Tuesday, January 02, 2007

RELIGION AND BLOOD - PEPPER AND SALT.


The haunting photo from Reuters shows an Indian man walking with an unsuspecting goat which is soon to be sacrificed to celebrate the Muslim ceremony of Eid al-Adha. Throat-cutting is a common method of slaughter.

It's interesting to look back on religious ceremonies over the ages right across the world. Blood has always been spilt: that of animals, of humans, of virgins. Even the Christian religion regularly carries out a symbolic cannibalism (euphemistically called communion) when worshippers eat bread which is supposed to represent the body of Christ and drink wine which is supposed to represent His blood! Viewed objectively, this is surely rather a bizarre activity!

Of course, when religions are not spilling blood during sacrifices many of them are spilling it waging wars with other religions. History is replete with such encounters. Wars, big and small, are currently raging between Christians and Muslims, Jews and Muslims, Hindus and Muslims, Catholics and Protestants, etc.

Why are humans so preoccupied with religion if it nearly always leads to blood-letting?

Are we just blood-thirsty by nature and religion gives us another excuse to kill?

P.S. The extreme irony is that most religions strongly oppose euthanasia!

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