(This post was originally written one week before the 13 Nov.  Paris attack by Islamic terrorists.  It now seems even more prescient.)

Today I’ll share my views on religion. Previously, I covered Climate Change as regards belief vs. fact. Both topics share a common phenomenon: conflict between strongly held beliefs (dogma) and facts.

First, a few thoughtful faith based questions:

                Does God exist?  In what manifestation?  Is there only one?

                Are most wars caused by religious beliefs? If so, should all religions be abolished?       

Not the first time these questions have been asked, but the unknowable is worthy of serious thought and discussion. Will answers change over time in light of newly discovered science or will dogma continue to prevail?

Some facts:

It is estimated that eighty four per cent of all people on earth practice a religious faith, some more sedulously than others.

According to Wikipedia there are roughly 4,200 religions or belief systems in the world. It takes 28 pages to simply list them: Far too many to consider here, but the five majors, ranked by number of followers, are:

• Christianity – Christians believe in a God who is loving and approachable – a relationship that carries into the next life. (Est. 2.2 billion adherents)
• Islam – Muslims believe in a powerful but unknowable God and the promise of paradise after death. (Est. 1.6 billion adherents)
• Hinduism – Hindus acknowledge multitudes of gods and goddesses and seek release from Karma. (Est. 1.0 billion adherents)
• Buddhism – Buddhists say there is no deity. Their quest is to be free of desire. (Est. 488 million adherents)
• New Age – New Age followers believe they are God and work at their own divinity. (Est. 400 million)

Unfortunately, with the increasing radicalization of Islam, religious divides are once again becoming lightning rods. Struggles between modernity and parochialism are exaggerated and highlighted by technology advances. Globalization and instant communication, including social media, is challenging everything.

Religious identity not only survives but achieves heightened significance when national and political alliances break apart, (as happened in the former Yugoslavia in the early ’90s, when Serbs, Croats and Bosnians were divided along Orthodox, Catholic and Muslim fault lines); and it’s happening now in Iraq, Libya, Egypt and Syria between the various Islamic sects.

Since the fourteenth century Crusades, religion has played a role and provided cover and motivation for evil. But the fact that religion can be so malevolently twisted in the hands of the power-hungry, as opposed to the altruistic and virtuous, says more about human resolve than it does about religion.

Where pain, suffering and hopelessness reign, religion thrives. It helps restore hope in desperate circumstances. But when populations become more civilized and live in safer communities, they no longer need religion as a crutch. They find answers to previously unsolvable problems through scientific discovery and education.

On a macro basis, most of Western Europe, Japan and the U.S. are more secular; but also less violent and more educated than religious societies. (i.e.: Africa, Latin America and Indonesia).

Unfortunately, many current human conflicts still involve religion. Passionate belief in a God is not a superior stance to that of your secular neighbor. And no deity is going to jump up and ‘save’ the world from misery.

Your religious belief is no better than the next guy’s. Get over it and accept the facts of life.

You are welcome.