Most people with an interest in politics are familiar with the idea of legislative riders, but for those that aren't, they are unrelated laws thrown into a bill. It's a tactic to have an item passed by oversight, or because there is pressure to pass a bill at the time.
I have seen comment, posts and blogs from believers and non-believers alike asking, what's the harm in faith?
I have seen first hand how faith can lead people to kill others. I don't even have to specify the examples I'm thinking of because they are so numerous that anyone reading this can easily think of their own. Even so, it is still a minority of believers who hold views to such an extreme.
In fact you only have to look most likely to your nearest hospital to see the positive impact of believers. I spent most of my highschool spring breaks building homes for the poor in Mexico. I would say these are positive impacts motivated by religious views.
I don't know if those who are religious are more likely to give to the poor, but i know for certain it is commanded in Christianity.
Some will argue that everyone can give regardless of faith, but negating there is at least some connection is foolish. Maybe an individual would give either way, but there is an obvious vehicle and positive impacts are made.
Now, before i go on, i want to mention that the actions of those who are religious speak nothing about their religion, unless it's tied directly to it. If a Christian doesn't know how to do math, it doesnt mean Christianity is false, and if the Bible had a verse saying Christians would know math as a sign of salvation, it would only call into question the individual's belief. But what about commandments of a faith which are not quite so innocuous or charitable in nature?
Numbers 15:32-36 clearly tells the tale of a man who broke the sabbath and was stoned to death for it. Imagine if believers took this to heart as a precedent. They do not though. In fact they overlook most of the Old Testament laws, probably without ever condidering Matt 5: 18.
I have already written about others and i personally think the Bible would be a much more "holy" book without Numbers, Deuteronomy and Leviticus. Some of the "riders" come from these books. I'm not familiar enough with the Quran to identify the riders there, but look at any woman who has to keep her face covered and you can see they're there.
Not every believer accepts all these riders, but most have at least one or two.
A great example of a religious rider is the pervasive negative view of any type of relationship outside of the monogomous heterosexual. The bible explicitly condemns most (except polygamy which as far as i know, most christians are also against.) Or creationism. Racism. Sexism. Death for apostasy. Bigotry.
This is where it gets ugly. This is where religion goes rogue from loving people unconditionally, or peace, to trying to keep them in a specific role ordained by God.
From an inside perspective of belief, if God prohibits or condones something, a believer should judge, shame and enforce his standard despite the damage it would cause someone, because the greater concern is the aguish it causes God. In fact, shunning someone from a family gathering, for example, for being gay is considered an act of tough love with the aim of breaking them down for reconciliation out of concern for their eternal well being.
From an outside perspective, these all boil down to the worst biases we have in society. And to top it off, they think this is love because it is directly linked to a specific book they believe.
From the outside, these biases, these religious riders, look like hate and discrimination, condoned and commanded by religious texts. I gave only a few examples of "riders" here and primarily from Christianity. Without delving immensely deep, i wonder if it's even possible to remove them all.
This is what makes religion evil and poisonous. Regardless of the good it does, there will always be room for greater evil. These riders sneak in under the guise of faith and "love."
The past actually proves repeatedly that unless we, as a society, make laws to prevent the religious from enacting the more gruesome portions of the Bible, we would still have slavery, witch burnings, segregation... I hear a lot of Christians in the U.S. cite God's law is higher than man's, but it sure doesnt seem that way since the only controversial views held onto are those which don't violate man's law.
I should take a moment here to specify i don't think religion should be outlawed, nor do i think we should start prosecuting for thought crimes. I do think we should continue to progress morally as a society through careful reflection.
The belief in a deity makes no moral act more moral, but in the mind of a believer, it can make the most heinous into a moral imperative.
