Reflecting On When Religion Becomes Evil

Warning number one by Charles Kimball was Absolute Truth Claims. What does it mean? I'm going to give an example. My classmate in high school was very vocal to me since back then I can be bullied easily. He said, the Roman Catholic Religion is the only true religion. I countered, I was also baptized a Roman Catholic but have you read your Bible? Jesus never preached religion. Do you know your history? Martin Luther was a monk who wanted reform to the system. He doesn't want to build another church. What happened? He was branded heretic and was forced to be the founder of the Lutheran church. That's why we were called Protestants.

Book Review:When Religion Becomes Evil by Charles Kimball

I was recommended to read this by my best friend at church after watching Religulous. Charles Kimball is a Baptist especializing in Islamic studies. Sometimes, most religious practitioners don't know their religion well.Kimball suggest that a religion may be corrupt if they fit the five warnings he suggested. The five warnings are: ABSOLUTE TRUTH CLAIMS, BLIND OBEDIENCE,ESTABLISHING THE "IDEAL" TIME, THE END JUSTIFIES ANY MEANS, DECLARING HOLY WAR. Kimball, though a Baptist didn't just point out other religions or denominations as examples but to be fair, he didn't spare his Baptist as example. I admit there are times our churches may be guilty about this. It was also written in inclusive language so that feminists or any gender sensitive people may appreciate it. After all, religion is, somehow, a human invention.