Am I missing something? Religion.

[ButterflyTable]

I will caveat this by saying there was a point in my life when I was religious. However I now just feel religion is created by men; about men for men.

I look at women around me who are friends and religious, and their religion oppresses them. Much more than men.

I want to believe in God, or a higher power. But nothing in this world leads me to think there is a God as such. Granted I think there is energy, something out there perhaps connected to our ancestors or the Earth.

Religion to me seems about control, rituals, even having spent time around people of multiple faiths, in their holy buildings - I feel something, I hear a hymn, a call to prayer, I’ve sang I a church congregation. I’ve sat in Temples, I’ve been in Muslim countries and heard the prayers, I’ve experienced and read about a number of faiths. To the extent they all say pretty much the same thing, but I cannot believe in God.

I also feel faith holds people back. I’ve seen a lot wrong done by very religious people.

Do some research. Forced vaccination trials. Neglect. Babies buried en masse in latrines/sewers. No records of burial sites. No death certificates.

At best that’s widespread institutionalised corporate manslaughter.

It's not just America, westboro BC are nuts but there are plenty 'christian' homophobes on this side of the Atlantic. Yet another reason to despise the church for me tbh.

“in January 2021. The Bon Secours Sisters issued an apology in the wake of the report's publication, stating "We did not live up to our Christianity when running the Home."”

And the rest. BlackRock college etc al. Is there anyone in Ireland who doesn't know someone who was abused by a religious person?

I have an aunt who was in an institution. My husband had an uncle (rip) who was sexually abused in one. I have red hot rage thinking about them.

@DanielGault I’m not from Ireland, I’m no expert on what’s happened there, but it’s been clear for a long time there was widespread horrendous abuse in the Catholic Church and institutions there. It’s horrendous and I’m sorry about your aunt and husband’s uncle. Your rage is totally justified.

With respect, that’s an extorted faux ‘apology’ in response to a State Commission of Enquiry and written with every word checked by lawyers. They were absolutely living out key ideas in Christianity in ‘saving souls’. from ‘ruin’. And it wasn’t a single order, it was dozens, and at the behest of bishops, and not restricted to Catholicism — the first Magdalene laundries were Protestant, and in England, and there were such institutions in dozens of countries run by different subsets of Christianity.

And the deliberate selling babies? Whilst still asking the birth mother for fees to care for her child?

The deliberate vaccination without consent?

The forcing women and children to work?

The infant mortality rate 5 times higher than other institutions in Ireland at the time?

No, this is not a nice lot of nuns doing their best to be good Christians. Thus is blatant extortion. Maybe not all the nuns were in on it, but there were definitely some who were.

You’re working very hard to ‘other’ this as an Irish issue, and/or a Catholic one. It isn’t. You can’t decide Christianity is just the warm and fuzzy bits of Jesus’s sayings, and separate it off from the horrific abuses perpetrated in its name. Look at Christian missionaries acting as the religious arm of colonialism, and its ideological alibi. ‘By their works ye shall know them.’

There's a lot online about it if you want to research. It's hideous though. Truly hideous. I don't really have words for it to be honest.

'by their illegitimate children ye shall know them'

I’m not othering - I’ve stated elsewhere on this thread that many atrocities have been committed in the name of religion. You are the one defending this particular set of atrocities, and you are now resorting to whataboutery

With Christianity as their driving force, moral alibi and inspiration. Those women prayed every day, attended sacraments, read the Scriptures and believed themselves to be carrying out God’s will.

That makes it ok?????

German soldiers are still to this day being prosecuted for committing atrocities, because they committed crimes in the name of the ideology. Arguing they were acting for the greater good does not absolve them of thier crimes.

Nuns who committed atrocities should be punished by law. If nothing else unlawful burial is a crime. Beliefs do not absolve you or put you above the law.

I was brought up as a Catholic and indoctrinated/scared into believing at a young age. Then when I was about 12, I grew up.

Religion was created by men, for men. It has absolutely no place in modern society, and thankfully, younger generations are seeing this.

It causes war, hate, abuse and fear. Which was what it was created for. I'm afraid if someone tells me they're religious, I can no longer take them seriously and question their intelligence.

I agree with you in the main, but my mum is a Catholic and she's not thick. I think she was a blind follower when she was younger but she's a lot more 'suspicious' now.

That's fair enough. I think sometimes it's fear rather than stupidity.

It was neither tbh, when she was growing up it was just how it was. It was only as we grew up and she was exposed to more than catholic shyte that she began to see a wider view. And when she fully saw it, she ran with it and kicked arse. Absolute queen!

OP, I think you are confusing religion with organised religion. And I say that as an atheist.

I'd agree with most of your comments about organised religion. It's about control, and in the past, was very much used to control/form society. From a historical and societal aspect, it's fascinating.

I love this!

It's also quite important to bear in mind that atrocities, violations of human rights, abuse, harm, extremism and terrorism all have been committed in the name of religion, just the exact same as it's been done in the name of politics, power, or just about any other human issue.

It's the individuals, whether that be a large group, small group, or single people, guilty of this. I'd argue that religion (even organised) isn't the cause , really. People are. We all have choices to do good or bad.

That leads however to whole other cans of worms about indoctrination, organised religion used in state power, culture + upbringing, and education, all of which I believe religion has no place being used.

I don't quite get your point here?

There has only ever been one God and his name is Jehovah.

Yes he did send his only begotten son Jesus to us as a man and yes we did repay that kindness by killing him and with more sin, lies and misrepresentations in the form of false religion that has permeated and contaminated humanity to the point that we use it to justify breaking Jehovah's explicit commandment NOT to kill.

People ask how there can be so many gods. What they ought to be asking is why there is so much false religion.

Life is a gift. So's freedom to choose, but there are consequences which don't run to the timetables of those who don't believe they are being held to account.

Riiight....

Oh and as a matter of interest, how is life a gift when you're dumping babies in a sewerage tank? Or is life a gift and death is just rubbish to be thrown away? I'd love if you could explain that to me. Also, forced adoptions. And institutional child abuse.