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See also two closely related sections
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Quotation (repeated elsewhere because we are so fond of it):
 | A man told his grandson: "A terrible fight is going on inside me -- a
fight between two wolves. One is evil, and represents hate, anger,
arrogance, intolerance, and superiority . The other is good, and represents
joy, peace, love, tolerance, understanding, humility, kindness, empathy,
generosity, and compassion. This same fight is going on inside you, inside
every other person too." The grandson then asked: "Which wolf will win?" The old man replied simply: "The one you feed." Anon. |
Overview:
Religion can generate great personal commitment and passion, expressed as caring, love, respect, and support for others. It can motivate believers to dedicate their lives to the alleviation of suffering and need. However, it can also motivate people to hate followers of other religions, and secularists. This can escalate into actions of conflict, oppression, murder, terrorism and genocide.
Why is there so much religiously-based hatred, animosity and intolerance? (also repeated):
Why does religion encourage some people to perform ethically and others to commit discriminatory and even violent acts?
| To our knowledge, no mathematician has ever intentionally flown an airplane into a building, or blown up a subway, or exploded a bomb in a crowded marketplace. But many people have done these things, motivated by their religious faith. |
| Municipalities have voted to turn down a building permit for a mosque or Muslim cemetery, while approving a construction of a church. |
| Most Americans do not consider race, gender, sexual orientation, age, or a history of multiple marriages to be much of an impediment for a presidential candidate. But most people would not vote for a generally well-qualified Atheist. |
A partial list of some of the factors involved includes:
| Many people are motivated to adopt a religious faith out of a need for security in a dangerous world. When their religion is challenged, they react emotionally and sometimes violently. |
| Religious beliefs are largely based on faith rather than reason. This means that conflicts among religions cannot be easily settled through dialogue. Disagreements can often escalate. |
| Many people believe that there is only one "top-down" religion: i.e. there is only a single religion revealed by God to humanity. That sole religion is, of course, their own. Meanwhile they believe that all other religions are "bottom-up" faiths: i.e. religions created by humans to express their concept of God. It is difficult for a person to respect other religions if they "know" that their religion, alone, is the true one. |
| Many feel that they are God's only representatives on Earth; in effect, they are God's arms and legs. They feel a need to be God's defenders |
This section discusses instances of religious hatred, describes why they occur, and suggests how they might be avoided. Unfortunatley, there are no quick fixes to this situation.
Topics covered in this section:
Related menu and essays on this web site:
| Menu: Peace and the role of religion |
| The declaration of the Global Ethic |
| The principles of the Global Ethic |
| Theories of reciprocity |
FYI: Useful references
- David Barrett et al., editors of the "World Christian Encyclopedia: A comparative survey of churches and religions - AD 30 to 2200." Oxford University Press, (2001). Read reviews or order this book safely from Amazon.com online book store
- Deborah Caldwell, "The Problem With Monotheism: Why the world's two largest faiths, Christianity and Islam, have a tendency to 'turn evil'." A Beliefnet interview of Charles Kimball, at: http://www.beliefnet.com/
- Charles Kimball, "When Religion Becomes Evil," Harper SanFrancisco, (2002). Read reviews or order this book safely from Amazon.com online book store
Amazon.com lists the following books under the topic "religious hatred."
Reports on oppression and hatred involving, in part, religion:
| U.S. State Department's annual human rights reports: The Bureau
of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor of the U.S. Department of State
publishes Country human rights and religious freedom reports annually.
Sadly, although the reports catalog human rights abuses and victories in
over 175 countries, it neglects conditions within the U.S. itself. See:
http://www.state.gov/ |
|  Hatewatch.org "monitors the evolving problem of online bigotry.
Visit their news feed or their web site. |
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Copyright © 2000 to 2007 by Ontario Consultants on Religious
Tolerance
Originally written: 2000-JUN-4
Latest update: 2007-MAY-08
Author: B.A. Robinson
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