Religion--An Opium for the People?

There is a new website in the cyber world  that once discovered leaves little time for other daily chores as a result of its highly addictive content and presentation. Consider that a warning, especially if contemporary forms of spirituality peak your interest. Dear God is an interdenominational, interreligious, already global site dedicated to God's people who wish to share needs, confessions, and desires in an online prayer format. It's amazing! Plus, the art associated with each prayer, which can be addressed to any diety (one prayer calls upon Oprah for help), can induce worship in and of itself; the images are beautiful. The prayer accompanying this one is moving:

Dear God,

Every feast of the Nazarene in a place here called Quiapo, thousands of people trample each other just to touch the statue of you being paraded outside the church thinking it will bring them luck or cure their ailments. Many do die in this event. During holy week they flagellate and crucify themselves to atone for their sins.People flock to masses when the lottery hits the high marks, praying for signs of what the winning combination will be. In this country where most people live below the poverty line, most people turn to you during their suffering. So much so that they do nothing for themselves and solely depend on you.

I don’t blame you God. But I wonder why you created religion when it just serves as an opium of the people and as a vehicle for violence?

Karen, Philippines

What do you think about her final question in the prayer? Based on reading almost every posting on the site, it seems like it is quite easy for us (I use that term in the most collective sense possiblt) to blur the line demarcating that which God creates and that which comes from humanity's hands. As a whole, I would lump poverty and homelessness into this fuzzy category of confusion.