"Pretty Hate Machine"

No, this isn't about Nine Inch Nails' first album, but the title is apt as a perfect definition of religious belief.

Worse than the ignorance exhibited by Islam's and Christianity's most devout followers is the hate they exude, justified only by ancient texts. The only problem is that there is only one planet that we know of so far where humans could survive. And even if different groups could live far from one another, they would still be itching to murder, merely because another belief system exists.

Again, as in the Dark Ages to the recent past, religious belief is in conflict with human decency.

Why do Christians and Muslims hate homosexuals? While they use the Bible to justify homophobia, discrimination, and even murder, their leaders merely want power and conformity for its own sake.

James Dobson has nothing in common with the thousands he commands, he's a psychologist. What connects him to his followers is a campaign for hate. And Pat Robertson was a crude businessman, who, according to internet sources, which I'm not so sure of, never read the Bible in his life. What connects him to the unthinking proletarians is hate, which he uses to lobby for his own sake.

For a historical model, I will use the Russian Revolution to describe what could very well happen, not only to non-Christians, but the followers of these very megalomaniacs. In my HIST102 "West and the World" class, we came to the conclusion that authority is the only thing these men want.

Soon after (almost immediately) the Bolsheviks forced all remaining Cossacks (The "White Guards," as opposed to the "Red Guards," pro-Bolshevik forces stationed in villages and cities; The Cossacks are Tsarist forces) to retreat, those who managed the bureaucracy for the Bolshevik revolution were deemed too dangerous, running a risk of betraying the Bolsheviks and those suspected were shot with decree, but without trial.

This same thing can very well happen if the men described above, their allies, and their many underlings gain power in the United States. Not only are obvious minorities a target, but also opposing liberal Christians. This was the case as Bolsheviks cut off the Menshevik and Socialist Revolutionaries factions from public support and again revolted against the Provisional Government, headed by Aleksandr Kerensky.

Hate is a powerful machine. So long as hate exists against anything foreign, that foreign idea/concept/thing is then used as a justification for any and all tyrannies the citizens must face, inflicted by, of course, Die Fuhrer [the Leader].

Even more than political ideology, no matter how much anti-"Bourgeoisie" propaganda was spewed by Bolshevik press, religious belief has produced more hate than anything else in human history. [Are examples necessary? If anyone requests, I will supply examples.]

Sam Harris, in his book End of Faith, describes how moderate religious belief gives credence and living space for extremist beliefs. On the outside, if one fails at finding nuances, religion appears docile, harmless. But enter into a Christian summer camp, examine the behavior of even some "moderates" towards homosexuals, and you will see that religion grows hate.

Islam, Christianity's bastard child, has made more "progress" on the front of hate: Much of the Middle East is engulfed in flaring religiously-inspired hate, and Iran has even had a religious dictator throughout the late 70s to early 90s. Christian hate, however, is slightly less blatant, and has conformed to the democratic system as a most efficient way to gain power quickly. The sea of blood will come after they have attained their goal.