The Power Of Religion

The January 10th, 2010 issue of Newsweek contained an article about Umar Abdulmutallab, a Nigerian wanna-be terrorist who attempted to bomb Northwest Airlines flight 253 with a bomb sewn into his underpants, which thankfully failed ultimately earning him the nickname of, “the crotch bomber.”

Newsweek tried to explain how a wealthy child of a successful banker was depressed over his upbringing and decided to join the ranks of Al Qaeda. What Newsweek and the general public fail to realize is that Al Qaeda is a terrorist group whose extremist beliefs are based upon religion. Although there is sometimes a monetary pay-off for supporting the terrorist movement, the driving force of the operation is religion.

Wars have been waged for centuries over the basis of religious beliefs; I’m not trying to say that religion itself is bad or that some religions are superior to others. I’m only stating the obvious, that religion is powerful. The power of speak wouldn’t be what it is if the prey wasn’t weak. Remember that the next time someone tries to use religion or beliefs to get you to follow their religion or do something you disagree with.