Criticism of religion

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Criticism of religion involves criticism of the validity, concept, or ideas of religion.[1]

Historical records of criticism of religion go back to at least 5th century BCE in ancient Greece, in Athens specifically, with Diagoras "the Atheist" of Melos. In ancient Rome, an early known example is Lucretius' De rerum natura from the 1st century BCE.

Every exclusive religion on Earth (as well as every exclusive world view) that promotes exclusive truth-claims necessarily denigrates the truth-claims of other religions.[2] Thus, some criticisms of religion become criticisms of one or more aspects of a specific religious tradition.

Critics of religion in general may view religion as one or more of: outdated, harmful to the individual, harmful to society, an impediment to the progress of science or humanity, a source of immoral acts or customs, a political tool for social control.

Definition of religion

Main articles: Definition of religion and Religion

Religion is a modern Western concept that developed from the 17th century onwards, not before.[3][4][5][6][7] For example, in Asia, no one before the 19th century self-identified as a "Hindu" or other similar identities.[3][8] The ancient and medieval cultures that produced religious texts, like the Hebrew Bible, New Testament or the Quran, did not have such a conception or idea in their languages, cultures, or histories and neither did the peoples in the Americas before Columbus.[9][3][6]

Today, even though modern researchers conceive religion broadly as an abstraction which entails beliefs, doctrines and sacred places, there is still no scholarly consensus over what a religion is.[10][11][3][12]

History of criticism

In his work

Epicurean school, Lucretius believed the world was composed solely of matter and void and that all phenomena could be understood as resulting from purely natural causes. Despite believing in gods, Lucretius, like Epicurus, felt that religion was born of fear and ignorance, and that understanding the natural world would free people of its shackles.[14][15] He was not against religion in and of itself, but against traditional religion which he saw as superstition for teaching that gods interfered with the world.[16]

During the Islamic Golden Age, philosopher Al-Ma'arri criticized all prophets' statements as fabrications, and branded God in Islam a hypocrite for forbidding murder but sending angels to take each man's life.[17]

In the 18th century, the French Enlightenment philosopher Voltaire was a Deist and strongly critical of religious intolerance. Voltaire complained about Jews killed by other Jews for worshiping a golden calf and similar actions; he also condemned how Christians killed other Christians over religious differences and how Christians killed Native Americans for not being baptised. Voltaire claimed the real reason for these killings was that Christians wanted to plunder the wealth of those killed. Voltaire was also critical of Muslim intolerance towards other religions.[18] Also in the 18th century, the Scottish Enlightenment philosopher David Hume criticised the teleological arguments for religion. Hume claimed that natural explanations for the order in the universe were reasonable. An important aim of Hume's writings was demonstrating the unsoundness of the philosophical basis for religion.[19]

The 18th-century American Enlightenment political philosopher and religious skeptic Thomas Paine is especially noteworthy both for his contributions to the cause of the American Revolution and his writings in defense of Deism alongside the criticism of Abrahamic religions.[20] In The Age of Reason (1793–1794) and other writings he advocated Deism, promoted reason and freethought, and argued against institutionalized religions in general and the Christian doctrine in particular.[20]

God is not Great

In the early 21st century, the

Breaking the Spell, philosopher Daniel Dennett focused on the question of "why we believe strange things". In The God Delusion, biologist Richard Dawkins discussed religion broadly. In God Is Not Great, journalist and polemicist Christopher Hitchens claimed religious forces attack human dignity and wrote about corruption in religious organizations. In the Oxford Handbook of Atheism, according to Thomas Zenc the four books were published during a time of intense debate on political, religious and sociological questions. The works share many common themes yet notably differ in scope, style and content. According to Zenc, while the beginnings of a broader narrative (New Atheism) seems to have emerged, it does not stand up to the full definition of a movement.[23]

Origin and function of religion

Main articles:
Development of religion

Social construct

Dennett and Harris have asserted that

religious beliefs (mental solace, community building and promotion of virtuous behavior) against the drawbacks.[26] Such criticisms treat religion as a social construct[27] and thus just another human ideology
.

