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THE VIOLENCE THAT IS RELIGION (I)
by emmanuel iweha Religion breeds and incubates violence. This is a fact that is backed up with a litany of past events and present realities that cannot be denied by anyone who just wants to say the truth. People who practice religion are prone to be violent in either a passive or active form. The focus now may be on the active form of violence but the reality is that the passive form of violence is actually more prevalent than the active. Any where you see active violence that comes because of religion; it is as a result of the passive moving to the next stage i.e. the active. So anyone that practices religion is violent. They may not have taken up a stone, knife or gun but the fact that they practicing religion already shows a recessive violence that is just waiting to erupt. They may have all the "holy" books at their disposal and quote profusely from them. They may reside in Belfast or Bombay; they may enter a shrine or stay in open space; they may face the sun or sit on pews; anybody that practices religion practices violence. Religion is violence. Now I may just continue here and talk about spirituality that is devoid of Christ. This would of course be the popular route to take because the violence I am talking about would be hypocritical if Christians or people who claim to practice Christianity are not included. The fact of the matter is that Religion transcends faith. So there are Christians who practice religion and they are as demonically violent as the person who kills and takes the life of others because they are not of the same faith. All you need do is tune to a television station and you will see a preacher steeped in violence and preaching the violence that stems from religion rather than God's peace that stems from walking in the Light of Christ which is the essence of true spirituality. This has always shocked me when I reflect back to those in biblical times and note that as they were being cut "asunder" and being made "destitute" for and because of their faith in Christ, there was no record of a resistance movement taking up arms against their Roman and Jewish oppressors. This is a key litmus test that separates those that practice religion from those that walk in the spirituality of the light of Christ. You are allowed to take up arms to defend yourself but you are a liar if you take up arms to defend your faith. That is, as far as God and His Christ is concerned, you can't defend Christ in you by taking up the arms of the flesh. People who preach religion from the pulpit will never know this because they do not preach Christ. They preach religion and religion will always breed violence. It was the preaching of religion that initiated the wars that were falsely called The Crusades It was religion that instigated the killing of Steven and the subsequent persecution of the body of Christ that followed. It was religion that instigated every other act of violence the world has known till date that is directly or indirectly related to faith and beliefs. It may not be our place to talk about a world that is covered in darkness and the gross darkness that covers the individuals which leads them to keep on perpetrating evil not in the name of religion but because of religion. It is however imperative that we point the finger to the liars who claim Christianity and indeed validate their authority to speak on and by Christ to still go against Christ by preaching and practicing religion that can't help but create violence. This is the basis of a church gone astray in America as they confuse issues and practice religion rather than follow Christ and a world at loss because the ones that are supposed to lift up the banner just as Moses did with the bronze serpent to bring about healing to those who look to it are busy fermenting violence as they keep on practicing religion. Religion is violence. Hi, this is a free to publish article provided it is published without changing it in any form or manner. For further inquiries, kindly send an email to:- Emmanuel Iweha [email protected] www.crosscloud.blogspot.com www.smashwords.com/profile/view/readywritar Article Source: http://www.faithwriters.com |