"Why is there enough religion to incite war,
but not enough religion to instill tolerance?"
Thorin
Many of the times in my life when I have struggled with a belief in God, I have stumbled over this great controversy. Most of the wars that have been fought on this planet are instigated by a difference in religious beleifs. Simply put, religion causes most of our conflicts.
I was born with a strong sense of fairness about me. So, right away I was conflicted when I was faced with a God who was for war, people killing people. Why does a loving God condon this type of cruel action. For those of you who have never been at war, I can tell you first hand that it is the most inhuman act we do. Nothing matches the horror of war. There are no rules in the final act. No law except the law of the jungle. No winners, only survivors. For a person who was raised to love his neighbor it is a stark confrontation with reality.
As I was confronted with this, I turned away from beleiving that there could possibly be a God. It would anger me to hear people talk about God. I became a complete Atheist. For a long time the only law I abided by was the law of the jungle. It was more natural for me to beleive than what I had been taught as a child. For I had experienced it's practice. It just made more sense at the time. I still had thick walls of protection built up around my mental state to allow any thing else in. That would change in time. More on this later....................X.