Narratives to provide comfort and meaning

David Hume argued that religion developed as a source of comfort in the face of adversity, not as an honest grappling with verifiable truth. Religion is therefore an unsophisticated form of reasoning.[28]

Daniel Dennett has argued that, with the exception of more modern religions such as Raëlism, Mormonism, Scientology and the Baháʼí Faith, most religions were formulated at a time when the origin of life, the workings of the body, and the nature of the stars and planets were poorly understood.[29] These narratives were intended to give solace and a sense of relationship with larger forces. As such, they may have served several important functions in ancient societies. Examples include the views many religions traditionally had towards solar and lunar eclipses and the appearance of comets (forms of astrology).[30][31] Given current understanding of the physical world, where human knowledge has increased dramatically, Dawkins and French atheist philosopher Michel Onfray contend that continuing to hold on to these belief systems is irrational and no longer useful.[26][32]

Opium of the people

Further information: Structural functionalism
Karl Marx

Religious suffering is, at the same time, the expression of real suffering and a protest against real suffering. Religion is the sigh of the oppressed creature, the heart of a heartless world, and the soul of soulless conditions. It is the opium of the people.

— Karl Marx[33]

According to

capitalist economic system. In this perspective, Marx saw religion as escapism.[33]

Marx also viewed the Christian doctrine of original sin as being deeply anti-social in character. Original sin, he argued, convinces people that the source of their misery lies in the inherent and unchangeable "sinfulness" of humanity rather than in the forms of social organization and institutions, which Marx argued can be changed through the application of collective social planning.[34]

Viruses of the mind

Richard Dawkins: The God Delusion

In his 1976 book

memes to describe informational units that can be transmitted culturally, analogous to genes.[35] He later used this concept in the essay "Viruses of the Mind" to explain the persistence of religious ideas in human culture.[36] Some people have criticized the idea that "God" and "Faith" are viruses of the mind, suggesting that it is far removed from evidence and data" that it is unreasonable to extract certain behaviours solely through religious memes.[37] Alister McGrath has responded by arguing that "memes have no place in serious scientific reflection",[38] or that religious ideas function the way Dawkins claims.[39]

Mental illness or delusion

See also: Neuroscience of religion, Psychology of religion § Religion and mental illness, and Religion and schizophrenia

psychotic disorders that contributed inspirations for their revelations. They conclude that people with such disorders have had a monumental influence on civilization.[41]

Psychological studies into the phenomenon of

temporal lobe seizures and this predisposes them to having visions, having mystical experiences".[46] Michael Persinger artificially stimulated the temporal lobes of the brain with a magnetic field by using a device which he nicknamed the "God helmet" and he was able to artificially induce religious experiences along with near-death experiences and ghost sightings.[47] According to John Bradshaw "Some forms of temporal lobe tumours or epilepsy are associated with extreme religiosity." In his research recent brain imaging of religious subjects praying or meditating show identical activity in the respective human section of the brain which Ramachandran
calls God-spots.

Psilocybin from mushrooms affect regions of the brain including the serotonergic system, which generating a sense of strong religious meaning, unity and ecstasy. Certain physical rituals may generate similar feelings.[48]

In his book Why People Believe Weird Things,

Breaking the Spell[49] however, Shermer's argument goes further by stating that the peculiar and at times the frightening rituals of religion are but one of many forms of strange customs that survive to this day.[50]

Immature stage of societal development

Philosopher Auguste Comte posited that many societal constructs pass through three stages and that religion corresponds to the two earlier, or more primitive stages by stating: "From the study of the development of human intelligence, in all directions, and through all times, the discovery arises of a great fundamental law, to which it is necessarily subjective, and which has a solid foundation of proof, both in the facts of our organization and in our historical experience. The law is this: that each of our leading conceptions – each branch of our knowledge – passes successively through three different theoretical conditions: the theological, or fictitious; the metaphysical, or abstract; and the scientific, or positive".[51]

Response to criticism

In his book Is Religion Dangerous?, Keith Ward notes that not all false opinions are delusions and that belief in God is different as many great minds and people who live ordinary lives and believe in God are not irrational people.[52] Hyperreligiosity or even "intensely professed atheism" can emerge from emotional disturbances involving temporal lobe epilepsy.[53]

Criticism of religious concepts

See also: Faith and rationality

Some criticisms of religions have been:

Arguments which state that religion is harmful to individuals

Some have criticized the effects of the adherence to dangerous practices such as self-denial and altruistic suicide.[59]

