Disclaimer: This article is not for people who are easily offended or cannot take criticism of their religion. I am going to go into an in-depth analysis of the atrocities committed in the name of religion. It may include atrocities by your religion too, so if you are not comfortable about your religion being criticized, PLEASE DO NOT READ THIS ARTICLE.

Also, WARNING: GRAPHIC CONTENT AHEAD

Now that we’ve got that out of the way, let’s talk about one of mankind’s biggest mistake – Religion. I call it a mistake because I don’t believe that religions, any religion, were created with an evil intention in mind. Sure, some of them might have been created with a specific intention to instill a feeling of tribalism among people and to create a ‘group’ of their own, but I don’t think that reason is evil by nature.

However, there’s no denying that what it has become today is disgusting. In this article, I’ll talk about three major religions of the world – Hinduism, Islam and Christianity, and what they have become today. I will also talk about what religion has done to you, and how people are using it to make a fool out of you.

Islam

Given it is the fastest growing religion in the world, I think it would be better if we start with it. The religion of peace, the not-so-popular Islam is truly something else. Today, the political climate has become such that there are only two ways in which a person can talk about Islam. The first way is full of hatred and bigotry. It includes hating anything and everything related to Islam and Muslims. This way calls for shunning Muslims, hating them and even killing them in some extreme cases.

The second way is politically correct and SJWs approved. This includes whitewashing every atrocity done in the name of Islam. Every act that paints Islam and Muslims in a bad or negative light is ignored, and they are often portrayed as the ‘victim’. Today, things are so bad that even genuine criticism of the religion is labeled as Islamophobia. Some even go as far to argue with Muslims what real Islam is or isn’t.

So, to have a dialogue, all we have to do is find a third way. A way to address the atrocities done in the name of Islam without falling into bigotry and hatred – something that sounds like a no-brainer, but believe me, it is difficult as hell (or jahannum, take your pick).

For something that claims itself to be the religion of peace, Islam sure has a horrible track record. This track record includes everything from the most gruesome and barbaric acts to display of sheer stupidity. Let’s take a look.

A student killed by a mob in Pakistan over publishing ‘blasphemous’ content online.

Two Christians sentenced to death over blasphemy.

Image Source: The Telegraph

The ethnic cleansing of Kashmiri Hindus from the Kashmir Valley.

Image Source: The Diplomat

Female genital mutilation (cutting of the clitoris of girls in order to curb their sexual desire and preserve their sexual honor before marriage) in Islam.

Image Source: Asianews

Recite Quran or get tortured.

And don’t get me started on women’s rights under Sharia:

Woman arrested after being gang-raped in Dubai.

Image Source: The Independent

Women can’t divorce their abusive husbands.

Image Source: abc.net.au

Men can now ‘lightly’ beat their wives to discipline them.

Image Source: CNN

I can go on…

Out of the three religions, I am going to talk about in this article, Islam is especially worse for women today. No other religion objectify and give so little rights to women as Sharia. I mean they allowed women to drive in Saudi Arabia in what 2016? And there are a whole lot of other important things that women still can’t do there. Like really important things.

Under no circumstances is this article a hate speech against Muslims. It’s funny that I have to clarify this because people on either end of the spectrum can consider it as an article against Muslims and use it to further their personal or political gains.

But whatever ideology you belong to, you cannot ignore the fact there is something seriously wrong here that people aren’t willing to accept.

Oh, and I didn’t even mention about the terrorist attacks done in the name of Islam.

Moving on:

Christianity

The biggest religion in the world with the most number of followers, Christianity never ceases to amaze me. Christianity is supposed to be based on the peaceful teachings of Christ, but history tells a different story.

Christianity is perhaps the most violent religion in all of history. The crusades alone had an estimated death toll of 1.7 million. Add to that the French Wars Of Religion, the Thirty Year’s War between Catholics and Protestants and the European colonization of the Americas and other places, the number just becomes too large. Possibly, more than a 100 million.

It’s funny to see Christians talk about Islamic terrorism when their own history is so bloody. But atrocities done in the past cannot negate what Christians believe do or say today. We cannot say that because your ancestors basically wiped out a significant percentage of the world population, anything you do today doesn’t mean anything. In fact, today, Christians are quite mellow, as far as religious extremism goes.

Part of it could be because a large chunk of Christians lives in the United States, followed by Brazil and Mexico and other developed countries. And while all these countries have their fair share of problems, most of them are political and not religious.

But that isn’t to say that Christianity is perfect. Far from it. That is why I said earlier that Christianity never ceases to amaze me. Despite a major population of Christians living in the developed world, the atrocities done in the name of their religion haven’t stopped.

Here are some examples:

The assassination of Dr. George Tiller, a doctor who performed late-term abortions by Scott Roeder, a Christian who believed that the doctor was taking the lives of the unborn babies.

Image Source: The Guardian

Eric Rudolph, the American terrorist convicted for a series of anti-abortion and anti-gay-motivated bombings.

Image Source: ajc.com

The Colorado Springs Planned Parenthood shooting by Robert Lewis Dear Jr which killed two civilians and one police officer and injured five police officers and four civilians.

Image Source: The Washington Post

In Northeast India. Manmasi National Christian Army (MNCA), a Christian extremist group was charged with forcing Hindus to convert at gunpoint. They also desecrated temples by painting crosses on the walls with their blood.

