Hijacking of Morality by Religion

Arthur C. Clarke
"The greatest tragedy in mankind's entire history may be the hijacking of morality by religion."

As I have aged, I have become much wiser towards the ways of the world, and my eyes have been opened up to the fallibility of man. I have come to recognize the difference between walking the walk and talking the talk, and it is one of the reasons I am not religious any more. I have read many different books, looked at both sides of the isle and seen what each has to offer in terms of answers and what they view life like. Religion is one of those areas where I have a really hard time not speaking my mind and offending people, because I often feel offended for my beliefs by the leaders of the various religions. This is what Arthur C. Clarke is telling us with this quote, and what I have come to believe as a man. There is a hijacking of morality by religion, and it reaks of elitist behavior with a holier than thou tilt.

Just today we have a republican senator who says we are "allowing gay and lesbian people to exist". Really? Does anyone else see that as outright elitist rhetoric which states that "well we are not killing them, we are letting them be gay, so what more do they want"???

How can people be a member of a church or even a political party when the leaders of the party think this way about people? How can you support such hatred and outright crass behavior from a man who is most likely sending illicit texts to underage pages or soliciting sex in airport bathrooms or better yet, the leader of over 30million people and the evangelical movement who was caught with a male prostitute while brainwashing people of the evils of homosexuality!

Religion at one point in the past 25 years has taken hold of the moral argument of our country and used it to divide us as a culture and a nation. It is but one of the many different reasons I am not religious, and why I don't associate with religious people. The people, in my experience, who are religious, are the worst people in terms of who they are. They are liars, cheats, devious, thieves and will do almost anything to get out of the trouble they got themselves into. They then go to church on Sunday, and think they are this great person in life, simply because they believe in god and give money to god.

Well, sorry but not only does the world not work that way, but if there was a god, and he/she was just, they would base you on your actions in life, not if you worshiped them or not. I have removed religion from my life because I can see it for the scam it is. I can see how there are charlatans in the world, and how the evangelical movement is one that is hurtful to this country. I also can acknowledge that there are a great MANY MANY people in religion who are truly great individuals and do a tremendous amount for humanity. My argument is that these people would be great without religion, they just use it as their outlet to help people. It isn't because they are selfish people and want to go to heaven, but because they are great people who want to help out others in life. They would be doing it either way.

Back to the quote, I do wish the church would stay out of issues such as gay marriage, abortion and sex. Maybe if they only taught the love for fellow man, I would reconsider my stance towards it, but until that day happens, I will stay firmly entrenched in Atheism enjoying the view from this side. Maybe that will change one day, maybe I will want my children to be brought up in religion, maybe not. Either way, I want it to be THEIR choice in life, not the choice of mine.