Since I can remember, I have been attending church. I was baptised as a child and became confirmed in Christianity when I was a teenager. However, a burning question about my own faith, as well other faiths, has never gone away. I openly embrace my faith, but sometimes find it difficult to conform to certain aspects of it. Starting at a young age, I became very interested in philosophy, but I was warned to not to read the works of German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche because such works are believed to undermine the principles of Christianity. Despite the warnings, I continued to read the works of this so called “sinful” philosopher.
Nietzsche is famous for his writings against Christianity. In one of his pieces he stated: “God is dead. God remains dead. And we have killed him. How shall we, murderers of all murderers, console ourselves?” Modern and postmodern societies today have increasingly become atheistic, neglecting religion. It is proof of how corrupted our world has become. By abandoning sincere faith and beliefs of divinity, it has been revealed that people no longer fear the consequences of committing a sin. Even righteous and moral values seem to have been eliminated by our faithless world.
While religion helps us to love others, it also drives us to hate those who differ from our beliefs. Christianity and most other religions fail to tolerate other beliefs and other religions, and are the source of many conflicts. Religion appears to want us to be violent, a reasoning that many Islamic extremist groups have based their causes off of. They believe their faith is dominant, and that it is their duty to eliminate any opposition to their religious beliefs.
But to generalize all Muslims as being dangerous and terrorists is a sin in itself. As a society, how can we conclude that all Muslims are violent, when in a reality it is only a extremely small percentage of extremists. Every day Muslim people are no more or less sinners than everyday Christians, and all too often people forget this.
A second example of religious persecution is the treatment of LGBT individuals. Their lifestyle may be against your beliefs, but that does not make them wrong or sinful. Homosexuals and transexuals are people that are accepted in the everyday 21st century world. Their persecution is something that needs to be ended. It is wrong to judge them, and attack them because they are being true to themselves.
Religion is something that provides hope to billions of people worldwide, each and every day. However, it is also the cause of many issues. I believe that it is time to put an end to this. We as human beings are the only ones that can prevent the persecution of minority groups for not fitting the norms of religion. Rather than attacking them because they are different, address them with the kind side of the church. The one that is welcoming and caring.
Do you agree that it is time to end the persecution of certain groups of religions because of religious differences? Send all comments, questions and concerns to opinion@dailycardinal.com.
