Welcome to the Harbor Unitarian Universalist Congregation

The main north/south artery into downtown Jackson, Mississippi is State Street. When I moved there in 1977 the First Baptist Church occupied about 1 1/2 square blocks of State Street, only two blocks from where it intersected with High Street, the center of the downtown business area. This is one of the churches in Jackson that ordered their ushers to refuse entry to African-Americans during the Civil Rights era.

The city government consisted of three people, all white Anglo-American men, that made up the City Commission. They selected the mayor from their ranks. There was no ward system. All of the inhabitants of Jackson voted for three candidates. This ensured that the commission would remain white. Two of the three members were also members of the First Baptist Church.

The Church decided to expand and purchased more land, growing eventually to three square city blocks, of which one was a very large parking lot. State Street was a busy street, partly because it was a Federal Highway. The parking lot was across the street from the church, thus endangering the worshippers as they attempted to cross.

So the church decided to build a crosswalk over the street to protect their people--a wise and compassionate decision. There was one problem. A Federal Highway cannot have a crosswalk above it, since it blocks certain large trucks. So, the church petitioned the City Commission for relief. Here is what they decided to do for this house of worship that paid no taxes to their coffers.

They stopped the Federal Highway one block before the church, and resumed it one block after the church. It still looked the same, and the traffic it carried did not change. However, the city was now responsible for all maintenance and upgrades on that three-block section of highway.

I have no idea how the City Commission worked this deal with the Federal Government--with which most Mississippians had a testy relationship at best. When I asked questions about this deal, I was met with shrugs and wandering eyes. However, the First Baptist Church of Jackson, Mississippi became, to me, an example of a very questionable relationship between church and governments.

Religion, like all human institutions, is capable of both good and evil. Some of you may nod your heads, and automatically think, "Yes, my religion (whatever that is) is good, and that religion (whatever is not mine) is evil." … No, that is not what I am saying. I am saying that most major religions are often good, and perform needed functions in our society; however, all religions are capable of corruption and a descent into evil.

Let us remind ourselves of some of the good things that religions do for their adherents. Religions provide rites of passage to mark the major changes in our lives. They welcome newborns into the community, they mark the passage of adolescents into adulthood, they celebrate the choosing of partners for life, and they devise rituals to formalize mourning when death comes calling. In doing so they give shape and meaning to our lives.

Humans need to imbue their lives with meaning. Religions answer the great questions of our lives, by using sacred texts and tradition, which tell creation stories, myths and often mythologized history. They frequently have a great founder who serves as the ideal person, upon whom they can model their lives.

And religions provide a community in which people find friends and support dur-ing the difficult times of life. The community gives them an opportunity to learn and socialize together with people with whom they are comfortable. It gives them an opportunity to contribute to the perceived well being of society. It gives them an opportunity to practice leadership skills and interact with people of all ages.

These are some of the goods that religion can provide. What are some of the evils? Perhaps it is all-too-easy to think of these. Here are some.

Religions can lead to the oppression of all those who are not-our-religion.
Unfortunately history is full of examples, and we will look at some of these later. They can lead to the abuse of power by those in charge of the religion. In the last few years it has become clear that some priests in the Catholic Church abused children; and it is further clear that, in a misguided effort to protect the institution, the power structure of the church protected them.

The combination of religion and government can lead to war. Unfortunately, al-most all religions are capable of turning their god into a war god, who demands the extension of his or her realm.

We are going to look in more depth at some of these evils. And we are going to look at the causes of this corruption, as defined by Charles Kimball, the author of When Religion Becomes Evil. Kimball is an ordained Baptist minister, a profess-or of religion, and the chair of the department of religion at Wake Forest Univer-sity. Dr. Kimball has studied, written and lectured widely, with an emphasis on Islam and the Middle East.

In this book Dr. Kimball says there are five warning signs of corruption in religion that can lead to evil. They are:
1.Absolute truth claims
2.Blind obedience
3.Establishing the "Ideal" time
4.The end justifies any means, and
5.Declaring holy war

We will look at each of these in turn, starting with Absolute truth claims.

