In the Foreword, Two Thousand Years—The First Millennium: The Birth of Christianity to the Crusades, English writer and broadcaster Melvyn Bragg endorses his words, however, which raises a serious question about whether religion in general really has been a force for good. He says: “Christianity also owes me an explanation.” For what does he want an explanation? “For the bigotry, the wickedness, the inhumanity and the wilful ignorance which has also characterized much of its ‘history,’” he says.
Many would say that bigotry, wickedness, inhumanity, and willful ignorance have marked most of the world’s religions throughout history. Their view is that religion simply poses as a benefactor of mankind—that under its facade of virtue and holiness, it is in reality full of hypocrisy and lies. (Matthew 23:27, 28.) “No statement is more common in our literature than that religion is of peculiar value in connection with civilization,” says A Rationalist Encyclopædia. “And none is more massively discredited by the facts of history,” it continues.
Pick up any newspaper today, and you will find almost endless examples of religious leaders who preach love, peace, and compassion but who fan the flames of hatred and invoke the name of God to legitimize their brutal conflicts. No wonder many people feel that religion is more often than not a destructive force in life.
Better With No Religion?
Some have even concluded, as did English philosopher Bertrand Russell, that it would be good if in time “every kind of religious belief [would] die out.” In their view, the removal of religion is the only lasting solution to all of mankind’s problems. They may choose to forget, however, that those who reject religion can engender just as much hatred and intolerance as those who espouse it. Religion writer Karen Armstrong reminds us: “At the very least, the Holocaust showed that a secularist ideology [can] be just as lethal as any religious crusade.”—The Battle for God—Fundamentalism in Judaism, Christianity and Islam.
Is the solution to those problems to get rid of all religion? Consider what the Bible has to say about this. The answer may surprise you.
“WHEN religion is not encouraging strife it is acting as a drug which numbs the human conscience and fills the human brain with escapist fantasies. . . . It causes human beings to be narrow, superstitious, full of hatred and fear.” The former Methodist missionary who wrote that added: “These charges are true. There is bad and good religion.”—Start Your Own Religion.
Yet, who can deny the facts of history? To a large extent, religion—defined as “the service and worship of God or the supernatural”—has a shocking record. It should enlighten and inspire us. More often than not, however, what it does is engender strife, intolerance, and hatred. Why is that?
It certainly is not just Christendom that has given religion a poor reputation. Think of the fundamentalist versions of “militant piety,” for example, that former nun Karen Armstrong says have been spawned by “every major religious tradition.” According to Armstrong, one crucial test of any religion is that it should lead to “practical compassion.” What has been the record of fundamentalist religions in this regard? “Fundamentalist faith,” she writes, “be it Jewish, Christian, or Muslim, fails this crucial test if it becomes a theology of rage and hatred.” (The Battle for God—Fundamentalism in Judaism, Christianity and Islam) But is it only the “fundamentalist” brand of religion that has failed this test and become “a theology of rage and hatred”? History shows otherwise.
Satan has, in fact, built up a world empire of false religion, identified by rage, hatred, and almost endless bloodshed. The Bible calls this empire “Babylon the Great, the mother of harlots and of the disgusting things of the earth,” and it is pictured as a prostitute who rides on the back of a beastlike political system. It is noteworthy that she is held accountable for “the blood . . . of all those who have been slaughtered on the earth.”—Revelation 17:4-6; 18:24.
So it is only partly true that religion lies at the root of all of mankind’s problems. False religion does. Yet, God intends to remove all false religion very soon now. (Revelation 17:16, 17; 18:21) His command to anyone who loves justice and righteousness is: “Get out of her (that is, Babylon the Great, the world empire of false religion), my people, if you do not want to share with her in her sins, and if you do not want to receive part of her plagues. For her sins have massed together clear up to heaven, and God has called her acts of injustice to mind.” (Revelation 18:4, 5) Yes, God himself is deeply offended by religion that ‘encourages strife, numbs the human conscience, fills the brain with escapist fantasies, and causes people to be narrow-minded, superstitious, and full of hatred and fear.’
In the meantime, God is gathering into the pure religion those who love truth. It is the religion that adheres to the principles and teachings of a loving, just, and compassionate Creator. (Micah 4:1, 2; Zephaniah 3:8, 9; Matthew 13:30.) You can be part of it. If you would like more information on how to identify pure religion, feel free to contact Jehovah’s Witnesses at the local Kingdom Hall. Or visit http://www.watchtower.org