This afternoon we're going to be considering this statement: "Religion causes all the world's problems!" 35 years ago John Lennon sang: "Imagine there's no countries, It isn't hard to do, Nothing to kill or die for, And no religion too, Imagine all the people, Living life in peace" In his song Lennon includes religion as one of those things which causes people to fight and kill one another. Many people today would look at their newspaper and agree.
I'll respond to that assertion in three parts. Firstly, by talking about the ways in which people believe religion causes problems, showing the Bible's reaction to their comments. Secondly, by talking about the common feature of these problems. Thirdly, by talking about the Bible's answer to all of this.
Firstly, I think that when people make this statement, they are thinking of the distrust and hatred which springs up because of religion. Many people in our country would point to Ireland as an example of this: a bitterly divided community split apart by religion. They may not put all the blame on religion but people would still believe that religion was involved.
Well I'm not going to comment directly on such views of Ireland. But you get the general idea that religion provokes people to distrust and hate others. Now what does the Bible have to say about that?
It says: you're right. Did you know that the first recorded crime in the Bible was triggered by religion? This is Cain and Abel in Genesis chapter 4. They were religious men whose religions were different from one another. And the result was that Cain came to despise his brother and murdered him.
So the Bible agrees: religion does provoke people to distrust and hate others, even within families. It's been doing that since the beginning of the world.
Secondly, when people say that religion causes problems I believe they are thinking of particular nasty actions which religion has encouraged people to do. In our own time I guess nothing stands out quite so strongly in people's minds as the events known as 911. Religion had taught those terrorists to sacrifice their lives to turn airliners into missiles.
Now again people may have different explanations for what was done that day and I'm not going to comment directly on the specific acts. But on the general accusation that religion teaches people to do wicked things, what does the Bible have to say?
It says: you're right. The Bible records many people doing wicked things in the name of their religion. For example in 2 Kings chapter 21 we read about King Manasseh who built altars, carved totem poles, worshipped the stars and consulted mediums. And he also burned his own sons in a fire to a god! That's what religion taught him to do.
So the Bible agrees with you. Religion does teach people to do wicked things at times. It's been going on for centuries.
Thirdly, when people say that religion causes problems I think sometimes they are referring to the teaching of mistaken, and maybe dangerous, ideas. In the autumn of 1978 1000 people died together in Guyana, South America. These people were together in an intensely religious group lead by Jim Jones. Apparently Jones preached a theory that through mass suicide he and his followers would be translated out of this world to another planet for a life of bliss. The result was that 914 adults and children died together, many in acts of suicide using poison.
And There are other examples of similarly mistaken ideas and dangerous behaviour. Not necessarily resulting in death, but at least leading people into bizarre lives. What does the Bible have to say about that?
It says: it's true. Religion does result into some very peculiar beliefs and practices. In 1 Kings chapter 18 you can find a man called Elijah arguing with some religious people. These people worship a god called Baal and Elijah invites them to prove that their god is real. So they spend hour after hour shouting and dancing round an altar, and then start to cut themselves with knives. The manic activity goes on all afternoon.
So the Bible agrees: religion does result in people believing in some very wrong ideas which in turn affect the way that they behave.
Fourthly, when people say that religion causes problems then sometimes they are thinking about all the fraudsters who have set themselves up in religion to gain money or influence. Maybe leaders who gather great followings of people from whom they demand money. It's part of this religious movement to be willing to give and then you'll receive blessing! The result is that the leader drives around in a fancy car and lives in a nice house, whilst the followers make do on far less.
Well what does the Bible have to say about that? It says: you're right. Over and again the Bible warns about false prophets exploiting others. For example, in Acts chapter 8 you can meet a man named Simon. Through magic tricks and force of personality, he impressed many people in Samaria. But then a Christian preacher called Philip turned up and had a massive impact in the area, which made Simon envious. So what did do? He immediately offered Philip money, to bring him onto the team. Simon was a man happy to use religion to control people, to have power and influence, and to gain wealth.
The Bible agrees that there are fraudsters out there who use religion to make money, or gain influence, or whatever.
