Religion should bring happiness, peace and comfort to its followers, not guilt, confusion and hurt. I am forever amazed, therefore, that people – in the name of God – are all too ready to belittle, hurt and deprive others of happiness, peace and comfort. From targeting innocent children, whose only ‘sin’ is the way they were brought into this world, to people who happen to be different, be it through gender or sexual orientation, many religious organisations – the Catholics are not the only ones guilty of this – seem to be very busy causing hurt and pain these days.
One can’t help but wonder how much better the world would be if these organisations spent as much time and effort genuinely celebrating people for who they are as they do targeting those who are different.
For all the talk of loving thy neighbour, I don’t see very much love in the actions of many churches today. It’s time that they started to practice what they preach.
This piece was originally published in the Cape Breton Post on Tuesday, 23 November 2021.
