Compassion has no ideology.....

It's interesting that people are always quick to point out the attrocities committed in the name of religion - which are horrible and disgusting and which I utterly condemn - and yet are very slow to point out that the vast majority of good in the world is directly attributable to religious ideals. Without reference to religious beliefs, how would we even know what compassion is? Natural law knows no compassion. Survival of the fittest demands non-survival of the unfit. Ah, sweet mercy! Religion exists because man, when he became man, became aware of a part of himself that was eternal and was found in all people. All religions are concerned with finding and enhancing this universal eternal, and without the recognition of the universal eternal, which is to say religion in the most basic sense, there could not be any compassion or love one for another.

Compassion I think is the least common denominator in our inter-faith relationships. In every major calamity anywhere in the world, people of different religions and faiths join hands to extend help to the needy and victims of disasters. The recent Tsunami have proven this. Doctors, nurses, volunteer workers, military contingents are united in the common goal to show compassion to their fellow human being. Do we need another calamity of global magnitude to show this good nature of man?

Religion is a creation of man, so is compassion. Everything that man creates has a flaw in it. Think about it, what has man created that has not been destroyed, or nearly destroyed? That is the fault of man. We are our own worst enemy.

What you wrote reminded me of the words of Steven Weinberg, an American physicist, who said that: "With or without religion, good people can behave well and bad people can do evil, but for good people to do evil, that takes religion." This simply demonstrates that reason should not be blinded by faith, or common sense by superstition.

These are very thought provoking words and I thank you for sharing them. I very much agree with the part that says compassion has no ideology. It is a human trait and while some people have more than others it doesn't necessarily go hand in hand with religion. But honestly religion can't be blamed for the cruelties of the world. It's the choices that a person makes that leads them to do (or not do) cruel acts on others. People can be cruel or they can be compassionate, it's their choice.

if religious people used their common sense and thought about what their religions taught and what is really in it for them they wouldn't follow them. religion in not really a matter of faith but blind obedience to something they do not understand.

The key is to follow God, and not some man's interpretation of God. Jesus spent a lot of time talking about this. Apparently he knew it was a problem.

Can't agree more. Just a phrase from Flight of The Phoenix (2004) "Religion divides people. Belief in something unites them"

Actually I think compassion should not be conditional. That is, you treat everyone with kindness and mercy be it your best friend or your worst enemy. Bjt i do think that compassion does have an ideology, and that is every single religion, faith and belief system in the world. All of these subsribe to the notion of a God, or Supreme Being, and everywhere, the gods pledge for mercy.

I think when you used the word 'religion' you have put all the religious systems in one basket. And that may not be the best way of putting it. By the way, you are referring to Christianity. So I shall say with respect to Christianity. I think burning heretics is not the logical outworking of Christ's teaching. It is rather illogical outworking. Innocent people being slaughtered in the name of waging a war for God is also illogical outworking. Yes, it depends lot on how one interprets the text. But I don't see how one can read the Bible and says "the sun revolves around the sun, or burn the heretics and so on." There are thing like " salvation is found only through Jesus, and no one else's name" which is a logical extrapolation from the Bible. Whether one believes in it or not is another issue. But if one in faithful to the text I don't see how one can burn heretics or slaughter innocent people.