Why do human beings kill for religious reasons??

Gods are defined as an omnipitent and powerful beings that watch over us and judge our rights and wrongs, and allows us the decisions and abilities to live our lives. Each version of a god has had this power. From the Greek and Roman gods that were responsible for the rising of the sun, the rain, the snowfall, death, birth, war, love...each God, from Buddha to Allah to the Christian God has the same attributes. From creation to destruction, and from forgiveness to Hell worthy trespasses.

What I fail to understand is the inability for human beings to understand that not everyone will believe what you believe. Belief is not a bad thing, zealotry is. When people believe something different than me, does that make them wrong? Not to me. Should people die for believing differently? Absolutely not. So why is it happening? Are we still living in a world where we cannot have free thinkers or individuals?

For example, I am an athiest, I don't beleive in an all knowing, all powerful God, but instead, I believe in evolution. I believe that Darwin was a smart guy, but not everyone believes that. Some want to attribute our existence to a God that made us out of nothing. Let there be light. And although I can't see this being a logical answer, I don't fault others for wanting to believe it. And I certainly don't want people to die to make them see my side of it. In fact, some of my best friends are religious, and I love them for having the strength to have that belief.

I can't say that I know why those people flew a plane into the towers on 9-11, but I know it was religiously motivated, and what true god out there would allow their followers to die? I know that the terrorists that took over those planes were proud that they could die for their beliefs, but they were most definately wrong to kill others. Especially those that may share the same beliefs??

Who was to know who would die when the planes crashed? Or who was in the building when it collapsed? How many people died terrified in those buildings, and had no idea what was happening to them? How many people shared the same religion as the killers?

If there is a Heaven, in any religion, then murder, for any reason, would prevent you from entrance, so you would either be dropped into the hotbox below, or left on Earth to wander forever. So what is the purpose of religious sacrifice if you are permanently banned from the afterlife that you are aiming for? There are those that thinks that their God speaks to them...I doubt that it's God, it's probably a short circuit in the cerebelum that makes them hear illogical voices.

Of course, depending on your religion...if you are Catholic, then all non catholics are going to Hell, if you are Baptist, then all non baptists are going to Hell, if you are Muslim...etc. etc. So, does that mean we are all headed to the hotbox? I am starting to truly believe that religion was a bad idea to start with. Since humans were introduced to the idea of higher beings, we have waged wars and mass genocide. If there is a God, he/she cries every day at our ignorance.

That's my serious rant for the month, I was totally saddened today to see that more soldiers were killed while overseas and away from their families. :(