Religion has convinced modern society to consider more than just the well-being of humanity: what God wants and our place in heaven or hell in the afterlife ( Sutter). Religion, even though it has billions of followers, is based solely on what a few important religious figures say. For example, Islam was started by a man named Mohammed, who communicated with God and became a prophet. No one saw him or the angel who was visiting Muhammad at that time, however, when Muhammad came down from the mountain where he was praying and began to spread the message, people who had previously been polytheists converted to Mohammed's new religion: Islam. During Muhammad's life, as shown in the film "The Message," many people became Muslims simply because they were told that Muhammad was a prophet, a messenger of the "one true God." This action of becoming a Muslim simply because, based on what others say about Muhammad, seems to be blind faith – not having the slightest certainty that there is a God, but believing with all one's heart that there is. A. Personally, I have no qualms about religion or people who practice it, regardless of religion. What I struggle with is how religion is the basis for individual decisions, slowing progress in improving our nation and the world. Religion, in my eyes, has two original objectives. Its primary goal was to explain the unexplainable, such as how humans were created, where animals came from, and other similar questions. The book of Christianity, the Bible, attempted to answer many of these questions with the information known at the time. Over the years, however, many scientists have refuted what the Bible claims to be true - such as the highly controversial ...... middle of paper ...... orist actions, while Muslims see the Bad Americans because, in their eyes, our culture disobeys the word of God and destroys the true meaning of religion. Almost every war in the history of our world, as long as religion has been present, has been started or motivated by a religious vision. Once again, I emphasize my tolerance for religion as a concept. However, religion as it stands today causes far more problems than it solves - and single-handedly prevents our country and the world from moving toward true peace and our people. to be understandable and accepting. Works Cited Kosmin, Barry and Ariela Keysar. “American Religious Identification Survey.” Trinity College, March 2009. Web. April 7, 2010. Sutter, John. “Philosopher: Why we should abandon religion.” CNN (2010): n. page. Internet. April 7 2010. .