I have my doubts a long time ago...

Bob Choi & Others

6 May 2013

Bob Choi: I can understand when someone kills for love (crime of passion!) or someone kills for money although I must say both are extremely stupid, but I can't understand when someone kills for religious beliefs. That's beyond being stupid! 

While religion is nice to have, it's not what I would describe as being essential. Further more, there are different religions that one can choose from, right? No one religion should be considered superior to others. Just pick what you feel like, and try it out for awhile. From time to time, change to a different religion so you can get some new perspectives. Religions are like shoes, no sense wearing only one style!

Some people are taking religion way too seriously. They need to lighten up. Look at me: I am pagan turned Christian turned Atheist turned Buddhist turned Agnostic and I am happy as a clam!

How often have we heard the saying that all religions are good because they all aim to turn us into better, kinder human beings? This sounds good in theory, but I am beginning to have doubts. I am willing to accept that all religions mean well as they advocate love, faith and kindness, but I am also beginning to see that certain religious tenets can actually be hijacked by their "believers" to become their excuses to maim and to kill...all in the name of their "gods".

This is particularly the case for people who take their religion seriously and hold the view that their own religion is the only true, legitimate faith (religious fundamentalists). I am not only referring to Jihad. Jihad is only a current variation of the same theme that run through the history of men: the Crusade, the Spanish Inguisition and the genocide of native Indians in the hands of the conguistadors.

Perhaps religion, like science, is a two-edged sword: it's both good and evil.

Stella Tse: Religion in a way like many other things in life, is how we apply its principles; with a twisted mind, then love of god could turn into hatred (of other religions), exclusion (of same sex marriages) ....

Peter Wu: Well you only need to look at the Catholic church itself to find there are serious failings among its practitioners, namely child and sexual abusers.

At the end of the day, religious practitioners are like us.  They have the whole range of emotions like us non-religious people - desires, needs, wants, hate, jealousy, greed, you name it.

Closer to home, I know how vicious the politics and bullying can be in a nunnery in HK. One of our distant relations is a nun and this is coming first hand from her. I thought this is not supposed to happen but it does.

Allow me to make another comment.

In the bigger scheme of things, religions are like consumer products – they appeal to people with a particular bent, geographic area, preferences, historical leaning and cultural background.

When thrown together in a geographic area, they fight like dogs and cats in an attempt to increase their ‘market share’. What’s happening in Myanmar is a case in point (Buddhist doing the Muslim cleansing).

The Mormons and Jehovah Witnesses are particularly good at that – they go door to door to preach their stuff, while the Catholics are good at giving out freebies like rice, milk-powder and other staples to entice and buy your loyalty.

The religious practitioners realise a long time ago that believers or potential believers, like our consumer dollars, are finite. IN order to get more of this dollar, they have to go out, market themselves and convert. The more they convert, the bigger their market share, and therefore the bigger their influence.

I understand where they are coming from a long time ago. So every time one of these religious crowds knock on my door, I simply ask them how much they want to pay to buy my belief. My soul goes to the highest bidder for as long as they keep paying me! Otherwise, get stuff.