Most religions have a founding teaching, either that of a charismatic leader, or of sacred literature, or both. Every religion is based on a truth, or series of truths, upon which the teachings and practice of the religion rests. "However," Kimball says, "when particular interpretations of these claims become propositions requir-ing uniform assent and are treated as rigid doctrines, the likelihood of corruption in that tradition rises exponentially." (Kimball, Charles, When Religion Becomes Evil, HarperSanFrancisco, 2002, p. 41.)

When the religions espousing these truth claims are missionary religions, as are Christianity and Islam, the likelihood of eventual conflict rises even more. Both Christianity and Islam have charismatic founders and a sacred literature that is deemed to hold the truth for all humankind for eternity. When some members of these faiths claim that the only and absolute truth lies in their teachings, they are on the path to holy war.

Let me be clear that both faiths hold a wide range of believers in their ranks. Both have literalists and fundamentalists, and both have liberals within their ranks. It is the people on the far fringes that escalate tensions.

Let me illustrate by quoting Kimball:

Contemporary examples of fundamentalist Christians attacking, sometimes murdering, doctors and others who work at abortion clinics illustrate the point. On March 10, 1993, Michael Griffin shot and killed Dr. David Gunn outside an abortion clinic in Pensacola, Florida. Five days later, the Rever-end Paul Hill appeared on the Donahue television program seeking to justi-fy Griffin's act. Hill subsequently became a leading figure among extremists in the antiabortion movement. …Fourteen months after Dr. Gunn's murder, Paul Hill decided he, too, must act; he murdered Dr. John Britton and his traveling companion, James Barrett, as they arrived at the same clinic in Pensacola on the morning of July 29, 1994. (Ibid. p. 44,45)

Hill was part of an organization called The Army of God. The absolute truth claims under which the group works are unambiguous: "abortion is an abomi-nation to God; true Christians must engage in direct action to stop what they see as a slaughter of innocents." (Ibid.) There are many people who oppose abor-tion, but who would never commit murder in order to "save lives." Those for whom it becomes an absolute truth claim are participating in a corrupted religion.

Blind obedience to a charismatic religious leader often leads to corruption and evil acts. During the late 1960's and 1970's, sects controlled by charismatic leaders flourished in the United States. Parents learned to fear them, and the new profession of "deprogramming" was frequently utilized. Often they began with religious leaders who attempted to build an ideal community, as did Jim Jones and his People's Temple.

Jones began his ministry in an Assemblies of God church in Indianapolis, Indiana in 1954. He was preaching a message of racial integration, and was far too pro-gressive for most members. In 1955 he and a few members left and joined the Disciples of Christ denomination in a church called Wings of Deliverance, which eventually changed to the People's Temple Full Gospel Church. He was viewed then as a courageous and visionary leader. (Ibid. p. 76)

Because his advanced social agenda was so controversial in Indiana, Jones moved the Temple, and seventy families (half Anglo-American and half Afro-American) to California in 1965. However, even in California, Jones and his ad-herents were controversial. The members gave all their money and assets to the church to be shared equally--a move that looked very much like communism. Disaffected members charged the church with illegal activities, and Jones de-cided to withdraw from the United States and set up a colony in African Guyana. (Ibid.)

This religious body, begun with such idealism, deteriorated into the mass suicide/ murder that shocked the world in November of 1977. Jones, the charismatic leader, acquired complete power over his disciples.

They followed him blindly into a cul de sac in Africa, where questioning was not allowed, and those who wished to do so threatened and killed. It ended in a ma-cabre scene of hundreds of bodies, poisoned and shot. Evidence showed that parents fed their children poisoned purple Kool-Aid. It is difficult to imagine a scene more evil.

