Religious PerspectiveWhen I was a child, I was a devout Catholic. I went to church every week and prayed before going to bed. It wasn't until I was a teenager that I started to question faith. I started reading more and more about religion and why I pray and go to church every Sunday, especially Christianity. I soon realized that it was man-made, but with good intentions. One of the main problems I've had is that it stifles the intellectual mind and has a particular, defined way of seeing things. Historically, religion has caused more harm than good. For example, the longest religious war I ever studied, the Crusades, were a fanatical war. The Crusades were not only intended to reconquer the Holy Land from the Muslims, but to spread the word of God. Thousands of men, women and children were murdered in the name of Jesus Christ. This conflict still resonates in the Middle East today. Some Muslims interpret their holy book (the Quran) and believe that non-followers of the Islamic religion should die quickly unless they convert. In the Spanish Inquisition, many non-Christians were tortured to be forced to convert, most did not convert and preferred death. I think this brutality should not be forgotten as long as the religions that perpetrated the violent incidents are still in power. Science and religion have always been rivals because science explains that there are no supernatural beings or worlds and religion says that they exist. There is no correlation between modern science and ancient stories written long ago. Many of the greatest scientific minds were heavily repressed. In 1632, Galileo Galilea wrote a book entitled Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief World Systems, in which... in the middle of the paper... he calms them in difficult situations. People who are down on their luck and in difficult situations have much more faith because they don't have much to do or get support from. I don't have the answers to religion, but neither does anyone else. I can tolerate other people's beliefs, but once it becomes a problem in society, I am against it. I believe there is a spiritual being out there but it is not affecting human life or natural disasters. I have yet to understand this world and its strange happenings. Even though I am against the concept of religion, I want it to be proven wrong. I want to wake up one day to see concrete evidence of a religion and not just the image of their idol on a piece of toast, but the idol itself. I want to see a real miracle. Until then, I will stay away from prayer and churches, and spend my time in universities and learning about this world.