Inadequate medical care

See also: Exorcism and Faith healing

A detailed study in 1998 found 140 instances of deaths of children due to religion-based

medical neglect. Most of these cases involved Christian parents who withheld medical care and relied on prayer to cure the child's disease.[60]

Honor killings and stoning

Main articles:
Honor killings and stoning

Once well known in Western countries, honor killings are now an extremely rare occurrence; however, they still occur in other parts of the world. An honor killing occurs when a person is killed by their family for bringing dishonor or shame upon it.[61]

Stoning is a form of capital punishment in which a group batters a person with thrown stones until the person dies. As of September 2010, stoning is a punishment that is included in the laws of some countries, including Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Yemen, the United Arab Emirates, and some states in Nigeria[62] as punishment for zina al-mohsena ("adultery of married persons").[63] While stoning may not be codified in the laws of Afghanistan and Somalia, both countries have seen several incidents of stoning to death.[64][65]

Until the early 2000s, stoning was a legal form of

Jamal Karimirad stated that "in the Islamic republic, we do not see such punishments being carried out", further adding that if stoning sentences were passed by lower courts, they were overruled by higher courts and "no such verdicts have been carried out".[67] In 2008, the judiciary decided to fully scrap the punishment from the books in legislation submitted to parliament for approval.[68] In early 2013, the Iranian parliament published an official report about excluding stoning from the penal code and it accused Western media of spreading "noisy propaganda" about the case.[69]

Genital modification and mutilation

Main article: Circumcision
Further information:
Religious male circumcision

According to the World Health Organization, female genital mutilation has no health benefits and is a violation of basic human rights. Though no first tier religious texts prescribe the practice, some practitioners do believe there is religious support for it. While it is mostly found in Muslim countries, it is also practiced by some Christian and Animist countries mostly in Africa. GFA is not widely practiced in some Muslim countries making it difficult to separate religion from culture. Some religious leaders promote it, some consider it irrelevant to religion, and others contribute to its elimination". The practice is illegal in all Western countries and it is also illegal to transport a girl to another country to carry out FGM. Multiple parents have been charged for committing this crime in the United Kingdom, with those charged being exclusively from Muslim countries.[70] The Jewish Bible, the New Testament, and the Quran themselves do not contain textual support for the practice of female genital mutilation even though the practice predates both Islam and Christianity.[71]

Male circumcision is required in Judaism, optional in Islam, and not required in Christianity. Globally, male circumcision is done for religious, social, and health promotion reasons.[72][73] Male circumcision is a painful process and can lead to bleeding and in some cases severe side effects including penile dysfunction and even death.[74]

Counterarguments to arguments which state that religion is harmful to individuals

A metareview of 850 research papers on Religion in the United States concluded that "the majority of well-conducted studies found that higher levels of religious involvement are positively associated with indicators of psychological well-being (life satisfaction, happiness, positive affect, and higher morale) and with less depression, suicidal thoughts and behavior, drug/alcohol use/abuse".[75][76] A metareview of 147 studies[77] states that religiousness is mildly associated with fewer depression symptoms and that life events can still increase depressive symptoms. In a metareview of 498 studies states that religious involvement in general is associated with: less depression, lower drug and alcohol abuse, less promiscuous sexual behaviors, reduced likelihood of suicide, lower rates of delinquency and crime, educational attainment and purpose or meaning in life.[78] A meta analysis of 34 studies states that a positive relationship still emerges between religion and mental health even when using different conceptualizations of religiosity and mental health used in different studies.[79] According to Robert Putnam, membership of religious groups in the United States was positively correlated with membership of voluntary organizations, higher level of commitment, better self-esteem, lower risk of suicide, higher life satisfaction.[80] According to Pew Research Center's 2019 global study, when comparing religious people to those who have less or no religion, actively religious people are more likely to describe themselves as "very happy", join other mundane organizations like charities or clubs, vote, and at the same time were less likely to smoke and drink. However, there was no correlation between religiosity and self perception of better health.[81]

An investigation on subjective well-being representing 90% of the world population has noted that, globally, religious people are usually happier than nonreligious people, though nonreligious people also reach high levels of happiness.[82]

As of 2001, much of research on religion and health has been conducted within the

atheists and where both the religious and non-religious are normative.[84]

Despite

honor killings,[85] and attributes it to broader attitudes that view women as property with no rights as the explanation for honor killings.[85] Khan also argues that this view results in violence against women and their being turned "into a commodity which can be exchanged, bought and sold".[86]

