Religion doesn’t cause Violence. It’s the other way round.
This is SO counter-intuitive. It’s really hard to get your head around. It seems plain common-sense that much of the violence we see in our world is caused by religion. And here I am trying to tell you that it’s the other way round? That violence causes religion? It’s like saying UP is DOWN. Exactly. Up IS down. That is a reality that was kindly explained to me by that nice Indian optometrist at Specsavers. “You know that our eyes actually see the world upside-down,” he explained in his emollient tones. “Eh?” I replied. I could feel a stupid look on my face. In a moment I would look like a heavy-browed Neanderthal and be saying “Wha(t)” without pronouncing the ‘t’. “Yes,” Mr Specsavers continued amicably as if addressing a small child. “The lens in the eye inverts what it sees, and projects it upside-down onto your retina.” This sounded vaguely obscene, so I just said, “Oh.” “So your eyes see the world upside-down. But fortunately our brains are smart enough to...