For religion haters: why would blaming religion for everything be different than blaming politics/money?

Question

It's futile to blame most bad things on a single external source, rather than selfish desire, because anything can be corrupted for one's one gain. People kill each other over the time over power and wealth, and in most cases religion was simply used as a guise to obtain power or wealth. You really think the Spanish conquistadors were more interested in serving God than in acquiring gold and land? Spreading the faith was just a side benefit. Wars over land would happen regardless of religion. Just look at the Mongols and Alexander. I could just as easily argue that white men are the root of all evil, because many people have been killed to further white supremacy or that sex is evil because of rape, pedophilia, and aids. Most events in history are a lot more complex than what the person's religion was, so I suggest you look at all the possibilities instead or just using circumstantial reasoning to produce the conclusion you want.

Answer 1

I agree with you--religion is often an easy scapegoat for those looking for an easy answer.

That said, I think there is such a thing as destructive theology (I am a Christian myself, and in seminary, so I tend to look at things in theological terms). For instance, the Methodist Episcopal Church (a precursor to the modern day United Methodist Church) split just before the Civil War over the issue of slavery. If you read the historical record of denominational meetings, you can hear slavery defended with Biblical justification. (You can also hear the other side, of course--those who realized that slavery was an abomination before God).

Manifest Destiny wasn't just political and economic; it included a theological component that God gave strength to those who were intended to conquer.

There are also some modern-day theologies which are dangerous. I would include prosperity "gospels" in that category. A lot of modern theology is detremental to the environment. Conservative preacher John MacArthur, for example, has stated that we "live on a disposable planet." Such a theology, ignoring the requirement of stewardship as God set it out in Scripture, is what I would call dangerous. Similarly, some theologies teach a life of crippling guilt, leading to self-destruction.

So you're right. All the world's ills cannot be blamed on religion. On the other hand, those of us who are religious have a responsibility to make sure that our theology doesn't harm others or ourselves.

Perhaps it's because of the ultimate claims theology makes--after all, it is the study of God, of ultimate truths, and of our purpose for being alive. Getting theology right, it seems to me, is more important than getting our politics and economics (and psychology, and sociology, etc) straight--because it claims to be foundational to the other disciplines, or at least how we view them.

Grace and peace.

Answer 2

People blame religion because it is easy.