Some religions are double-edged swords, possessing A VERY BENIGN SIDE (such as love for one’s neighbor, charity, zakat, not doing to others what you don’t want done to you, and doing to others what you want done to you), but at the same time a DARK SIDE that causes great suffering to a large number of innocent victims.
In the traditionalist versions of these religions (contrary to their tolerant and benign versions), anyone who deviates from their dogmas is harmed, even if they do not belong to that religion, sometimes with great cruelty. For this reason, throughout history, atrocities have been committed in the name of faith, such as torturing in very cruel ways, like the Iron Maiden, sawing people in half, burning them alive, or throwing aggressive dogs to tear them apart.
And the number of victims of different types has been hundreds or even thousands of millions. The genocide of Hindus by Muslims alone may have accounted for hundreds of millions of deaths.
But there is no need to look back to the past, as today in countries where the majority are Muslim or conservative Christians, there are often prison sentences (or even death sentences) for those who deviate from their religious doctrine, such as those who engage in homosexual acts, apostates, blasphemers, those who abort fetuses that do not yet feel, etc. Or in conservative Hindu environments, the unjust caste system persists, especially harmful to the untouchables.
When religion preaches harming others, it is like mixing fire with gasoline, because if human beings already have an abusive side due to our hyper-predatory nature, when religion accentuates it, the result can be fatal.
Because Homo sapiens also has a very credulous and superstitious aspect, that of magical thinking, which makes them very prone to following religions and spiritual leaders wherever they go. Even if it means throwing themselves into a well, as in the Crusades, or throwing others, like the ancient Carthaginians, who performed human sacrifices with children. There are enough people who quickly sign up for any bombardment of evil to then promote it.
Some say that all religions are respectable. And while it is true that the general rule should be a culture of respect, this has a limit: abuse. No outrage is respectable, and when a way of thinking advocates evil, like Nazism, it loses its honorability.
Because kidnapping an innocent person (no matter how much they contravene a religious doctrine) to imprison them for years is a crime, just like assaulting them or harming them in other ways. Therefore, religious traditionalism that is promoting (successfully in many countries) the criminalization of homosexuality or other behaviors by INNOCENT people who deviate from their dogmas is criminal. Let’s call things by their name instead of being complicit with criminal movements.
Let’s be direct in explaining the objective facts, even if criminals dislike it, whether they are perpetrators or accomplices. Because, although victimizers never like their misdeeds to be exposed or questioned, their clear exposure and dissemination are essential for justice.
Let’s be even clearer: in many countries, those majorities of Muslim and conservative Christian citizens who support laws that punish innocent people with prison sentences (where they are also frequently beaten and mistreated) are criminals, just as many Western grandparents were.
Let’s continue to speak plainly: in antiquity in Europe, North Africa, and the Middle East, there was considerable tolerance towards homosexuality, free thought, philosophies, religions, and changes of religion. Greek and Hellenistic culture (characteristic of the empire conquered by Alexander the Great) was slave-owning but open and tolerant. Then Roman culture was imposed, which was enormously unjust in several aspects (slave-owning, conquering, and repressive towards those who resisted its dominion), but quite tolerant regarding sexuality, religion, and freedom of thought and expression.
And if all that changed, it was because, first, traditionalist Christians arrived, determined to rigorously apply the Bible. Many of them were no angels, as, although benign in some aspects and charitable, they created a social dictatorship that has lasted for millennia based on punishments, mistreatment, torture, and murder. And later, conservative Muslims arrived, close relatives of the former, although some may think they are very different, also imposing their Sharia and a repressive dictatorship on those who deviate from the dogmas of the Quran and the Hadith. And the same has happened in many other places around the globe.
Another dark side of various religions, such as Abrahamic faiths or Hinduism, is the denigration of women and the granting of privileges to men at the expense of women’s rights.
And also part of the gray side of many religions is their excessively gregarious use, as a group identity, sometimes exacerbated, similar to racism/ethnicism/ultranationalism. In fact, one type of ethnicism is ethno-religious. This has led to religious wars, genocides (such as the Jewish, Armenian, Greek, or Assyrian), massacres, and ethno-religious cleansing, as in the 1990s in the Balkans. And it continues to be the cause of conflicts and attacks today.
Fortunately, the Enlightenment and its offspring, liberal movements, have partially opened the suffocating social cage brought by religious intolerance, but there is still a long way to go.
And we are very fortunate that there are many benevolent believers who want to end the aforementioned scourges, such as Pope Francis and reformist bishops, priests, and grassroots Catholics, especially in places like Germany and Belgium. And also progressive Presbyterians, Anglicans, and other Protestants, liberal Muslims, or modernizing Hindus.
Read LIVE WITHOUT HARMING: Let’s reform the harmful side of religions
Thank you for sharing to end the evil side of religions and achieve a more just and happy world.
Xavier Paya
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