I heard it again. In a discussion about morality a lady said this: “Religion is evil. Religion poisons everything.”  Another person said “religion is responsible for more wars and suffering than anything else in history”.  Unfortunately, there are a lot of people in the world who naively accept that premise without checking the facts. Has religion ever led to bloodshed? Of course it has. But usually after such statements about evil religion and its’ reign of terror we are pointed to the Crusades and even the Salem witch hunts as examples of religious hostility. Why? Because theses falsehoods are generally pointed to a bias against Christianity, not just “religion”.

              While the witch-hunting hysteria is most certainly a black eye for Christ-followers we must put the number of deaths in perspective to “Religion is responsible” for worldwide deaths. 20 people were executed for the crime of witchcraft in a period of about 15 months. Contrast that with just one weekend in Chicago where 12 people were murdered and 66 shot.  Religion had nothing to do with that.

              The Crusades are a different matter.  It is estimated that over 1.5 million people died in the 200+ years of the crusades. That is an awful number.  But let’s look at the reason for the crusades: they were fought to regain land taken by over 1000 years of Islamic aggression. Yes, definitely a religious war that caused a lot of death and suffering but who knows how many harsh Islamic caliphates there would be in Europe and the Mediterranean had not Christians fought back.  So, yes, religion has played a part in wars throughout history.

              But is religion responsible for more wars that any other cause? Has religion resulted in the death of more people than any other reason? Absolutely not.  To make that statement even remotely true you would have to belief that World War I and World War II, as well as the Korean War and Vietnam, were fueled by religious hatred and fought to advance religious beliefs. Do you really think that Adolf Hitler wanted to rule the world because he was a religious man?  And, in fact many of the European “religious” wars were more about land grabs and power struggles than religion.

              Christianity is, and always will be, the supreme religion of peace.  Never did Jesus command us to force people to accept our faith by force. Becoming a Christian must be a personal choice; a conscious decision to accept Christ as Savior. No amount of outside force can achieve that. Christianity is the reason we can have true peace in our lives.  It is the reason we can truly change from self-centered to selfless, from from hateful to loving.  In fact Jesus said “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives”.  Falsely blame war and suffering on Christianity if you like but in reality Jesus give a peace that supersedes anything the world can offer.

Say good things about your Savior and about His Church.

Bro. Tony