It's connected but I'm not all that convinced it's the same thing because the people convincing others to perform terrorist acts are using a twisted version of the religion to suit their needs.
All religion? No. There is a huge different between radical Islam that was behind 9/11 and, say, Quakerism, Bhakti Hinduism, Mormonism, or the Old Order River Brethren. There is such a wild diversity of religious beliefs and practices, you can't lump them all into one convenient package. That said ... it was a reminder about the evil that "true believers" can do when properly motivated. There is also a pretty vile strain in Islam that has existed since it's foundation that has become more and more manifest in the last hundred years. Plenty of other faiths went through similar "growing pains". So, no, though I am not religious any more, I am not willing to completely write it off as evil. A the same time, I give no quarter to those that harbor hate in their heart.
Not really. People make me apprehensive about religion. Islam is a peaceful religion if you wanted it to be just look at Thailand and the Roman Catholic Church has caused a lot of wars in the past so who's to say who's the real terrorist here. Those guys in the middle east are just brainwashed, they lack education and most importantly empathy from other cultures.
I'm not one of these blanket "Muslims are all terrorists" people, but 9/11 pretty much led me down the path to becoming an atheist. I was brought up Catholic, but I really began to look into religion once all the extremist stuff began happening. Naturally, after looking at the actual facts and history of religions, particularly the Abrahamic religions, it became pretty clear to me these were all man-made religions.
I feel the same exact way. I try my best to not generalize an entire group based on the actions of some, but at the same time, I do believe that religions do promote certain acts. Some passages in the Koran, as well as the Bible and Torah, do promote a one god world view and heretics must be punished. That stuff bothers me a lot and I have become very apprehensive of super religious people.
The terrorist attacks have as much to do with religion as those who bomb abortion clinics and the like. In essence these are very angry, frustrated, hopeless and powerless individuals who are vulnerable and are recruited to do evil by those who want to change the clock back to the 7th century. It is an extreme fringe element of a particular religion.
Though it really hasn't made me think of religion any differently, I do believe that there are plenty of people who just use it to justify their actions. I have always believed that, though.
