9/11: True faith doesn’t attack others.

In the light of the anniversary that we remembered last weekend, I had to mention a subject that comes up in discussion again and again – religion and violence…

Often a trip to the pub, or church, ends up with the old chestnut: ‘Of course, if there was no religion there would be no wars or terrorism or anything.”

It’s absolute rubbish, of course. Human beings, sinful and broken, are good at fighting and hurting one another and religion is just another label we give as an excuse for intolerance and prejudice, along with politics, land or tribe.

Crashing planes into a building is no more about genuine faith than was the massacre in Norway by someone claiming to be a ‘Christian Fundamentalist’.

Jesus talked of loving our enemies and praying for them. True faith doesn’t attack others – it shares the truth and stands up for what is right, but it doesn’t cause pain. That isn’t religion, that’s evil.