how many of you think religious leaders have perverted religion?

Question

i definitely beleive religions r not serving the purpose they were meant to.and thats bcos of the popes and the mullahs . imagine a pope who teaches compassion and is famous 4 his short temper.who is doubted to have indulged in vote bank politics to become a head of a religion whose cornerstone is sacrifice love and compassion .can he do it.or imagine the mullahs bringing out fatwas for all real and percieved sacrileges of islam to kill bomb liquidate the non believers .which religion supports violence.since when did religion started the use of force to turn people into believers or kill them? are religions flawed or is it the preachers?what should the public do?

Answer 1

Every institution run by man has flaws. Most of the flaws occur over long periods of time, and are based on what was "known" at the time. Belief in Christ or Allah does not require blind acceptance, it requires an acknowledgment that we are not perfect, and that we will make mistakes which we should rectify when possible. It is easy to say a leader is wrong if we do not agree with what he (or she) says. It is harder to examine our beliefs and find the flaws we have introduced. I don't know if you are a believer or not, but you must look at each individual leader and ask what he or she was taught, how each integrated that into their lives, and have they changed when it came to being a leader? Many popes were not the best of men, but when they became pope, their official practices were more consistent with the teachings of Christ even though their personal practices were still questionable at best. The belief is that when it came to being pope, they were divinely inspired to NOT harm the church in any official way. Certainly, many people take passages out of context to justify what they do, but that's what people do.

Answer 2

The question itself is flawed. In your additional comments you made statements which negated your question. Sooo in response I will say this. The Pope ( I am not catholic so you know) was re-stating something which was said by a Byzantine Emperor. The Pope was making an invite to Muslim Leaders to have a rational reasonded discourse (Logos). The point is the religions are not similar and place different values on life. There is not true middle ground. The only logical position is that we agree to disagree.

Answer 3

The word religious leader itself is a misnomer we got from the west. There can be only followers or practitioners of a certain way of worship of the lord.
Some people see political opportunity in this and assume powers
which are not there in the religious scriptures. Such leaders retain power by all means and create successors to rule after them. Naturally a power backed institution cannot be a religion and the head quarters of such organisations cannot be called religious places. It is not the religion which is perverted but the power wielders who pervert the religion.

Answer 4

As a Christian Pastor, teacher and Author I'm inclined to agree with you.
Most religions have rather stringent rules and doctrine and yet they are being watered down and whitewash in the name of political Correctness.
In the case of Christianity the New testament teaches Love, compassion and understanding, true enough, but it also teaches responsibility and accountability.
Two things missing in most pulpits today.

Answer 5

Never lose sight of the fact that religion has always been a methodology for power. In the Bible, it was Moses trying to control a group of cantankerous Jews. In the Queran(Koran), it was Mohamed trying to carve the Arab a place in the middle eastern world. With the Christians, it was trying to control a bunch of blood thirsty barbarians.All religion is seeking control over human behavior toward the founders particular ends.

Answer 6

Religious leaders in every religion do that, yes. They brainwash people by filling their minds with lies and saying they know the truth about God just for their own gain. Look what that perverted guy in Colorado City did, for example, he had a bunch of people following him blindly and giving away their 13 year-old daughters to be sexually abused by older men, because this guy told them that's what God wanted, it's very disturbing and disgusting to see what some idiots have done, they have completely perverted God's name. It's very terrible indeed, this is what is causing so many horrible things to happen in this world, they make the world an awful place.

Answer 7

Is it a fair answer to say that I beleive that religion in its many forms is perversion??? Extreme and closed minded views in most (especially christian and muslim) religions. The fact that the followers of these religions can have a range of understanding and beliefs that fit into (their own) distorted visions of the world is what causes all of the worlds wars and a good percentage of the worlds (man-made) misery........

Answer 8

Organised religions are doing a great disservice to man. These organisations acquired properties, systematise the teachings of the original teacher, after whom the religion is organised; expect the followers to abide by what considers as the principles of the religion. It indoctrinates the religious followers and exacts a strict obedience and faith from them, without giving them any opportunity to exercise their free will to examine his teaching. Reason and reasonableness become casualty in such religion. While condemning the organised religion, i for one would not like to discount the utility of religion as such. Man needs to have faith in God and religions are required to instill in men a sense of value and to show them the path for God realisation. Although religion will show the path to God, it is individuals karma and his perseverance as well as his faith that will indeed take him to God and lead to his salvation.

Answer 9

the preachers are flawed and not the religions,the have manipulated the facts,it is up to the people to open their eyes to these facts and get better education so that they can interpret the religious teachings on their own and dont follow these fanatic leaders blindly.

Answer 10

this is the 21st century the time for religion has past, religious leader are just employers of mass mind control non is any realer than those gods of fallen civilisations, the Romans, the Greeks, the Incas, the Egyptians to name a few