I think it's ultraconservative religion that gets the whole idea of religion a bad rap--just like most extreme examples of metal get the entire genre a bad rap. Not all Christians are Falwell, and not all metalheads are the "Lords of Chaos".
People seem really, really fond of broadbrushing because it's easier to put people into two easy categories: Those Like Me, and Those Not Like Me. I am not a conservative Christian (so I get flamed by both sides!
), but I consider myself to be very passionate about my faith. To abandon it would be like cutting off a hand or a foot; I just could not do that to myself.
It's funny how the accusations fly from one side to the other of "following the crowd", because the extremists on both ends really are showing the very same sheeplike behavior. The only difference is in what leaders they follow. There's this idea that you give up all reason when you enter religious faith. That has never been my experience--I didn't stop thinking, I didn't stop wanting to know about how the universe works (and that definitely includes sciences and maths).
Some
do stop using their heads, to very dangerous results, most certainly. I mean, look at the people who flew planes into buildings, or the people who blow up abortion clinics. But you could also point out the examples of the black-metal cultists like the ones in the book Lords of Chaos who went around burning churches, who threw out all reason for the sake of what
they were into. It's my experience that human beings have an incredible propensity for abandoning reason--incredible because it seems that
anything taken to a destructive extreme brings it out. The key to anything you're going to be passionate about is to make sure you keep using your head...because even things with the most potential for great good to a person can be warped and turned hateful if you stop doing them intelligently and with consideration.
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