The same sort of blind obedience was exhibited by the followers of Asahara Shoko, the founder of Aum Shinrikyo. This sect, an outgrowth of peaceful Bud-dhism, developed in the 1980's. Asahara hoped to establish an ideal society based on the legendary utopia of Shambhala. (Ibid. p. 80)

Much like Jim Jones, Asahara attempted to found a community in which all would experience salvation through worship of the god Shiva. Through this community he planned to save Japan, and then the world. Members of the sect ran for parli-ament in 1990, but were defeated. Asahara's teachings were already featuring end-of-the-world themes, and they became more prevalent. The practices of the sect became more violent, including forced conversions. Asahara's teachings included a "compassionate" rationale for violence, under his doctrine of poa.

Aum (members) interpreted poa to include killing certain persons in order to prevent them from accumulating more bad karma that would have to be worked out in future lifetimes; hence it was a compassionate act. … The subway gas incident was simply another opportunity to extend an interpre-tation that had already been applied to earlier acts of violence. Anyone who stepped outside this faith and interpretive framework that legitimized vio-lence faced the harsh reality that one had in fact committed what Buddhist teaching regards as the greatest sin--destroying life. (Ibid. 82)

Thus, gentle Buddhists, following a charismatic leader, released poison gas in the subways of Japan, killing and injuring many people.

Many religions look back or look forward to an "ideal" time. Jews look back to the nation of ancient Israel under its legendary King David, and strive to reproduce that nation today. Christians look back at Christendom, when all of Europe was united under the rule of Roman Catholicism, and forward to the utopian "city on a hill" where the ideals and precepts of Jesus of Nazareth will prevail. Muslims look back to the ummah or community of Medina where Muhammad established Islam, and forward to a world united in the worship of the one god, Allah. Kimball says:

Traditionally, Muslims have understood Islam as more than a religion. It is a comprehensive way of life including spiritual, social, economic, political and military dimensions…. (Muhammad) was … the political and military leader of the new ummah…established when the first Muslims left Mecca and traveled north to Medina in 622 C.E. Medina, under the leadership of the Prophet, theoretically presents an exemplary Islamic state.

Its Constitution, coupled with qur'anic passages, and several volumes of authoritative sayings and actions of Muhammad (hadith) provide resources for structuring an Islamic society. Muslims in various settings throughout the centuries have sought to fashion governmental, social, legal, and eco-nomic systems with references to a theoretical ideal. (Ibid. 106)

We need only to refer to the Taliban in Afghanistan to illustrate how this effort to establish the ideal society can be corrupted and turn evil. Their extreme version of Islamic law oppressed women and all those who failed to meet their standards of compliance. Most other Islamic countries recognized the danger they epitomized. Only Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates formally recognized the Taliban as the legitimate government of Afghanistan. (Ibid. 105)

However, we need to understand that we Americans have our own would-be Taliban. What Kimball calls the New Religious Right seeks to influence and control the actions of members of our government. Kimball says that these Americans share with the Taliban "a religious conviction that the perceived ideal has been lost and must be restored through instruments of the state. In this country the plan for restructuring the state--the federal government or the public school system--is somehow to be gleaned from a particular understanding of the Christian religion." (Ibid. 118)

Kimball uses Pat Robertson as an example, and names his theology as recon-structionist. He quotes from Martin Marty's book, Fundamentalisms Observed to explain reconstructionism:

For reconstructionists there is no neutral ground, no sphere of activity out-side God's rule. One is either following God in all aspects of life or not following God at all.

One is either engaged in godly politics or is participating in anti-God struc-tures that now threaten the home, the school, and the church…. Like their premillennial cousins, reconstructionists wait for a dramatic change in history. But they are not merely waiting. (Ibid.)

The history of the New Religious Right is too large to complete in this discussion. However, it points to what I think is a primary danger to our democracy in this country. We bear little responsibility for the actions of the Taliban and like-minded zealots in Islamic nations, and only a little more for those radical Ortho-dox Jews whose understanding of God requires them to settle lands in disputed territories of Israel. However, we Americans are responsible for allowing the ac-tions of our home-grown Zealots to control our government.

