The human psyche has two great sicknesses: the urge to carry vendetta across generations, and the tendency to fasten group labels on people rather than see them as individuals. Abrahamic religion mixes explosively with (and gives strong sanction to) both. Only the willfully blind could fail to implicate the divisive force of religion in most, if not all, of the violent enmities in the world today. Without a doubt it is the prime aggravator of the Middle East. Those of us who have for years politely concealed our contempt for the dangerous collective delusion of religion need to stand up and speak out. Things are different now. ‘All is changed, changed utterly. .Richard Dawkins
About This Quote
Lord Acton made famous the quote: "Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely." One of the ways that power corrupts is through the use of religion. The use of religion to justify violence against other people is ineffective. If religion is used for this purpose, it does not bring peace. It brings war.
Only by ignoring religion are we able to see the humanity in everyone. By looking past religion, we can recognize that even though people are different they all have the same needs and wants.
Source: A Devils Chaplain: Reflections On Hope, Lies, Science, And Love
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