“The most heinous and the most cruel crimes of which history has record have been committed under the cover of religion or equally noble motives.” – M.H. Gandhi
By Jack Bernard, contributing columnist
PEACHTREE CITY, Ga. | In the past, I have written columns regarding religion and religious leaders, centered around the Judeo-Christian faith and values. Generally, these articles detail how Georgia’s country preachers are generally admirable, likeable people.
And how the reverse is often true for national televangelists, who seem to only care about the accumulation of power and money (and they do a very good job of getting both).
Usually, although not always, religions have some altruistic, idealistic motives as their basis…at least in theory. Whether or not the practitioners live up to their ideals is the big question. To quote Gandhi again: “I like your Christ. I do not like your Christians. Your Christians are so unlike your Christ.”
Christianity, over the last 2,000 years, has had some radical leaders who persecuted many non-believers. But the same can be said for every major religion. Extremism and religion when combined are a lethal brew, as shown below.
On an overseas trip, I met a very well-to-do and likeable lady who was Buddhist. We got into a discussion of religion and the Middle East. She was rightfully concerned with both the slaughter of Israeli innocents on October 10, and the overreaction by Israel in Gaza, which has taken the lives of thousands of civilians.
I understood where she was coming from, but she was shocked at part of my response. Some people would say that Buddhism is the most enlightened and peaceful religion. And in general, it is a very positive force in the world. But, as I pointed out to her, not when taken to the extreme.
This well-educated woman was unaware that in Myanmar (Burma), Muslims were being slaughtered by radical Buddhists. In fact, over a million Muslims have fled to Bangladesh, creating the largest refugee camp in the world. Christians are also being persecuted, although not to the same degree. For some reason, the Western press seems obsessed with Israeli Jews violently taking over Gaza (which is certainly a humanitarian tragedy), while ignoring this situation with Buddhists.
Similarly, the West ignores the Nigerian humanitarian crisis which has taken the lives of 40,000 men, women and children since 2009. Boko Haram, the Islamic State-West Africa (ISIS-WA) and other terrorist jihadist groups have been murdering civilians (primarily Christians) for nearly two decades.
The one big religion that I have not mentioned is Hinduism. The largest Hindu state is India, which also has a large Muslim minority that is persecuted. For example, influential Hindu religious and political figures have incited violence, demanding that Muslim women be raped and Muslims murdered. Thousands have been killed in numerous incidents.
Here is the bottom line. Every one of these major religions have numerous positive characteristics. They are only problematic when radical leaders and political types get involved.
The most recent example is when an American, Mike Huckabee, our ambassador to Israel, said that “It would be fine if they took it all” in response to a question about Israel’s right to more land in the Middle East. Obviously, even our closest Muslim friends in the region reacted negatively.
Israel’s right to exist as a Jewish state is paramount, but I did not feel comfortable reading Huckabee’s statement. We must all guard against those who would move us in radical directions, especially in the name of religion.
- Have a comment? Click here to send an email.