Arguments which state that religion is harmful to society

Some aspects of religion are criticized on the basis that they damage society as a whole. For example, Steven Weinberg states that it takes religion to make good people do evil.[87] Bertrand Russell and Richard Dawkins cite religiously inspired or justified violence, resistance to social change, attacks on science, repression of women and homophobia.[88]

John Hartung has claimed that major religious moral codes can lead to "us vs. them" group solidarity and a mentality which can lead people to dehumanise or demonise individuals who are outside their group by portraying them as individuals who are either less worthy or "not fully human". The results of this attitude can vary from mild discrimination to outright genocide.[89] A poll by The Guardian noted that 82% of the British people believe that religion is socially divisive and that this effect is harmful despite the observation that non-believers outnumber believers two to one.[90]

According to one study, membership in a religious group can accentuate biases in behavior towards in group versus out group members, which may explain the lower number of interracial friends and the greater approval of torture among church members.[91]

Holy war and religious terrorism

Crusaders into Constantinople by Gustave Doré
(1832–1883)
Main articles: Religious war, Religious terrorism, and Religious violence

While terrorism is a complex subject, it is argued that terrorists are partially reassured by their religious views that God supports and rewards their actions.[92][93]

These conflicts are among the most difficult to resolve, particularly when both sides believe that God is on their side and has endorsed the moral righteousness of their claims.

Tuez-les tous; Dieu reconnaitra les siens", or "Kill them all; God will recognize his own".[94]

Theoretical physicist Michio Kaku considers religious terrorism one of the main threats to humanity's evolution from a Type 0 to a Type 1 civilization.[95]

Suppression of scientific progress

Recent examples of tensions between religion and science have been the

creation–evolution controversy, controversies over the use of birth control, opposition to research into embryonic stem cells, or theological objections to vaccination, anesthesia and blood transfusion.[96][97][98][99][100][101]

The monument to Giordano Bruno in the place he was executed in Rome

During the 19th century, the

creation–evolution, stem cells, and birth control.[108] Books such as The God Delusion and Faith Versus Fact
still argue for the conflict thesis.

Studies on the actual beliefs held by scientists show that most scientists globally do not subscribe to conflict thesis and instead the majority believe that the relation between science and religion is independence or collaboration.[109][110] Historians of science including John Hedley Brooke and Ronald Numbers consider the "religion vs. science" concept an oversimplification, and prefer to take a more nuanced view of the subject.[107][111] These historians cite, for example, the Galileo affair[112] and the Scopes trial;[113] and assert that these were not purely instances of conflict between science and religion as personal and political factors also weighed heavily in the development of each. In addition, some historians contend that religious organizations figure prominently in the broader histories of many sciences, with many of the scientific minds until the professionalization of scientific enterprise (in the 19th century) being clergy and other religious thinkers.[114][115][116] Some historians contend that many scientific developments such as Kepler's laws[117] and the 19th-century reformulation of physics in terms of energy[118] were explicitly driven by religious ideas.

Counterarguments to claims that religion is harmful to society

Some studies show that some positive links exist in the relationship between religiosity, moral behavior and altruism.[119][120][121] Some studies have shown similar correlations between religiosity and giving.[122]

Some argue that religious violence confuses religious moral rules and behaviour with non-religious factors.[123][124][125][126] This includes the claim that events like terrorist bombings are more politically motivated than religious.[125][127][128] Mark Juergensmeyer argues that religion "does not ordinarily lead to violence. That happens only with the coalescence of a peculiar set of circumstances—political, social, and ideological—when religion becomes fused with violent expressions of social aspirations, personal pride, and movements for political change".[129]: 10  and that it is unreasonable to attempt to differentiate "religious violence" and "secular violence" as separate categories.[130] While others assert religion is not inherently violent and while the two are compatible they are not essential and that religious violence can be compared with non-religious violence.[131]

C. S. Lewis suggests that all religions by definition involve faith, or a belief in concepts that cannot be proven or disproven by the sciences. Not all religious people subscribe to the idea that religion and science are mutually exclusive (non-overlapping magisteria) as do some atheists including Stephen Jay Gould.[132] Biologist Richard Dawkins has said that religious practitioners often do not believe in the view of non-overlapping magisteria.[133]

According to a survey most religious groups in the United States have no general epistemological conflict with science or with the seeking out of scientific knowledge even if there are epistemic or moral conflicts with their faith.[134][135] Strict creationists tend to have very favorable views on many of the different sciences.[136] A study on a national sample of United States college students found that the majority of undergraduates in both the natural and social sciences do not see conflict between science and religion.[137] Cross-national studies polled from 1981 to 2001 on views of science and religion have noted that countries with higher religiosity have stronger trust in science.[138]

Morality

See also: Human sacrifice, Morality and religion, and Religious intolerance
Voltaire criticized Christian doctrine.

