Jesse Ventura stated in an interview with Playboy Magazine, "Organized religion is a sham and a crutch for weak-minded people who need strength in numbers." A little harsh if you ask me, but true none the less. Organized Religion has been used through out history as nothing more and nothing less than a means of controlling the masses. Religion ITSELF has done nothing of the sort, but the men and women who organized it, and corrupted it, did. You have the crusades, the Salem Witch Trials, the treatment of women in the Islamic world, the murder of Jesus (messiah or not), and, as crazy as this may or may not sound, the 10 Commandments of Anceint Israel. All of these, one way or another hage been used at a certain point in time to control the population, to keep them in check, to make sure that they lived lives that were deemed as "acceptable," by an Almighty God, whom no one has seen, talked to, or heard from in over 2000 years. In this article, I will show you the how, the when, and the who, of organized religions crippling affects on the individual person, on the soul, and on the mind.
Let's start with the Crusades, the Christian impediment on human individuality. The Crusades are a very long, drawn out, and all around boring story if you go into great and extreme detail, so in order to save you from wanting to commit suicide from shear boredom, I'll give you the short end of it. Between the 11th and 13th centuries, there were 9 MAJOR Crusades, not counting the 10+ minor ones that took place. The reason behind these massive attacks ranged from self-defense to Christian Jihad. The places of these attacks went from Spain, to modern Israel, causing the deaths of hundreds of thousands of innocent individuals, all in the name of what? You guessed it: Religion. Now you may be asking yourself, "How in the name of all things holy (pun intended) did the leaders of these supposedly 'civilized and Christian' nations get the popular approve for these battles?" The answer is simple, my friends, its called propaganda, and it is surprisingly effective. They were told that the Muslims were destroying the holy land, that they were tearing Jerusalem to pieces, that they were imperialist savages who wanted ntohing but land and death. ANd guess what? They bought it. Why? Because a figure of church authority told them it was the truth, and they refused to question that authority for fear of being banished to hell. Individuality 0, Organized religion 1, the masses have been controlled.
On to Judaism. Let's see, what have the Jews done in order to suppress the individual...Oh, right! They killed Jesus! Regardless of whether he was the Messiah or not, he held what were deemed as "radical" or "different" ideas, and was suppressed by murder. He went against the grain, he question the Jewish Authority, and he pushed buttons. He claimed to be the Messiah that the Jews had been seeking for so long, and for some reason, this angered the Jews. Why? Because he placed THEIR authority in jeopardy. He was exciting the masses, getting them riled up, they thought that they had finally found their savior, but we wouldn't want that, now would we? Heaven forbid (again pun intended) that someone has a view point that you may or may not agree with. Individuality is such a pain, isn't it?!
Islam, you're next. There is a lot I could say about Islam, it just depends on what letter of the alphabet you want me to begin with. There have been many a murder, and many a crimes against individuality commited in the name of Islam, supposedly the "religion of peace." Case in point; 9-11. On September 11th, 2001, 3000+ individuals, innocent none the less, were murdered in cold blool by Islamic Terrorists because they were considered "infidels," and because they believed in freedom, democracy, and, the evil of all evils, individuality (Koran 9:3) They lived in the "Great Satan" that is America. Another place you could look for Islamic Suppression of the individual is the Islamo-Fascist State of Iran, with the Ayatollah Khamenei as its leader. Students protesting the Ayatollah's leadership have been murdered by the police, beaten by the SECRET police, and assassinated by intelligence agences, all in the name of "Islamic Purity." I can just hear it now: "Those student, they're...they're being individuals! They're questioning my authority...KILL THEM!! HOW DARE THEY!!!"
I have factually hit all three major religions, and now it is time for you, the reader, to find out why I have such a huge beef with organized religion. Talk to any person who considers themselves a "true believe" in whatever religion they partake in, and I'll amost gaurantee you that if you disagree with them on one or more issues, they'll, one way or another, banish you to hell. I interviewed my Uncle, who is a SELF-ADMITTED religious fundementalist and Baptist, to get his views on this subject. I found out that if you don't think Jesus died for your sins, in his opinion, you are going to hell. The Jews? Hell. Deists? Hell. Muslims? Hell. Any and all religions that do not believe in Jesus Christ as the savior of the Earth, and the Son of God, are going straight to hell, do not pass go, do not collect 200 dollars, straight to HELL! What is that? Let's say, I live to my absolute best, I give much of my hard earned money to charity, and help my fellow man tot he best of my ability. Then, we find out, that I haven't "found" Jesus. Well, guess waht? I am going STRIGHT TO HELL according to most practicing Christians. What's crazy about this is that it isn't a characteristic of just Christianity, this is true for almost all organized religions. Muslims believe that Jews and Christians are going to hell, Jews believe Muslims and Christians are going to hell, Christians believe that Jews and Muslims are going to hell, al because they hold different views of what God is, and what God wants. Isn't God, according to all three major religions, all merciful, and all compassionate? Doesn't God love all of us, as equals, regardless of our religious views? Now, I'm not saying anyone can get into heaven, if there is one. You have to live your life "well" but I don't think that you need to be part of one denomination or another in order to get into heaven. Thats where I stand, personally, an dif you disagree, good.
You see, whether it be from the Crusades, the killing of Jesus, or the point of view that the "infidels" must be killed in order to please "Allah," organized religion, when corrupted by man, is nothing more and nothing less than a source of countrol, a source suppression. You can hold the individual back, but eventually, someone, somewhere, will come along and show the masses what is being vieled over them, blinding them, and they will resist. I don't hate religion, I hate individual suppression, and organized religion is a huge source of that individual suppression. Oragnized religion is a corrupt system. The Bible was written BY MAN, the Koran was written BY MAN, the Torah was written BY MAN, none of these holy books were written by a holy source, they weren't written by an omnipotent super power that controls every aspect of our lives, they were written by men who took the word of God, and twisted it to fit their agenda. They twisted it to control the masses, and that's wrong, that's oppression.
