at most religions the same undertones are there for every one.
Those being everyone of faith can and will be in a better place if a certain set of rules is followed
and the rules generally state that killing and taking advantage is considered a bad thing. For
example the catholic and christian communities follow a set of ten commandments, in which it
states specifically that thou shalt not kill. So how can someone of faith justify taking the life of
another human being. Their reasoning is usually based off a twisted version of their religion. In
some cases the justification is set out like a nice center piece on a table. For example lets take a

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look at those pesky ten commandments again. Number two, to be more specific, states that thou
shalt have no other god. Sounds like the perfect excuse to blow the head off a jewish man or
string up and rape a muslim woman. The second part two this is mans obsession with being
superior. The all out war for power and pride that is built into the human genome. Religious pride
is a big motivating factor. The desire to prove that your religion is the right one and the best one.
We connect this to the several attempts to abolish the jewish religion. In current news it is the
ever growing conflict between Muslims and western culture that we see on the news everyday. A
select group of Muslims believe that western culture is the worst thing ever and it steps over so
many muslim ideals that they are willing to die to prove that. I have always believed that the
only way to global piece is by removing religion all together or by some miracle, finding a way
to get along. To me this is the biggest reason that I have trouble seeing how religion is a good
thing. It seems counter intuitive to me that religious people preach their faith and then go out and
do things like that.
One of the most talked about subjects during any political season is taxes. Whether it be
businesses or individuals most would agree that they do not wanna see any more of their hard
earned money get looted by tax collectors. Yet every year we see a slight increase in taxes. This
is because taxes pay for the things we use everyday. The infrastructure, school system, fire and
police department all get funded through taxes. Imagine how great the American school system
would be if they had a couple billion more dollars budgeted to them every year. Our roads could
be fixed up and be safer then ever before. Our police force could get the latest in technology to
keep them safe and coming home to their families. All sounds great but that would require a huge
increase in our taxes, or would it ! A magical spell seems to protect religious institutions from
having to pay both federal and local taxes. In the USA alone an estimated 71 billion dollars is

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lost every year by not taxing churches. 71 billion dollars could go a long way right now. It both
amazes me and mystifies me that the church is still getting away with this robbery. Globally the
Vatican is technically the largest cooperation in the world, and yes it is a cooperation. Not only
does it own thousands of priceless art pieces and a vast collection of solid gold artifacts but it
also invests too. The church owns shares to several huge companies like GE, GM, Shell and Gulf
oil. On top of that they also run a few very popular tourist locations and you bet they charge to
get in. So next time you are at church you better think twice before placing that donation into
that basket. Maybe instead donate it to a cause that actually helps people.
I have always said that if you want to see hypocrisy in action simply go to your nearest
church. It is true that some of the biggest hypocrites in our society are those that live religion. I
heard a great saying once that went like this. Churches are like laundromats for people, we sin all
week then show up on Sunday and wash away our sins and start with a clean sheet for the next
week. A metaphorical easing of the conscious you see. Some of the most wretched people in
history were religious. Yet the people in their belief systems would turn a blind eye to what they
were doing. One of the most famous examples of the hypocrisy of religious followers was
brought to light in early 2002. That year a special journalist team for the Boston Globe
uncovered one of the largest scandals in History. They linked almost 80 priests to child abuse and
sexual assault in the greater Boston area and brought to light how this was a global problem not
just a local problem. The church has always been against sexual relations with anyone at anytime
unless you have been married under their roof and it holds even higher standards for religious
workers who are not suppose to get involved with anyone yet alone children. But here we are,
worldwide with thousands upon thousands of victims of abuse as children by religious officials.
Not to mention about 50 percent of church officials engage in sexual relations with people. You

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can not blame them though. It is in our human instincts to want to be with someone. It is the
religion that holds people to unrealistic standards and so creates the most hypocritical faction in
the world.
In many ways religion hurts many people and sometimes is even responsible for their
tragic end. There is a part of religion that is good though. When you look at history and even
current day in fact it is clear to see that religion has played a role on history in some good ways.
During hard times religion is often what grounds people and keeps them rooted in place. One of
the clearest examples of this was the 9-11 attacks. Yes the attacks were fueled by religion but for
the most part without the beliefs in religion I think it would have been really hard for the city of
New York to make it through such a tough event. Volunteer groups helped day and night and
prayer groups helped citizens deal with the pains of loss and confusion. Another positive of
religion is that it brings people together. In a world that is so based in technology sometimes it is
easy to isolate ones self. We often hear the phrase from older generations that cell phones are
ruining how we communicate. Lucky for use religion usually forbids the use of such devices
during services and ceremonies. This opens the door for normal human socialization. From small
weekday prayer groups to large and festive weddings, religion opens a lot of doors for human
interaction.
Through out this paper I have demonstrated the ways in which religion is kind of ruining
us. Globally, religion is one of the biggest causes of war and human suffering, not to mention all
the civilian casualties in such events. Religion has been the backbone to some of the most
horrific events in human history, for example the holocaust. Religious groups, more specifically
the catholic churches, are part of the largest money schemes in history and will continue to evade
paying taxes until some radical new law is put in place. Finally I demonstrated how religion is a

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safe haven for terrible people and has created a culture of hypocrisy. That being said I was able
to pick out a couple of the good points about religion. It is pretty clear that for all the bad there is
some good in their. Religion is a constant beast that needs to be tamed. Once all the bad is
removed from religion and the good is allowed to show through unimpeded, that is when we will
reach global peace. I am not religious and probably never will be but I do realize that there is a
time and place for religion and that it is a positive influence on many lives around me so for the
sake of humanity I do hope that the terrible things I described in this paper are ironed out and
that only the purest qualities of religion are some day allowed to make there positive impacts felt
by everyone not just a select few.