I was recently asked, “They say that money is the root of all evil; could they be wrong? Is it possible that religion is the root of all evil?”
There is an answer, but many won’t like it. Love of money isn’t the root of evil. But a lack of self-love and knowledge that leads us to believe money is the source of our true worth and power is. And, in the spirit of this ignorance, humans use money to manipulate, deceive and violate others—which has beaten down our culture more than any disease or terrorist activity ever could.
Of course it’s easier to blame our country’s self-destruct mode on something else. Religion gives shelter for the human “children” (followers) who require a mother and a father to take care of them. These followers need to be told what is right and wrong, because they’re convinced they cannot do it on their own. They cannot fathom any other way to communicate a supreme essence. They are taught that they are far too lowly to make it through life without divine parental figures ever at hand. They are OK with the outrageous form of punishment their god places upon them for making mistakes, and the words “hell for all of time and eternity” doesn’t even raise a flag for them. They just accept it. They feel love from a divine source and think it’s because they belong to the “true” church. They quote their books with arrogant attitudes, as if they simply have no words of their own. They are finished products. They have been told who they are and how it is, and woe be unto anyone who is so blasphemous as to think about it on their own.
If ignorance is evil, this is a true evil.
By religion, I’m not talking about the goodwill among followers or how they help each other out with support and casseroles, or how they feel a sense of belonging. That is not religion, that’s human interaction. You don’t need religion to be kind and giving. You don’t need religion to be supportive. Such qualities are human, not religious attributes. I’m talking about judgments, fire and brimstone, dos and don’ts, manipulation through fear, intolerance of new ideas and concepts, crusades and lethal punishment in the name of god. %u2028
As far as war and judgment and punishment are concerned, religion has no equal. Offshoots of elitist, religious values have been at the heart of humanity’s greatest sorrows, and one of its most destructive forces. Such darkness is ignorance. If ignorance is evil, so be it.
Aurora Clawson
Salt Lake City
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