Richard Dawkins contends that theistic religions devalue human compassion and morality. In his view, the Bible contains many injunctions against following one's conscience over scripture and positive actions are supposed to originate not from compassion, but from the fear of punishment.[26] Albert Einstein stated that "A man's ethical behavior should be based effectually on sympathy, education, and social ties; no religious basis is necessary. Man would indeed be in a poor way if he had to be restrained by fear of punishment and hope of reward after death".[139]

Children

See also:
Mind control, Religion and children, and Child marriage

In the 19th century, philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer argued that teaching some ideas to children at a young age could foster resistance to doubting those ideas later on.[140]

Some clerics of

Mohammed as a pedophile for marrying and having had sex with a nine-year-old.[142] For example, one organisation cites the case of a 10-year-old girl who was forced to marry and was raped in Yemen (Nujood Ali),[143] a 13-year-old Yemeni girl dying of internal bleeding three days after marriage[144][145] and a 12-year-old girl dying in childbirth after marriage.[141][146] Yemen currently does not have a minimum age for marriage.[147]

Latter Day Saint church founder Joseph Smith married girls as young as 13 and 14[148] and other Latter Day Saints married girls as young as 10.[149] The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints eliminated underaged marriages in the 19th century, but several branches of Mormonism continue the practice.[150]

Homosexuals

Main article: Homosexuality and religion

United States Constitution.[151]

Most secularised Christian countries have legalised homosexual activity and several have legalised same-sex marriage. However, not all historically Christian countries have done so such as Russia and Uganda which have introduced discriminatory laws ranging from anti-propaganda laws to corporal punishment. Homosexuality is still illegal in most Muslim countries and several of these countries impose the death penalty for homosexual behavior. In July 2005, two Iranian men aged sixteen and eighteen were, supposedly, hanged for homosexuality, causing an international outcry.[152] They were executed after being convicted by the court of having raped a 13-year-old boy.[153][154][155] The case attracted international media attention. The British lesbian, gay and bisexual group OutRage![156] alleged that the teenagers were executed for consensual homosexual acts and not rape.

Racism

The Ku Klux Klan frequently used the burning cross to intimidate minorities.

In line with other findings which suggest that religious humanitarianism is largely directed at in-group members, greater religious identification, greater extrinsic religiosity and greater religious fundamentalism were associated with racial prejudices. This fact is congruent with the fact that 50% of religious congregations in the US are racially segregated, and only 12% of them have a degree of diversity.[157]

Some people have used religion as a justification for advocating racism. The Christian Identity movement has been associated with racism.[158] However, it has been argued that these positions may be reflections of contemporary social views as well as reflections of what has been called scientific racism.[159]

interracial relationships
.

Women

See also: Gender and religion and Women and religion
A woman with burqa on walking by the road in northern Afghanistan

The content of the holy books of Abrahamic religions contain severe restrictions on the rights of women ranging from prohibiting women from certain behaviour and activities to requiring women to submit to the will of their father and or husband.

According to

bodily autonomy regardless of gender but fosters particularly negative attitudes towards women's bodies. Toynbee writes: "Women's bodies are always the issue - too unclean to be bishops, and dangerous enough to be covered up by Islam and mikvahed by Judaism".[163]

It is argued that religious sexual discrimination leads to unequal relations in marriage, creating norms which subordinate the wife to the husband. The word בעל (ba`al), Hebrew for "husband", used throughout the Bible, is synonymous with "owner" and "master".[164] This mirrors the Abrahamic view of God as an omnipotent, perfect power, where this power is one of domination, which is persistently associated with the characteristics of ideal masculinity.[165] Sheila Jeffreys argues:[166]

Religion gives authority to traditional, patriarchal beliefs about the essentially subordinate nature of women and their naturally separate roles, such as the need for women to be confined to the private world of the home and family, that women should be obedient to their husbands, that women's sexuality should be modest and under the control of their menfolk, and that women should not use contraception or abortion to limit their childbearing. The practice of such ancient beliefs interferes profoundly with women's abilities to exercise their human rights.

