Legions of Religions

 It is said that all men are created equals, but every one of us is different from the other; whether it is skin color, way of thinking and religious beliefs. That last one I find expendable and here is why: from the moment mankind appeared they started believing in some higher power to put sense into what they thought was unexplainable; the creation of mankind, the creation of fire, and the answer to the most important question of what happens after we die. Throughout History, every civilization had its explanations and consequently its own religion, from the Egyptians, to the Romans, the Greeks and the Hebrews. Then submerged some more like the Christians, the Muslims, the Buddhist, the Hindu… all of them with the “divine” purpose to enlighten us and make us live in harmony, but then everyone used its believers to create an army and fight in the name of god. But then science broke through, and another war started, one that made religion have its hands full because science gave a more logic explanation to everything and it proved that what religion was saying was wrong. The earth isn’t flat with hell below and heaven above like they suggested, it is round and turns around the sun along with some other planets, the story of Adam and Eve proved to be wrong as Darwin pointed out that we evolved from primates. The purpose of what I am saying is this: why should we divide ourselves over religion while science can unify us? Science is universal and unique; it has one true answer to every question. We do not see scientists marching to war because one gave an explanation that the other doesn’t agree to, but in 1096 we saw the pope giving orders to go and kill the “sinners” who have taken Jerusalem. One can say that science is a dangerous weapon, but it is the wickedness of man that made it like this, it is his need for destruction that made him misuse this blessing.  Getting back in our world today and more specifically in Lebanon, we are still fighting this unfinished war between Christians and Muslims, every side living in its own part of town fearing to go to the other side. Our capital is divided in half; Beirut west and Beirut east, I was born a Christian, I live in the east side of our nation’s capital and I know some people who are not allowed to go to Beirut west in fear of something happening. Yes there was a war, yes it left an unhealed scar in your being, but parents have to understand that the young generation should patch things up, bridge the gap between these beliefs that I find ridiculous. Parents should not hold megaphones and scream into the minds of their children what they should do and what they should believe in, just the other day while I was at a bar enjoying a drink with a couple of friends we heard some screams coming from the outside, a few boys about my age were beating another one, they threw him on cars, stomped his face, ripped his clothes. We found out later that this all started when the boy insulted Jesus. You could say that it was the alcohol acting, but if their parents didn’t spoon feed them all this hatred for the other religion none of that would have happened.  If the original purpose of religion is no longer needed then why is it still here present in our everyday lives? We brag to the outside world that Lebanon is a crossroad of civilizations, well I think of it as a front. Religion plays a nasty part in politics too; a religious figure shouldn’t stand on a weekly basis and give its political opinion which influences the masses, just like the soldier who is not allowed to vote, a religious figure is entitled to an opinion but he should keep it to himself. You devoted your life to praise and adore your god, then your role is to pray and not to run this country, leave politics to the people who understand them (who are rare in this country). 

Another example of the simplicity of our way of thinking; in the down town of Beirut there is a beautiful mosque with high minaret, a true landmark. And near it a regular size church, a few weeks ago I noticed that this church is building a freakishly large bell tower, its proportions to the size of the church make it nothing short of hideous. I paused for a moment to think why would they do such a thing, do they have no taste what so ever. And then I realized that the answer was in front of me, the only reason they are making this bell tower so big and tall is for it to be higher than the minarets of the nearby mosque. Are we so simple minded that we let these little petty things bother us, that we reduce ourselves to these pesky little tits and tats. And what I found more alarming is when I told this story in front of some of my friends they encouraged it. This is a country that will forever be rear minded since its future is still living in the past.

But we must hand it to religion; sometimes in Lebanon it can walk hand in hand with science, the bible and every church have a Facebook or Twitter account now. They are spreading the word of god status by status, tweet by tweet.