When Religion is Evil

Some years ago a skeptic made the oft quoted statement, "Science flies you to the moon. Religion flies you into buildings."¹ Of course, we could fairly reply that science builds bombs and religion builds hospitals, but the truth is that a lot of evil has been done in the name of religion. Much evil has been done in the name of Christ.

How do we answer the charge that "faith" is a force that leads people to do awful, irrational things?

My religion has never flown anything into a building. I'm neither required nor inclined to defend Islam. Christianity, however, is responsible for the Crusades, inquisitions, and many other abuses. People have led armies to kill natives in the name of Jesus. People have killed other Christians in the name of Jesus. Why?

All of these things are more complicated than we'd like them to be. The Crusades in particular began with much more righteous motives than they're often credited with.² Much of the evil credited to Christianity is a case study in why we need the separation of church and state.

But in the end it all boils down to this: Religion or faith is not a force that causes people to do awful, irrational things. People are awful and irrational and will use any excuse to justify the evil in their hearts.

Humans are prone to violence. They conquer territory, steal resources, and subjugate people. Sometimes they use their religion as the excuse to do so. Humans are prone to abusing whatever power they have; sometimes that power is religious. Truly the human heart "is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked" (Jer 17:9 KJV). But we can't blame that on religion or on "faith".

Here's a good rule of thumb: Don't judge a religion by people who aren't following its teachings. Don't judge Christianity by people who aren't acting like Christians.

We may run into an objection here. We say these people aren't real Christians or at least aren't acting like Christians. "But they say they're Christians and they're doing these things." Saying they're not "real Christians" is labeled the "no true Scotsman fallacy." That's not what this is.

If someone calls himself a vegan but continues to eat steak, it's fair to say "he's not a real vegan". "Vegan" means something, and that something excludes eating meat.

"Christian" means something. It's someone who follows Christ. If what he's doing runs contrary to Christ's teaching, he's at least not acting like a Christian. If he makes a lifestyle of this, what claim does he have to being a Christian?

Jesus warned us there would be false disciples in his church. There will be tares among the wheat and wolves in sheep's clothing. Some who go to church every Sunday will hear "depart from me, I never knew you." If they're not following Jesus, they're not his.

Jesus never told us to subjugate natives, start wars, or blow up buildings. He told us to love our enemies, to bless those that curse us. He taught us to do unto others as we would have to do unto us. And that has driven people to feed the hungry, to build orphanages and hospitals, and to comfort the broken hearted. That is neither awful nor irrational. That is what happens when people place their faith in Christ.


1 Victor Stegner, The New Atheism
2 I recommend God's Battalions: The Case for the Crusades by Rodney Stark to get a clearer picture than the popular version of the history.


Image credit: Michael Foran via Creative Commons