Steven said: I think that any absolute faith has a dark side, and that these dark sides tend to emerge and take over when faith and politics mix
And you replied: . I am not aware of a dark side to worshipping God, and don't believe their is one...Faith or lack of it is simply your ability to trust a higher being than you self. The fact that some people use religious foundations to further their political aspirations, social status, or wealth and in so doing commit injustice is a demonstration of a lack of faith.
I agree with you about the people who use religion to further their ignoble ends. But I think the dark side is more than just some isolated bad guys. Organized religion ironically fosters the bad guys because organized religion is inherently political. Even the simple faith of an individual, when it becomes consuming, can turn ugly. Since faith is mystical, there is no way for the faithful to use the conventional tools of persuasion or demonstration to convince another of the validity of that faith. Logic doesn't apply and there is no proof. Many, perhaps most, people are content to keep their faith between themselves and their higher being. So far, so good.
Others, sometimes maliciously and sometimes innocently, have a need to get those around them on board and then we're off and running. It may be something as simple as wanting your children to practice your religion. How can you get your daughter to dress modestly in contemporary US culture? How can you teach your kids the value of prayer if they can't have a group prayer in the locker room? What do you say when your kids want to have dinner with their friends who don't share your dietary restrictions? What do you say when your kid counters that all the other kids get to do something you don't permit. You find your religion constrained by the diversity of your community. You can't use persuasion or demonstration to convince your fellow citizens of the rightness of your approach, so you use force. Perhaps that force is something small and relatively innocent like stacking the local school board. Perhaps you blow up a national monument or business center. Once religion becomes more than one's personal connection to the object of one's faith, darkness can poke its nose under the tent.
Karen |
