ABSTRACT
Religion in and of itself is neither good nor bad, but man’s practice of religion has been atrocious. Many people have been slaughtered in the name of one god or another, over the ages. Even in today’s society people are being slain behind religious differences. Also in today’s society, and for many centuries previously, so-called “men of god” have committed numerous criminal acts. The majority of the crimes that they commit are sexual in nature, the worse being child molestation. Cardinal sins being committed by Cardinals! Yet another abuse of religious power is the exploitation of man’s faith. Crooked televangelists have, and still are leeching money from people by playing upon their faith. The history of man’s practice of religion is a tale of violence, sexual misconduct, and exploitation.
Since ancient history violence has mixed with religion. Many of the founding civilizations; the Romans, the Greeks, the Egyptians; would torture and even kill those with opposing beliefs. In 4th century Rome Constantine converted to Catholicism and anyone found to be practicing previously believed religions were put to death (Crabtree, 2002) . The inquisitions held by the Catholic Church were a field day of torture and religious persecution, terrorizing anyone who did not share their religious views (unknown, 2010) . Another appalling example would be the Crusades that lasted for 200 years. Muslims and Christians murdered one another by the thousands behind religious differences (unknown, The Crusades, 2000) .
Even in today’s society people are killing one another over religious beliefs. The war on terror is a prime example. Islamic Fundamentalist despise American culture and religion so much they are willing to die to eradicate the world of the “evil Christian Americans” (unknown, Fundametalist Islam resurges, 2010) . There have also been numerous accounts over the decades of random acts of violence related to religious differences. Religious differences are usually personal choice differences being that most major religions practice the same basic tenets. Religion should be about one’s faith in something greater than themselves which motivates them to live a better, more wholesome life. So where does violence, exploitation, and sexual misbehavior fit into this picture?
As with violence, sex has often, throughout history, blended into man’s practice of religion, usually in a negative, sometimes criminal manner. Some early civilizations had a god for everything; the sun god, the moon goddess, the god of love, the god of virility, the goddess of erotica; a god for any emotion, or feeling. The way these gods and goddesses were depicted in artwork was usually very erotic in nature. Most of the religious art from early Greece and Rome was very erotic in nature (Tarkovsky, 2006) . There was a very thin line between sex and religious idol adoration.
The blending of erotica with religious art was a small sin compared to the abominations going on inside the Catholic Church of today. Child sexual abuse has run rampant in the church. The news coverage until recently was very hush-hush, but recent outcries by many abused Church members has brought this issue to center stage. For decades the Catholic Church has been turning a blind eye to the sins committed by its clergy (Luzombe, 2009) . John Delaney, an assistant district attorney for Philadelphia, spoke out about his abuse as an altar boy by a clergy member (Newal, 2006) . This is not happening in far off places but in our own back yards.
Sexual predators in the Church prey upon a child’s faith as well as a host of other issues to commit and keep quiet their devious acts, but what about those who blatantly exploit people’s faith for personal benefit. Televangelists have been using people’s faith to milk them for their hard earned money. Jim and Tammy Faye Bakker were perfect examples. They were so blatant as to come on T.V. and plainly state “Send us your money and we will pray for you” (Buddenbaum, 2009) . When they were finally exposed and arrested for tax evasion their company had millions and millions of dollars mostly from donations (Buddenbaum, 2009) . They were not the only ones but probably the most famous, Jerry Falwell was another crooked televangelist.
Exploiting mans faith has not just been limited to financial gain. There have been many spiritual cult leaders throughout the years that have turned out to be monsters, Jim Jones and David Koresh being two of the more notable ones. Jim Jones lead his followers to a mass suicide in Jonestown in 1978, 912 people committed suicide (Sumpter, 1994) . David Koresh led his followers to death in 1993 in Waco, TX (Sumpter, 1994) . Both of these men played upon the faith of their followers to want to believe in something greater than themselves that was tangible. Another fine example of mans practice of religion.
Religion itself is neither good nor evil; it is merely an outline for a way to live your life. It is when man begins to interpret these religious tenets and incorporate them into their lives that trouble may arise. We are human and prone to mistakes but can blatant disregard for human life, sexuality, and faith be chalked up to mistakes, or is it just our devious nature. Not all practice of religion has been negative; there have been many great occasions that organized religion has played a hand in. Also many organized religions have programs that help those that are less unfortunate which is a wonderful way to show one’s love and belief in god and that we are all god’s creatures. It is a real shame that these aspects of organized religion are overshadowed by the atrocities committed by “people of faith”. How can a religion strive when the very ones who are supposed to be the epitome of a faithful believer are the very ones committing the sins?
Violence, exploitation, and sexual misconduct sound like descriptions of the latest summer movie not aspects of religious practice. How do we as a people get from “though shall not kill, though shall not steal, though shall not covet thy neighbor’s wife” to the principles we think of today when we speak of religion. These basic principles, of which there are more than three, are central to most all the religions of the world. Then why is it when I hear a discussion about religion it includes such topics as sex, violence, and exploitation?
The word religion does not hold the same meaning or weight as it used to. A large reason for that is the way we practice religion, which is abysmal at best. Religion has become a very personal thing because organized groups of religion tend to have corruption and deceit mixed in there somewhere, as well as greed. Less and less youths are adhering to and claiming one religious sect such as Lutheran, or Protestant, or Baptist, or whatever. Over the decades we have watched man crush religious principles for personal benefit time and time again. Is religion to blame? Or is it man that should be blamed? Yet, has there been a report of religion killing a man or raping a man or turning his pockets inside out, but man does that to man day in and day out.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Buddenbaum, J. (2009). Religious scandals. Greenwood Press
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Luzombe, L.D. (2009). Moderating and intensifying factors influencing forgiveness by priests
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Newal, M. (2006). Shining a light on a cover-up. National Catholic Reporter, p.5-11
Sumpter, R. (1994) Jim Jones and David Koresh. Education, p.542
Tarvosky, S. (2006). Sex history in ancient Greece. Retrieved 2010, from Articles Base:
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Unknown. (2010). Fundamentalist Islam resurges. Retrieved 2010, from The Middle
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