Role of religion in the world

Is organised religion a curse ? Does belonging to a faith make one hate those who dont share the same views ? Has religion been the cause of all major conflicts ? I believe the answer to all of these is a NO. For starters, the two major wars World War I and WW II both were political in nature and not religious.

The more one examines the nature of the arguments that religions cause conflicts, the more one realises that they are driven by ignorance more than informed opinion. Yes, there are terrorists out there killing others in the name of religion and modern day imperialists occupying land which they claim belonging to them; but their chief driving force is not religion but politics and power.

In this illuminating talk, Karen Armstrong, well known author of all things religious speaks of compassion as the chief force which drives all the three monotheistic religions - Judaism, Christianity and Islam. She rightly says that unless there is compassion, there is no religion and those who claim to be violent and religious are just opportunists using religion to their advantage.

Watch this to gain an insight into some complex issues and understand that peace and compassion is the only way forward. There must be a concerted effort by those in power to build bridges of understanding rather than divide people in the name of religion.