In My Opinion, the Greatest Threat to Humanity

Op-ed by TheWiseOldFart

I will be the object of serious, angry assaults from thousands of people after I complete this article. However, I will cherish the. I have the ability to think clearly and independently, and then form an opinion. Then I am able to do the right thing, at least the right thing for me.

Over the last 40+ years I witnessed the once private issue of religion become a political issue in America. Although the First Amendment specifically prevents the establishment of one religion as the true faith of the United States, one party has aligned themselves with the Christian Religious Right in direct violation of the first sentence of the First Amendment.

I Am Offering my Opinions Based on Years of Personal Experience and What has Happened Around the World for my 77 Years

Some of the most dangerous individuals to world peace and personal independence are Priests, Ministers, Pastors, Rabbis, Imams, and all other religious leaders. These men and women often place their personal religious beliefs ahead of the challenge of basic human life. No one is perfect, including religious leaders.

I was raised Catholic. I trusted my priests, nuns, and studied the Bible zealously. I once considered the priesthood, until I realized that I loved women and wanted a future which included that basic need of a heterosexual man.

My life changed at the ripe old age of 16 when I left my Catholic High School, and registered at Venice High School. I was warmly welcomed to the real world.

Learning to Question Everything and Demand Answers

I have no doubt that there are answers about the creation of the universe, but they remain hidden. It is natural and necessary for mortal men to seek answers. In my younger years, most men and women turned to religion for those answers.

At the age of 16, I asked myself why I believed in Catholicism. I searched for the truth, but the more questions I had, led to more questions without answers.

As a curious and involved young man, I realized that the newspapers contained information not offered on television. I soon learned that most of the unrest around the world was the result of religious extremism.

As I learned more about ancient history, two violent and tragic accounts of man’s inhumanity to man added to my doubts about organized religion: the Crusades, and the Spanish Inquisition.

We are all Born with a Conscience and Therefore the Innate Ability to Know Right from Wrong

When we ask questions, we naturally begin to look at ourselves. Who are we? Why am I here? What am I supposed to accomplish in my life?

These are huge questions, because we have a tendency to look past simple truths: the answers are often right in front of our noses.

The longer we live, the more we realize that the little things can change the path we were following. The axiom, “life is what happens while we are making plans,” may be the greatest truth of all.

Life is about a search for spirituality: becoming a better person, learning that the lives, hopes, and dreams of others are equally important as our own. We learn that compassion, understanding, and acceptance of others make us better human beings and enhance our own lives.

Free Thought is Part of Being Independent in Word and Action

It was my junior year in high school. I realize now that choosing to leave Catholic high school and attend a public school was the beginning of my education about life.

Of course I began to question everything. I looked back at my younger years and thought about my beliefs, my education, and my feelings. It was clear at 16 that I had no idea where I was going, but I remembered where I had been.

I thought about the sermons from priests on Sunday Mornings, and what we were taught to believe in Religion classes. I became aware that what I was told included much more than simply loving my God and focusing on becoming more “God-like.” I was told that going to certain movies was a mortal sin. Thoughts about physical desires were mortal sins. Questioning the actions of anyone in authority was a sin.

I didn’t have to ask certain questions, I was given the answers without asking. “God works in mysterious ways:” “It’s God’s way:” “It’s a matter of faith:” these lessons were taught, with the expectation that we would believe them.

However, I was now attending a school with a diverse student body. I not only had friendships with girls, which were forbidden in Catholic school, I had friends who were Black, Hispanic, Asian, Jewish, and Protestant. I learned about the country outside of my narrow and white existence.

I wanted to know why some of my friends grew up in such a different way: how life was more difficult and more complicated than my own.

Naturally I wondered that if there was a God, why would He allow the poorest people in our country and the world to suffer the most. When I asked these questions in CCD classes, I received the same old answers, basically, “it’s God’s way.”

A National Trend

You won’t learn this on television news, but the truth is that new conversions are in decline among all organized religions.

I am one of nearly 100 million Americans who reject organized religion in 2024. This is not an indication that we don’t believe in some form of deity, or supernatural being who created everything we see or read about, it means we have unanswered questions, and share the belief that we do not need anyone to tell us how to live better lives. This is something we all know. Sometimes it is deep inside our minds, but it is always there.

I am not denouncing your right to worship as you please. In fact, I believe that the First Amendment is the greatest and most important paragraph ever written. If you are a devout believer, I would like you to know that I will always fight for your right to practice the religion of your choice.

However, the First Amendment offers not only your right to choose a religion, it protects other’s rights to resist and reject religious interference in their lives.

My objection to religious leaders is that many of them offer their followers baseless precepts: theirs is the only true religion, and all others contain teachings by “false prophets.”

We are all the same. All major religions have more similarities than differences. The basic concepts in the Torah, the Quran, and the Bible are nearly identical. None of them teach anger, hatred, or violence.

Religious extremism, created by mere mortals, is pure evil, and in direct opposition to the teachings of the founders of all religions.

America’s Greatest Danger

In our country, we have a former president who claims to be a “Christian.” However, he cannot be a religious man if he constantly preaches hatred and incites violence against more than one-half of our nation’s people. His separatist philosophy is diametrically opposed to the teaching of all major religions. Not once has he told his cult to practice compassion, love, understanding, or acceptance. His hate rallies are a disgusting effort to maintain his power over others, satisfying his huge ego.

We can do better, and we do not need another human being to instruct us how to live our lives.

Finally, when you vote on November 5^th, refuse to vote for a party. Vote for the person whose policies are most closely aligned with your own. We can make our country better, and save it from the evil among us.

Op-ed by James Turnage

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