-------Religion Is Evil-------

How can I, a believer and follower of Jesus Christ, say religion is evil? According to Wikipedia.org, religion is a belief or group of beliefs concerning the supernatural, sacred, or divine and the moral codes and practices that accompany those beliefs.

The problem with religion is that most of the practices and moral codes associated with a certain belief system are based on a belief in something that is a lie, false, or not really truly divine but still could be supernatural.

There is only one truly divine supernatural being so a belief system that places a trust in any other thing or entity besides that one being is a false belief system and can only result in evil.

The question becomes: Is the God that is spoken of in the 66 books of scripture we have come to know as the Holy Bible the one true God? A careful study of the fulfillment of Bible Prophecy emphatically proves this beyond a doubt. The Holy Bible states that Jesus Christ is the one true God and to place your belief in any other man, thing, or supernatural entity is foolishness. 6 Jesus said to him, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me. 7 "If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also; and from now on you know Him and have seen Him." John 14: 6 & 7.

Jesus said He was God. Either this is true or Jesus is the biggest liar in history. The most outwardly religious group people of the time when Jesus walked on the earth were the Pharisees and Sadducees yet Jesus called them snakes and vipers. What made this group of people so evil? They claimed to have a belief and trust in the one true God, but they did not know or recognize Him when He walked among them. They did not have a relationship with him.

Pure religion, religion untainted by evil, is when the individual puts other needs ahead of his or her own needs. Mark 12; 29 - 31 states, 29 Jesus answered him, "The first of all the commandments is: 'Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. 30 And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.' This is the first commandment. And the second, like it, is this: 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' There is no other commandment greater than these."

Jesus was simply saying that if you put all of your trust in Him, since He is part of the triune Godhead we have come to know as the Trinity, and love your neighbor as yourself, your religion would be pure and would produce only good, never evil.

History is full of examples of a false belief system producing great evil and many times that evil has been done in the name of Christ. The Catholic church, blaming the Jews for the crucifixion of Christ, began a campaign of great evil against them severely persecuting and killing Jews. Great atrocities were committed in the name of Christ. How does killing your neighbor fit in to what Jesus taught? The Koran of the Islamic world states that if you cannot convert a Christian or Jew to Islam then it is the will of Allah to kill that person. This has nothing to do with loving your neighbor. In fact, Islam teaches that Sharia Law should be implemented by force.

Saul was a mass murderer of Christians until He met Christ. Saul thought he was doing God's work until he encountered the real Jesus and was corrected. Saul's persecution was a result of being religious. Christ changed Saul's name to Paul.

The belief systems of Hitler and Stalin were noble in their intentions, but the result was only evil and resulted in the deaths of millions.

In today's world, the greatest evil produced by a religious belief system is Islam. Why is Islam so evil? Because they have put their belief in a false god. The Allah of Islam is not the same God spoken of in our Bible and those who would say that the god of Islam and the God of the Bible are the same are mistaken.

Islam states Allah is God and Jesus was just one of his prophets. Christianity states Jesus is God and every knee shall bow and confess that Jesus is Lord.

Islam claims to be a religion of peace but their own belief system calls for the execution of Jews and Christians if they cannot be converted to Islam. Thou shalt not kill is one of the ten commandments. We had a worldwide public acknowledgement of the inherent evil of Islam when a man who had rejected Islam to become Christian was going to be executed but his life was spared. Interviews with the Muslim world showed that those individuals felt this man should have been beheaded. Many Christians are killed in the name of Islam.

When you place your belief in anything other than Jesus Christ, only evil can result and that is why religions produces such great evil. Jesus said, "12 Therefore, whatever you want men to do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets. 13 "Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. 14 Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it. Matthew 7: 12 -14

Jesus said few people would place there trust in Him. Most of the world rejects Christ which only leads to their destruction. Thank God I don't have to blow myself up in a shopping mall to share the gospel.

Copyright 2006 by Gary Goodworth