Image Source: Assam Times

Then there are these parents who killed their children because of their faith.

Courtesy: Atheist Republic

And then there is the Catholic Church Sex Scandal.

Image Source: The New York Times

Image Source: The Conversation

Image Source: BBC News

And of course, the Ku Klux Klan and Army of God exist so there’s that.

The problem is that even the developed world is affected by the atrocities in the name of Christianity. In fact, there are some people in power, people who hold government offices have come out in the support of these perpetrators just because they share the same faith.

What hope there is for the less developed nations when the developed world hasn’t figured out a way to deal with it?

Hinduism

The last entry on the list. Atrocities in the name of Hinduism/Hindutva is a recent phenomenon. And by recent, I don’t mean that it came into existence after 2014, the year when BJP (the Indian nationalist party) came into power.

These atrocities can be dated back to the British Era, possibly even before that. However, it was after the Indian independence that it gained so much attention. The riots are almost always between Hindus and Muslims usually over disputed lands, illegal immigration or demolition of places of worship.

There have been numerous riots in not so distant past. The Nellie Massacre, the Anti-Sikh riots, 1984 Bhiwandi riots, 1985 Gujarat riots, 1987 Meerut riots, 1989 Bhagalpur Riots, the demolition of Babri Masjid and the violence that ensued, the 2002 riots in Gujarat.

Even after having such tensed history, atrocities and riots in the name of Hinduism seemed to be at a decline till 2013. In 2013 the Muzaffarnagar riots happened and in the following year, the BJP formed the government and the Indian political climate started changing.

India is seeing a systematic attack against the Muslims since 2014 by Hindus. Many Muslims have been killed and injured on the suspicion of carrying or consuming beef.

Here are some examples:

Muslim Man burnt alive on an alleged case of ‘Love Jihad’.

Muslim Man lynched over suspicion of carrying beef in Hapur.

Cow terrorists had attacked 2 persons in Hapur on 18 June. This old man is Saimuddin (65yo), he was attacked along with Qasim, he is in ICU now . Watch this Video that how Cow terrorists manhandled him . Note :- use Headphone . pic.twitter.com/qeQ4ccrwxf — Md Asif Khan (@imMAK02) June 22, 2018



Muslim man lynched in Alwar by cow vigilantes.

Image Source: The Indian Express

Minor Muslim boy killed because of argument over a seat.

Image Source: Hindustan Times

Blind old Muslim couple forced to chant ‘Jai Shree Ram’

Image Source: Timesnow group

Hindu outfit march in support of a man accused of raping an 8-year old Muslim girl.

Image Source: The Wire

Although I don’t like to be political, but with the presence of the BJP member in the march in support of the rape accused and the fact that one BJP minister literally garlanded the people who are convicted of lynching a man, it becomes unclear who the ruling party is supporting here.

Not only these Hindu attackers have created communal tension throughout the country, but they have also taken over the internet as well.

On any news about lynchings and beating of Muslims, many Hindus make derogatory and violence-inciting comments. In the Kathua case, many twitter accounts even refused that the rape even happened. While some…

Platforms like Quora, Facebook and Twitter are filled with accounts like these. While many argue that these are paid trolls, however, it doesn’t take a genius to see that there is a rising anti-muslim sentiment among moderate Hindus too.

What religion has done to you

I talked about all the major religions out of fear that I’d be accused of cherry-picking and targeting a specific community. I am not. However, going through these cases, I saw a striking similarity.

It’s hate.

While religion itself may not propagate hate, it sure as hell does not condemn it. Add to that the infinite number of interpretations of the religious texts or the sacred law and a guy with a twisted mentality can very well use it to justify their actions.

And it is not about some random incidents of violence. People, especially those in power and those who want to get power, use religion as a tool to divide and rule without much effort. A divided group is much easier to control and rule than a united one.

Look at what religion has done to you. It has taught us to hate. Hate those who come from a different religion. Hate those who do not live according to the rules that are prescribed by your religion. Hate those whom you haven’t even met in your life.

The funny thing is that you don’t even get to choose it. It is taught to you by your parents, who were taught by their parents so on and so forth. Now, should something that you didn’t even choose for yourself holds so much power over you that it can make you hate someone, that it can make you kill someone?

Image Source: Dawn

The problem is that today, the lines between religion and politics are blurred. You vote for a particular person or party because you think you’re voting your religion or because that guy or party support your religious beliefs. This is what religion has done to you and to the world.

The politicians know this, the bureaucrats know this, anyone who is in any position of power knows this and uses this. And who can blame them? When people willingly give you the leash to control them, would you give it up?

The point of this article is not to turn you away from religion. It is to show what religion has done to you. Do you really think that Allah, Jesus, Ram or any other god you worship would allow you to hate and kill someone if they were here? And if they would, are they really worthy of your worship?

As you can see, no religion is better. If your false sense of pride in something that was forced upon you is so valuable that you can hate and kill someone who doesn’t agree with you, then this article is just a big rant.

You can cherry-pick the cases that I’ve mentioned here and use them to make a point next time you are fighting someone from other religion.

Or you can see what religion has done to you, to your parents and to your country, and change. Change yourself. Promise that you will not allow it to control you like it controls others.

Promise that you’ll make the world a better place.