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All this talk of religion! It has always seemed to me that very few people actually follow the precepts of the religion they profess, no matter what religion we are talking about. It is always depressing to recount the activities of religious militants who felt that millions had to be killed, tortured, enslaved, or subjugated before they could properly spread their "message of love." Here in New York City, a friend who lives in an Hispanic neighborhood tells me that she is constantly harassed by Evangelical Hispanic Christians for her devotion to Roman Catholicism. Catholics, they tell her (and none too calmly either), will not be saved. I do not recount this to criticize either evangelicals, hispanics or Christians, but merely to show that the seeds of religious antagonism are still sprouting nicely. I suppose that when we really think about where people get these ideas as to the dreadfulness of other faiths, the answer must always come down to the clerics, who are either so fanatical that it offends them that not everyone believes as they, or are simply power-hungry and wish to increase thir flock by whatever means they can muster ( I reckon that there is a minority who are actually convinced that their way--out of the thousands floating around--is the only way to salvation, and that their actions stem from genuine concern for the souls of their neighbors). Cleric-led religion never allows us to discuss the pure faith because its is filtered so heavily by the views of the leaders of the time. You may love the Catholicism of John Paul II, but despise the Catholicism of Pius IV. I guess my contribution to this never ending debate is this: religion is not the enemy, the enemies are intolerance, violence, greed and selfishness. People who see benefit to them from any of these behaviors will twist religion to suit. |