Islam

See also: Misogyny § Islam, Islam and domestic violence, and Women in Islam

Feminist Julie Bindel argues that religions encourage the domination of men over women and she also argues that Islam promotes the submission of women to their husbands by encouraging practices such as child marriage. She wrote that religion "promotes inequality between men and women", that Islam's message for a woman includes that "she will be subservient to her husband and devote her life to pleasing him" and that "Islam's obsession with virginity and childbirth has led to gender segregation and early marriage.[167]

Sharia law; and she also argues that women have judicial hurdles that are either lenient or advantageous for men.[170]

According to Phyllis Chesler, Islam is connected to violence against women, especially in the form of honor killings. She rejects the argument which states that honor killings are not related to Islam and claims that while fundamentalists of all religions impose restrictions upon women, in Islam, not only are these restrictions harsher, Islam also reacts more violently when these rules are broken.[171]

Christianity

Main article: Women in Christianity
See also:
Misogyny in Christianity and Christianity and domestic violence
Demonstration in Italy, 2008

Christianity has been criticized for portraying women as sinful, untrustworthy, deceitful and desiring to seduce and incite men into sexual sin.[172] Katharine M. Rogers argues that Christianity is misogynistic and that the "dread of female seduction" can be found in St. Paul's epistles.[173] K. K. Ruthven argues that the "legacy of Christian misogyny was consolidated by the so-called 'Fathers' of the Church, like Tertullian, who thought a woman was not only 'the gateway of the devil' but also 'a temple built over a sewer'".[174] Jack Holland argues the concept of the fall of man is misogynistic as "a myth that blames woman for the ills and sufferings of mankind".[175]

In the

activists.[177][need quotation to verify
]

Animals

Historically,

antisemitic canard which states that eating ritually slaughtered meat caused degeneration[179] and in part out of an economic desire to remove Jews from the meat industry.[178] Sometimes, these criticisms were directed at Judaism as a religion. In 1893, animal rights advocates who were campaigning against the practice of kosher slaughter in Aberdeen attempted to link cruelty to animals to Jewish religious practices.[180] In the 1920s, Polish critics of kosher slaughter claimed that the practice actually had no basis in Scripture.[178] To refute this argument, Jewish authorities stated that the slaughter methods are directly based upon Genesis IX:3 and they also stated that "these laws are binding on Jews today".[181]

While supporters of kosher slaughter state that

Isaac Arama, regard vegetarianism as a moral ideal, not just out of a concern for animal welfare, but also out of concern for the slaughterer.[183]

Other forms of

PETA, Logan Scherer said that animals which are sacrificed according to Islamic law can not be stunned before they are killed.[184] Muslims are only allowed to eat meat that has been prepared according to Sharia law and they say that the Islamic form of ritual slaughter is designed to reduce the amount of pain and distress that the animal suffers.[185]

According to the

Muslims and Jews argue that the loss of blood from the slash to the throat renders the animals unconscious relatively quickly.[186] In 2018, Temple Grandin stated that kosher slaughter, no matter how well it is done, is not instantaneous, whereas stunning properly with a captive bolt is instantaneous.[187]

Response to criticism of morality

Not all religions are hostile to homosexuality. Both

Hinduism does not view homosexuality as an issue.[190]

Many Christians have made efforts toward establishing racial equality, contributing to the

Baptist minister, was a leader of the American civil rights movement and president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, a Christian civil rights organization.[193]

Corrupt purposes of leaders

Dominionism

Main article:
Dominionism
See also: Dominion theology and Christian reconstructionism

The term "

John W. Whitehead and although they represent different theological and political ideas, dominionists believe they have a Christian duty to take "control of a sinful secular society", either by putting fundamentalist Christians in office, or by introducing biblical law into the secular sphere.[96][195][196] Social scientists have used the word "dominionism" to refer to adherence to dominion theology[197][198][199] as well as to the influence in the broader Christian right of ideas inspired by dominion theology.[197]

In the early 1990s, sociologist

Sam Harris[213] and the group TheocracyWatch,[214]
began applying the term to a broader spectrum of people than have sociologists such as Diamond.

