When I was eight years old, my grandmother used to force me, with violence, to go to church with her. She would drag me by the ear for a 10-minute walk from her house to the church’s pews.
I believe my grandmother loved me, but she never hesitated to use violence against me. She would spank me with a belt, with her hand, or the branch of an olive tree.
She wanted me to go to church with her every Sunday. She wanted me to sit quietly, listen to the priest’s sermon, and take communion.
Religion and Violence
The violence my grandmother used against me for not going to church was part of the modus operandi of Christianity for many centuries before my grandmother was born. I don’t blame her; she was a product of the system.
From 1519 to 1521, Spaniard Conquistador Hernan Cortez murdered 100,000 Aztecs for not converting to Christianity.
On November 16, 1532, Spaniard Conquistador Francisco Pizarro, murdered the Inca Emperor Atahuallpa and 5,000 other Incas in just one hour, when they refused to convert Christianity.
In 1975 my grandmother was physically attacking me (I was eight years old) for not kneeling down in front of her god.
The battle for the soul has always been tainted with blood. For about 2,000 years, Christianity has been imposed with violence. And then, once people convert, they have to behave in a particular way or they will go to hell.
Was I supposed to believe in the god imposed by my grandmother under the threat of violence?
Act as if god existed
Do I believe in god?
I don’t dispute the existence of a god. I am perfectly fine with people believing in the god of their preference.
I am against the imposition of someone’s religious belief, especially if it is by violence.
My grandmother never tried to teach me about god. My grandmother imposed her beliefs on me, the same way as the Spaniards imposed their beliefs onto the Incas, the Aztecs, and all natives of pre-Columbian America, by violence.
I decided to accept the message of religion without accepting the messenger.
All religions have a positive message embedded in their supernatural belief. For example,
“If you are a good person, you will go to heaven.”
Well, how about being a good person for the sake of being a good person? Without the hope of heaven nor fear of hell? Is this possible?
What we believe is more appropriately expressed in our actions. Not on the prayers we say nor the mantras we repeat. Being generous and kind can be a virtue without any attachment to religion.
The fruit of my actions is more expressive than the proclaim of any belief.
You Will Know Them by Their Fruits
Matthew 7:15-20
I decided to be the best person I could be. I decided to act as if there was a god without having to believe in one.
Morality and religion are not necessarily directly related. A person can have a high standard of morality without following a god. On the other hand, we hear it all the time, religious followers of many different religions, who are willing to kill to impose their religion.
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