Religion is a very, very ancient idea. In fact, it goes back to the dawn of man and has been a part of our existence since the very beginning. It’s also very difficult to explain because each person has their own opinion on it. In short, however, it’s a practice that gives wisdom and teachings, gives people an idea of right and wrong, and instills in them a manner in which they should live their lives and what they should strive to accomplish. Generally, in religion, there is a higher power or higher power. Religion can also be compared to any belief system, or way of life, and have many similarities.
People become devoutly devoted to their religion or way of life.
They love and hold true to its teachings and its laws. Since religions often “hold the answer to life”, the followers of this religion will want to spread it and tell everyone they can what it holds and teaches. But they will encounter people who already have a religion or people who believe in atheism. Still, if they devoutly believe in their religion the person will continue to try to convert the person who does not want to be converted.
Often times, people mistake this for being “pushy”, “not taking a hint”, “bible-banging”, or being “self-righteous”. However, they don’t stop to think. What if this supposedly self-righteous person really was right? What if everything he or she said was true? Why would this be anything but compassion and kindness? They’re just trying to help.
However, some people take converting and evangelizing too far. The Crusades are a perfect example. The idea of Christianity is to bring the gospel to everyone in the world. But the Crusaders took that as; purge the land of all non-Christians. The teachers and leaders of the church were corrupt at this time, so it’s no wonder the Holy Wars got out of hand. The leaders of the Church skipped over the parts of the bible that spoke of kindness, peace, love, understanding. The middle ages were also an extremely oppressive and violent time to begin with. But still, in the Crusades, religion led to violence.
The Muslims were in possession of the Holy Land, and Jerusalem.
They believed that land belonged to them, and the Christians believed it belonged to them. Muslims and Christians were practically arch-enemies, believing in the same God but having conflicting views as to who that God was. So the Crusaders mounted wars upon the Muslims, trying to rid the world of them and reclaim the Holy Land.
Most of these attempts failed, but the damage was still done. In their slaughter, the Crusaders also killed Jews and Eastern-Orthodox Christians. Wherever they went, the Crusaders pillaged, raped, and killed in the name of God. These tragedies still are having repercussions today.
In most religions, human life has a very high value.
In most modern societies and lifestyles, human life has an equally high value. Around the world, murder and death is looked upon as morally wrong and evil. But people can take things too far, such as the Crusaders and today’s Islamic terrorists. They both took things out of context and used their religion as a way to justify what they were doing. They weren’t really doing violence and murder for their God, they were just doing it for themselves, and using their religion as an off-hand reason.
Most religions do not call for violence. In fact, most religions call for peace and harmony. If a religion calls for violence, then it should be stopped and disregarded. For no one, immortal or mortal wants death in the land.
