The Pros and Cons of Religion

Just occasionally religion can be used as a force of good. After all there are a lot of people who follow particular faiths so if their leaders say something good, or ask for something good to be done, then they carry a fair bit of ‘weight’ and something good may actually be done. Example:

Pope Benedict XVI has called on states that have yet to sign the UN convention banning cluster bombs to do so “without delay.” from abc.net.au/news

Cluster bombs are an horrific weapon that tend to leave lots of unexploded pieces behind, which are later found by the locals often with devastating results. So the Pope asking for countries that have not yet signed the agreement to ban these devices, is a good thing.

HOWEVER

Religion can also be used as a force of evil. Some members of the faithful tend to believe just about whatever their spiritual leaders tell them, even when it’s a bad thing.

Iraqi police say the bodies of two gay men have been found in Baghdad’s Shiite slum of Sadr City after a leading cleric repeatedly condemned homosexuality. from abcactionnews.com and newsmeat.com

It is even believed the two men were killed by relatives who were shamed by the gay men’s behavior. Shamed, I assume, because their cleric told them it was shameful.

I’m sure you could find hundreds more Cons against religion, instances where religion has been used as a force of ‘evil’.

This news story was mentioned on the radio today, but I didn’t find many “main stream” on-line media covering it.