Hold your horses, eveoyrne.1. First, the map is not quite inaccurate, in that as far as we can gather, man has always been religious (eg by analysis of burial sites etc ) so the map should not begin with a neutral' colour as if people had been unspoiled' as yet by religion.2. Secondly, much of the spread of all faiths, including Islam, was peacefully spread. People often saw something good in the new religion (Buddhism and Christianity in particular) which they wished to adopt for themselves. Western culture and learning came from the rise of Christian monasticism, for example.I am not disputing, of course tensions that naturally arise as the borders (these are of course not consistent with national borders but between growing groups of believers) became more defined.This is, of course, precisely what is happening now with the so-called New Atheism, which is becomming particularly agressive 3. Thirdly, the attempt of both Hitler and Stalin to manipulate believers is (hopefully) not meant to be a proof that their atrocities were motivated by a pious Christianity! (I have already commented on these villains in other posts on this site, so will refrain here).4. Fourthly, to my knowledge it was a Palestinian politician who claimed that Bush had told him to invate Iraq. Regardless, it would surely be an overstatement to argue that Bush was attempting to convert Iraq to Christianity by the invasion which would apparently be the point of linking this with the article about the timeline. Indeed many Christian leaders (including, very prominently, Pope John Paul II) condemned the war.5. Lastly, atheism produced more Christian martyrs (those unwilling to deny their faith for political expediency) in the 20th century than were martyred in the other 19 centuries combined. This is particularly astounding given the very small percentage of atheists until the latter part of the century. Perhaps State Atheism should be added to the map? At least in this case the borders are real and the wars were real wars.
Because it gives me a hope.
Because to me it seems absurd.
it's easier to live.
sometimes it does not
matter, which religion to
choose, whether to practice
it or not, but believing is
important.
I believe in God, but I don't
belong to a particular
religion
because it is good to
believe in something that
makes you feel better if
your're not ok...
We all must believe in
something. It does not
matter in what, but the
belief that there is
something greater than a
human must exist. Otrherwise
what is the point of
everything?
Everyone needs to believe in
some great power which rules
everything
I believe in my own God, who
has nothing to do with
dogmas of the Catholic
Church. I know that sth
higher, more spiritual
really exists, but don't
wanna treat this in the way
catholics do.
I was taught to believe, and
I am glad, because there are
thousands of reasons to
believe, if you want know
them you should start from
going to religious classes,
and going to church,
everything is explained there