Religion

There's something about religion,
That sorta separates people.
I thought of the discussion I had yesterday with my classmates,
Since there's another seminar that were being conducted by Shah and Cassie,
And they were both related to religion,
For that,
We discussed a about superstitions, religions, deism..
(I think it was diesm or whatever word it is)
Shyt.
I forgotten what's that word,
It'll come back to me when someone bring it up later.

So later during my Biology lesson,
My Biology lecturer mentioned something about death..
And how is it related to religion.

"We all are afraid of death, religion is what we hold on to because it keeps us secure."

Its not exactly what she said,
But the real interpretation of that is actually,
To think about it,
We are actually afraid of death,
And through religion we learn that we'll have a life after death,
Salvation in another word,
Eternal life in heaven,
Or living in hell?
Purgatory for the Catholic?
Not sure if they still believes in that though(do they?)
The reborns?
For Buddhism and Hinduism..
And the Islams..
If I am not mistaken its about the same as what the Christians believes in.

Then wé have the Jews, the bunch of "The Chosen One" apparently,
How true is that,
I don't know.
And I don't wanna comment on that..
The Islams and the Christians..
They cannot seemed to live together in harmony..
There'll be fights among them,
Despite of the fact that,
That three religion..
Are almost the same.
Their teachings are almost the same..
Their beliefs are such that there are only The One and only above.

But what actually caught my attention so far,
Is the fact that...
They can actually live together.
As in like..
The three religion..
Can actually befriend with each other,
If only,
There're tolerance among them.
Fanaticism is the MAJOR factor in religion..
Or in any other beliefs..
To the extent,
People are willing to kill,
Just to get people believing in their beliefs..

We'll have this bunch of staunch religious peeps,
Who try to spread their beliefs and stuff,
Then wé also have the older generations,
Who has their own superstitions too..
And for that,
They expect the younger ones to believe in what they belief in,
Telling them that they should do this and that..
But what leaves us younger generation ponder,
Me for instance..
I always sorta question whats with all those fuss about religion.
It is an extremely sensitive issue,
And I usually don't like talking about it.
Then again,
Don't get me wrong.
I do believe in the existence of God..
Its just the idea of having a religion seemed to be a boundary.

What I don't get is,
You'll have people who speaks so badly about other religion,
And when you look into it..
Their teachings are almost the same,
Its only their rituals are different,
Like the Buddhists, the Christians, Islams you name it..

I grew up in a family..
Who are kinda into these Buddhism stuff,
And as I grew up..
I tend to get into trouble..
For visiting other religious places,
Such as the church..
I've been to the mosque,
The church, and the temple(obviously)
But there's one thing that I realize,
Is the fact that my parents are really against the Christians,
For some reason which I kinda understand..
Thing is they judge them because of the few bunch of "religious" people they've met.

So as we grew up,
They were trying to instill this thing about religion among us(their kids),
When I go against what they believe in..
Choosing my own path of beliefs,
They freaked out!
Like seriously freaked out!
Then I have a good friend of mine..
Who is going out with a guy who is a free thinker,
She doesn't dare to tell her parents know about it,
For the fear that her parents wouldn't like it,
Because she says, her parents prefer her to go out with a Christian guy instead,
Marriage for instance,
Well..
Religion will also be one of the factor,
That might bring a marriage to an end,
Due to the different beliefs...
*shrugs*

That question that kept swirling in my mind..

Is religion a boundary for progress?
Progress in anything in case you are wondering
We are being pressured to believe in some beliefs,
When clearly as we grew up..
Our mind develops..
Maybe for some people,
They might take ages to develop..
(I am not trying to instill the word retards to such peeps mind you)
I mean some people might be slow in term of their development of maturity,
So as we grew up,
We began to have our own views in things,
The knowledge we absorbed,
Is a tool for us to think for ourselves,
Besides to help us to make a difference to the world..
I am eighteen now.
I am still a kid in my parents eyes.
Yes, I get why and I don't really mind actually..
But the fact that when they know that I have different views in certain things,
Its like what some people might label it as a..
Off the limit kinda thing,
(If you get what I mean by that)

What about the part where,
Religion actually break people apart instead of uniting them?
That one thing that is supposed to be a guide for us to live,
Somehow tie us down in certain things,
I've read quite a lot of books,
Of people,
Who used religion as an excuse just to torture another person,
Women for instance,
Seemed to be at risk,
Just because there's a line in the bible that states that women are such dangerous creature..
That Adam and Eve thingy?
Where we had Eve who got herself tempted by the satan,
Just so there's a story on that,
Men thinks that women should be punished because of what Eve did in the past.
And the polygamy thingy?
Wouldn't it lead to diseases like HIV or AIDS..
Having relationship with different people,
Only thing is they have the rights to do so..
Since they have their marriage certs with them..

There are alot more into that,
(Religion I mean)
That hold some people back..
Politics and religion..
Combining them together,
Will lead to a disastrous political system,
Look at where we are now..
If you've been reading the papers..
Or just read any news on the net,
There'll be something about religion that break a society apart,
Human rights being snatched away,
Just because some women decided to wear a pants instead,
(The Sudan case where we had this women who got whipped for wearing pants)
(The latest news about this Muslim part time model, who drank in public,got caught and well she is sentenced to get whipped)

Is it because of fanaticism that lead to these issues?
Or perhaps..
People by nature are just power hungry,
Wanting to take the lead,
And be more influential to each other..
Being influential to others is a good thing,
But in what context about being influential you are talking about here?
To influence others with a reasonable thoughts,
Or to influence the mislead ones out there,
With some bound-to-wreck-people theory you came out with?

You pick.