Name: Abu Usama

Roll: 2016941027

“Religion is an Impediment to Global Peace”

Religion is a powerful tool for motivating people. Almost all of our religious teachings appear to
concentrate on how people of world can live alongside one another with peace, love, affection,
compassion and understanding. However, in the world, there are many different beliefs and
different religions, and sometimes this can lead to conflict. It is true that sometimes deeply held
beliefs can lead to clashes, and dispute over religion and beliefs has been a major feature in some
historical conflicts and wars. It is because of corrupting and misusing religions by some people.

Religion-based violence and terrorism have become a threat to the world’s peace. Condemning
the killings of 50 Muslims in New Zealand, persecution of Chaina’s Uighur Muslims, anti-Hindu
violence in Bangladesh and Pakistan, attacking Muslims in Delhi, Rohingya genocide in
Myanmar, twin tower attack on 9/11 all are the examples of religion-based violence. Sometimes,
religion is used to justify brutal activities. Such as: In attempts to win control of the Holy Land,
Crusaders not only killed many Muslims, but also massacred many Eastern Christians and Jews
in this process. Hitler used a racist philosophy to exploit the ancient hatred of the Jews by
Christians. Religious convictions like these paved the way for different terrorist attacks

Unfortunately, misuse of religion provides a useful cover and powerful motivator for the evil-
hearted. May be it could well apply to Saddam Hussein, who made a show of praying on
television, but gassed and bombed Kurds. Religion has led to the creation of great art, but it has
also caused its destruction. In this case, we can remember the Taliban’s destruction of the great
Buddha in Afganistan.

Generally, religion is only used as an advantageous cover up for people’s real intentions. Could
we gain global peace if we abolished religion? The answer is not at all. Human are naturally
violent and there have been far more violent deaths caused by non-religious activities and also by
atheists. If we look World War-I and World War-II, Cambodia- Vietnam War, we can see that
none of these was related to religion. Rather, these were about desire for wealth, prestige,
territory, and expansionist ideology. Communism has been responsible for a lot of deaths.
Atheist leaders such as Mao, Pol Pot and Stalin brutally killed many of their own people only for
promoting their atheistic ideology. On the other hand, Both Gandhi and Martin Luther King Jr.
conducted non-violent protests based upon religious beliefs. Any religion never encourages
terrorism. Some religions (such as: Islam) teach that war and taking up arms can be justified in
the right circumstances. But Islam declared very strict rules about when a war can be justified
and how to behave when wars are being fought. Islam is very strict about avoiding unnecessary
harm and violence both to the enemy and innocent people.

All of the major world religions have a message of peace and love towards others. Religion is not
the main and only reason of conflicts today and it did not stand as a single reason in any conflict
in the past. Rather, religion is also part of the solution to prevent conflicts and problems. So, we
should not misuse religions for our own interests. Of course, we have seen many conflicts but it
is when religion is misused. And as a result, global peace is interrupted. In these cases, some
religious groups were victimized and I don’t think religion is the sole barrier to world peace. So,
that is not enough reason to abolish religion at all. Rather, it is necessary for us to adopt a
purified form of religion so that we can happily and peacefully live in our world.