The fourth sign of a corrupted religion is "the end justifies any means." To illus-trate, let us look at the early history of the Christian church. Christianity began as a sect within Judaism. When gentiles began to be attracted to the sect, there were quarrels about whether they must become Jewish before they became Christians, and the new group began to increase the distance between them-selves and their parent faith. Christians had to define the reasons they were not Jewish.

However, both groups lived in comparative harmony until Constantine embraced Christianity, and it became a state religion. At that point, as James Carroll observes, the sword and the cross merged. (Ibid. 134)

The charge of deicide, the killing of god, was leveled against the Jews. Over centuries of European and Middle East history, Christians oppressed Jews. When the Crusades swept through the area, "brutal assaults on Jews and Jewish communities occurred systematically throughout Europe… resulting in tens of thousands of documented deaths during the Middle Ages." (Ibid. 136) Kimball tells us:

The long history of Christians dehumanizing Jews reached the lowest point with the Holocaust. Such massive violence would not have been possible apart from the history leading up to Nazi Germany. It would not have hap-pened without the active participation of, sympathetic support of, and rela-tive indifference exhibited by large numbers of Christians. (Ibid.)

The end desired by Christians, of separating from and defining themselves against, the parent religion of Judaism, resulted in abhorrent means used to accomplish it. It resulted in the primary horror of the 20th Century, a century of many horrors.

And the final sign of a corrupted religion is declaring holy war. For our example we will again look at Christianity, which began as a pacifist faith. One of the main reasons the Roman Empire persecuted early Christians was because they re-fused to serve in their army. "The weapons of a Christian are prayer, justice and suffering," quotes Kimball.

After its merger with the Roman State, Christianity began developing a theory of war. This took centuries, but was finally completed in the 16th Century. Just war required four criteria: 1. It must be proclaimed by lawful authority, 2. The cause must be just, 3. The belligerents should have a rightful intention, to advance good or avoid evil, 4. The war must be fought by proper means. Sometimes there were additional criteria, a. action should be against the guilty, b. the innocent should not suffer, c. war must be undertaken as a last resort, and d. there must be a reasonable chance of success. (Ibid. 160)

There is much to question in these criteria. For example, the first one says that it must be proclaimed by lawful authority, which rules out any revolution as pos-sible under the theory. However, they provided a guideline that served to some-what restrict violence in a very violent age.

However, this age was a time that included the Crusades. The church and not a lawful ruler declared these violent wars. Contemporary descriptions of the ac-tions of crusaders are horrifying. They describe scenes of thigh-deep blood in which the "soldiers of God" slew every living thing with which they made contact. Clearly this Holy War was a dreadful perversion of the religion of Jesus of Naza-reth. Nor has the language of the Crusades left our lexicon. Apocalyptic lan-guage and a division between good and evil mark our current struggle. Holy War is a mark of corrupted religion.

As I said when we began, religion is both good and evil. Let us return to the possibilities for good that it holds. Kimball says:

Whether one is a true believer or a die-hard secularist, it remains necessary to take the next step from the knowledge of these factors that predict when religion becomes evil to a clear understanding of how religion can remain true to its authentic sources and a force for positive change. (Ibid. 187)

He names this as embracing an inclusive faith rooted in tradition. There are many modern writers who embrace the idea of inclusivity, or pluralism. Some of you have read Diana Eck, a Christian who enriches her understanding of that faith through her experiences of Hinduism. Others have read or heard Marcus Borg or John Shelby Spong, both Christians who are pluralists.

Pluralists are those adherents of one faith who embrace it whole-heartedly, yet recognize that others find meaning, truth and guidance in other faiths. They recognize that there are many paths to the Divine.

Within our Unitarian Universalist faith we are pluralist. We hold in our community those who find their primary truth in the teachings of Jesus, and we hold those who find that which is deepest and most dear within human hearts and minds. The teachings of Buddha and those of earth-centered religionists are welcome in our midst. We celebrate the truths of many faiths. In communities like ours, we find hope that the signs of corrupt religions will not surface, and that others will learn that exclusivist claims bring only pain and tragedy.

May it be so.

Amen.
Blessed Be.
Shalom.
Saalat.