Thus far, then, I've described four of the ways in which religion is linked with trouble in the world. So wouldn't the world simply be a better place if we were to ban all religions.
No: because these problems don't start and end with religion. Religion may often be one factor in them, but there is a much deeper problem: human nature.
Think about the first charge: religion provokes people to distrust and hate others. It does, but who is doing the distrusting and who is doing the hating? Human beings. Human beings are simply like this. We hate others for many reason such as the country where they were born, their age, their skin colour, their language or their clothes.
Human beings argue and divide over anything and nothing. We are constantly dividing ourselves from other people, aligning ourselves with one group and despising another. You can see it in gangs of kids at school and great armies who have met on the battlefields of the world.
Religion may be one factor in particular occasions, but religion wouldn't do this if it wasn't for human nature.
Second charge: religion teaches people to do wicked things. Well, yes it does at times. But it cannot do them for us. It's human beings who murder other human beings, and rape them, and torture them and steal from them. And we often don't need the excuse of religion to do it.
But it's not just the extreme actions like murder that we need to think about. We have all sorts of ways to mistreat other people and all sorts of reasons for our actions. School kids will bully and beat up a class mate because her face doesn't fit. A person will pass on lies about someone else because she likes telling stories like that. Human beings are capable of hurting other human beings in a multitude of ways; religion only sometimes provides the opportunity.
Third charge: religion leads people to believe mistaken, and sometimes dangerous, ides. It certainly does, at times. But it only does so because human nature wants to grab at ideas like this. People often hold beliefs which can't be backed up by evidence: weird ones and common ones too.
How many songs have been written about the feeling of love, and have taught people to think that all they need is love, or that love like this lasts forever? And how many people have been caught out, when their relationship which was built on "love" like this, becomes difficult or turns sour or the feeling fades. How many people have been badly hurt by silly ideas about what love really is?
What about people's silly views of money, drink, drugs, sex, self-fulfilment, astrology and so on? People believe all sorts of ideas which have proven to be mistaken and harmful. Religion may play this role sometimes. But the fact is it's in our nature to be like this.
Fourth charge: out of religion come fraudsters and selfish people who exploit others. That's true, at times. But why? Because on the one hand human nature is gullible and greedy and weak, and on the other hand human nature is willing to exploit others for its own benefit. You don't need religion for this. You can find salesmen, politicians, pop stars, and many others, who can twist people around their fingers with wondrous promises.
But it's wider than that. The problem is that human beings of every sort exploit weaknesses in other human beings; making use of them for their own benefit. How many relationships involve emotional blackmail to get the other person to do something: "if you truly loved me then you would..."? How many people send off a false claim to the insurance company, to get things which they never owned in the first place? How many parents tell so-called little lies to their children, to get them to do something? Human beings like conning other human beings. We justify it in a thousand different ways, but this is what we are like. Religion has its con-men but there are many others.
At the end of the day, our big problem is human nature.
So is there a solution? Let me give you one thing to think about.
Too often we look for excuses for our behaviour. If people aren't blaming religion for their conduct, then it's their upbringing, their genes, their environment, their place in society, their lack of education, their low self-esteem, or something else.
Well Jesus says that if we want to find a solution, then we must stop doing that. Stop blaming other things for what you are and see the truth about yourself, and the rest of the human race. We are all damaged and spoiled on the inside. And it is from there, that all these problems arise.
On one occasion Jesus said Listen to me, everyone, and understand this: Nothing outside a man can make him 'unclean' by going into him. Rather, it is what comes out of man that makes him unclean. Jesus had just been in an argument with some very religious people. They were sure that for people to behave as they should, they needed to work hard at getting their environment right. And Jesus simply refuses to accept this old argument. You don't make people good by changing their environment. First you've got to find a way to change what they are on the inside.
Jesus' message is this: repent and believe. You need to be sorry for what you are by nature and reject it – that's repenting. You need someone greater than you to deal with it – that's believing in Jesus. I don't have the time now to explain all the implications of that. But understand this: the problem really isn't what's outside of us; it's what is inside of us. But I promise you that if you truly seek him, then Jesus Christ can offer you a solution to that.