Christianity: A Bad Thing

Bertrand Russell once described his view of religion as "a disease born of fear and as a source of untold misery to the human race." In the first century C.E., christianity began as a sect of Judaism. Jesus christ emerged at a time when there was an apocalyptic fervor and people were expecting a Messiah to surface and guide them through the uncertain times. Christianity is now the most powerful religion in the entire world, and yet it has been negatively affecting all of society from the moment it first came into existence.

Christianity caused many negative feelings towards Jews, and unfortunately these feelings still remain in the human psyche. Many of jesus' teachings are equivalent to Rabbis of that time (Hopfe 281), but there was a great discord between the two groups. Accounts from the christian bible blame jesus' death on Jews and Jewish leaders. This is the basis for "much of the anti-Jewish feeling and persecution that followed in the next 2,000 years" (Hopfe 290).

Besides the Jews, christianity has negatively affected many other groups throughout history and the world. Women, homosexuals, and various cultures of people have been persecuted and afflicted by the disease of christianity. God himself curses women in the old testament of the bible, and declares that they will be subservient to men: "I will greatly increase your pains in childbearing; with pain you will give birth to children. Your desire will be for your husband, and he will rule over you." This oppression of women is apparent all throughout history, notably at the time of the Salem Witch Trials.

It is apparent that heterosexual (or homophobic), power-lusting men benefit most from christianity, because according to the bible, it is god's will that men control women, that homosexuality (and sex in general) is impure and evil, and it is the responsibility of mankind to spread the word of god to those (un)fortunate enough to be oblivious to the teachings of christ. It is quite clear if we look through the pages of history that many cultures had all but been destroyed by the meddling of christian missionaries. And let's not forget the Crusades and the Inquisition!

As you can see, christianity has been a bane to our humanity since it first arrived on scene. Virtually no one is safe from its clutches. According to christianity, we are all evil sinners and the hope for salvation is slim to nil. The power of this religion is absolutely mind-boggling when you consider that the central figure of christianity, jesus christ, wasn't even written about until 40 years after his death. Many of the accounts of his life and teachings are contradictory. Christianity is a tragic mess that doesn't even have a firm foundation, and yet it continues to impede equality and progress.

Works Cited

Genesis. "The New International Version." Bible Gateway. 1995-2008. Gospel Communications International. 1 May 2008

Hopfe, Lewis M., and Mark R. Woodward. Religions of the World. 9th ed. New Jersey: Pearson Education, Inc., 2005.

McKay, John P. A History of World Societies. Vol. 1. 7th ed. Massachusetts: Houghton Mifflin Company, 2007.

Russell, Bertrand. "Has Religion Made Useful Contributions to Civilization?" Why I Am Not A Christian. Touchstone, 1967.