"The Evil That Men Do" in the Name of Religion

Most often, these days, people in the West, particularly Christians, identify egregiously bad or offensive behavior motivated by religion as the province of Islam. Over the last several weeks, we have read news stories about the rape victim in Saudi Arabia sentenced to 200 lashes because she was found guilty of being in public with a man who was not her husband or her relative and then dared to appeal her sentence. And, we have read about the British teacher who was condemned for allowing her elementary class to name a Teddy Bear "Muhammad." These stories are in addition to how the phrases "Islamo-terrorist" and "Islamo-fascist" have come to be accepted as part of our national discourse on the impact of religion on politics and proper US foreign policy.

Two stories from this morning's news caught my eye as examples of how human beings do wrong things in the name of religion. One is absurd; the other tragic. Neither concerns Islam.

From the BBC comes the report that the Palestinian Police had to break up a broom fight at the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem between Greek Orthodox and Armenian Apostolic priests. Due to long standing disputes over what branch of the Christian Church ought to have primary responsibility for caring for sacred sites in the Holy Land, the Bethlehem church was sub-divided into three areas: Roman Catholic, Greek Orthodox, and Armenian Apostolic. Each group is responsible for maintenance and clean-up for its third. After the crush of tourists at Christmas, the groups were sweeping up when the dispute erupted. Accounts of the precise trigger are fuzzy, but one account indicated that one group wanted to put up a ladder that would touch the other group's space. Pushing and shoving broke out, and then the groups started hitting each other with their brooms. Absurd. I can imagine that things could have gotten out of hand if guns had been available and if the Palestinian Police had not been there to quell the riot.

An AP report carried in the Washington Post told of violence in India. Christian churches and houses owned by Christians were ransacked and burned by ardent Hindus who were upset over a Christmas Eve program held in one of the Christian churches. This took place in the State of Orissa. In the violence, at least one person was killed and 25 were wounded. The Hindus object to the evangelization efforts of the Christian churches and, at least in Orissa, have passed a law requiring any person who wants to change religious affiliation to obtain police permission. Tragic. This follows the reports of election victories by the BJP, another strongly nationalistic Hindu based political party in another part of India.

It seems that we humans can use, and mis-use, anything, including religion, to advance our agendas. All religous faiths can be used in this way. When will we ever learn?