Response to criticism of dominionism

The few full adherents to reconstructionism are limited to conservative Christians.[215][page needed][216][217] The terms "dominionist" and "dominionism" are rarely used for self-description and their usage has been attacked from several quarters noting that the term is vague, unfairly links evangelicals to extremism, is highly exaggerated and are more akin to conservative smeer in the likes of a conspiracy theory.[218][219][220][221] Kurtz also complained about a perceived link between average Christian evangelicals and extremism such as Christian reconstructionism.[220]

Notable critics of religion

See also

Criticism of specific religions and worldviews

Notes

  1. ^ In 1970, the UUA passed a resolution calling for an end to anti-gay discrimination.[188] The Union for Reform Judaism passed a similar resolution in 1977.[189]

References

  1. ^ Fitzgerald, Timothy (2000). The Ideology of Religious Studies. New York: Oxford University Press (published 2003). p. 235.
    ISBN 978-0195347159
    . Retrieved 30 Apr 2019. [...] this book consists mainly of a critique of the concept of religion [...].
  2. ISBN 978-1107375611
    . people of every religion, as well as of no religion, have a reason for wanting it to be possible to face other people with challenges to their faith, namely that this is the only way those people can be brought to see the truth.
    "NO COMPULSION IN RELIGION: AN ISLAMIC CASE AGAINST BLASPHEMY LAWS" (PDF). Quilliam Foundation. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2016-03-04. Due to the nature of religious belief, one person's faith often implies that another's is wrong and perhaps even offensive, constituting blasphemy. For example, the major world religions often have very different formulations and beliefs concerning god or gods, Muhammad, Jesus, Buddha and the Hindu deities, as well as about various ethical and social matters
  3. ^
    ISBN 978-0470673508
    .
  4. ^
    ISBN 978-1118554296
    . Retrieved 17 January 2021.
  5. ^ Nongbri, Brent (2013). Before Religion: A History of a Modern Concept. Yale University Press.
    ISBN 978-0300154177
    . Retrieved 17 January 2021. [...] the distinction between ancient worlds (in which the notions of religion and being religious did not exist) and modern worlds (in which ideas of religion produced from the sixteenth to the nineteenth century have come to structure everyday life in many parts of the world)."
    [...] "Although the Greeks, Romans, Mesopotamians, and many other peoples have long histories, the stories of their respective religions are of recent pedigree. The formation of ancient religions as objects of study coincided with the formation of religion itself as a concept of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries.
  6. ^
    ISBN 978-0226184487
    . Before the seventeenth century, the word "religion" and its cognates were used relatively infrequently. Equivalents of the term are virtually nonexistent in the canonical documents of the Western religions – the Hebrew Bible, the New Testament, and the Qur'an. When the term was used in the premodern West, it did not refer to discrete sets of beliefs and practices, but rather to something more like "inner piety," as we have seen in the case of Aquinas, or "worship." As a virtue associated with justice, moreover, 'religio' was understood on the Aristotelian model of the virtues as the ideal middle point between two extremes – in this case, irreligion and superstition.
  7. ISBN 978-0801887567
    . Just like the notion itself, the most general questions concerning religion, its nature and definition, its origins or expressions, were born in the West.[...] From there they were transferred, much later and at the cost of daring generalizations, to all other cultures, however remotely prehistoric or exotic.
  8. ISBN 978-0226412344
    . The early nineteenth century saw the emergence of [...] the formation of the terms Boudhism (1801), Hindooism (1829), Taouism (1839), Zoroastrianism (1854), and Confucianism (1862).[...] This construction of 'religions' was not merely the production of European translation terms, but the reification of systems of thought in a way strikingly divorced from their original cultural milieu.
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    [...] it is still a common practice to translate a number of words in different ancient languages as 'religion.' [...] the contexts in which these terms occur often make such translations problematic. [...] ancient Hebrew and Aramaic simply have no word that is routinely translated into modern languages as 'religion.'
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  220. ^ a b Kurtz, Stanley (2005-05-02). "Dominionist Domination: The Left runs with a wild theory". National Review Online. Retrieved 2007-10-06.
  221. ^ Kurtz, Stanley (28 April 2005). "Scary Stuff". National Review Online. Retrieved 2007-10-06.

Further reading

External links
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