Are religions themselves hypocritical or is it the people within the religions that are hypocritical?

Question

A lot of people say that religions have so much hypocrisy. But, is it the religion's doctrine that's hypocritical or is it just the members of the religion that are hypocritical?

Answer 1

It is the people within the religions that are hypocritical. With all the hypocrisy passed down from generation to generation, it makes the religion appear to be hypocritical because somehow people want to blindly follow the hypocrites.

Answer 2

Few Religions are hypocritical. People make mistakes, not ideas make mistakes. People within the religion are hypocritical. How is Catholicism Responsible For it's Followers to got through silent approval During the Holocaust, after saying Such things are a Sin? No, The People are the Hypocrites.

Answer 3

I think it's the people. People are people. Some honestly try to be good (most of the time), and some are just evil (most of the time). Different people are just hypocritical about different things - not just religion (taxes spring to mind).

But religions are either an attempt to understand, or they're not religions at all - they're just a deception. The most hypocritical/dishonest religion I know is evolution.

Answer 4

It's a little of both I would imagine. The religion is a reflection of the people who make it, but it still stands as a testiment of the religion.

Let's take, as an innocent example, the concept of Divorce in Christianity.

Jesus clearly said that except for adultery one is not to cast their spouse aside.

We, today, have ministers, elders, priests, Bishops, Deacons who are divorced and who may not meet that definition and they are still doing their religious jobs.

Atheists are right to a degree, Christains get divorces like crazy. Stastically no higher than the Atheist population (that is one of the lies or myths Atheists try and make), but they are right.

It's rampant. And according to the TEACHINGS of JESUS, which is the ONE and ONLY CORNERSTONE of Chrsitianity, following the TEACHINGS OF JESUS, it is wrong to liberaly divorce or set a spouse aside.

This becomes a hypocrasy.

Answer 5

Religious followers may not be properly adhering to the religion or spiritual. They could be behaving consistently with spiritual values and doctrines, but some will not. Religion and believers are separate entities.

Answer 6

Religion has been created by people. In analysis, religion does help people, if you want it to. It is probably just a placebo.
But then again, religion is never far away from scandals, politics, money.
Spirituality is the true religion; if organized religion helps a person achieve harmony & spirituality, it is indeed successful.

Answer 7

Considering the fact that each church denomination/religion has men and woman whom draw up doctrines of belief guidelines for their "church", it could be a matter of both being "true".... if a person seeks to join a church/religion, you would normally presume that they read the doctrine statements of belief before joining....By accepting those "rules" they have committed themselves to following the letter of the "laws" of that church.

However, each person is responsible for their own actions and relationship with the Lord... they have the Bible to learn from and if they choose to deny parts that their "church" tells them is "obsolete", then they have erred by agreeing to it for the Bible is clear enough on that subject that they are willingly denying "Truth" and not following God but "man's IDEA of 'God'"

You will find good and bad in each "religion"...unfortunately, and their actions and way of life and speech is their own responsibility....again unfortunately, people do not just put the blame on the individual but upon their whole "belief" as a whole.

Peace be with you. :)

Answer 8

If you look at the dictionary's definition of hipocracy, it could be both, but I tend to think of people as hypocritical.

Answer 9

It is definitely the people within the religions.

Answer 10

concerning the bible, the bible has no hypocrisy but yes hypocrisy comes from people because people are sinners and have faults that is why it is our responsibility to read the teachings ourselves and not just always listen to someone by the way it doesnt just have one thing it can be anything that you are taught in life, school, news, from so called famous people.