Religious Conquest and Colonialism

            This is an afterthought to my Shadows in the Light of God. In that work, I showed how spiritual experiences get turned into religious movements and then are corrupted by their efforts to become political entities to survive in their social context. This has happened from earliest times right up through today. I do believe that the spiritual experiences of the first teacher of a religious movement can be genuine and valid, but that which comes after becomes increasingly corrupt until a new experience – a heresy – answers the call created by deficiencies of the “monument” that has been organized around the first teacher’s experience. The religious movement starts innocently enough in the urge to remember that inspired moment and to inspire others, but then it sets up codes as guide for those who do not have such experiences. Its corruption begins when it needs to suppress the experiences of others that may compete with its authority and to spread its faith by power, domination, and oppression.

An aspect of this that I don’t think I explored in the book is the danger when social, political, ethnic, or national entities adopt – officially or unofficially – a religion as part of its identity. The religion will then be twisted to serve whatever colonial ambitions and political needs prevail at the time. Thus, rather than an impetus for transformation, the religion is made into an agent of conformity. (Curious, is it not, that our word “heresy” comes from the Greek words haireomai and hairesis  that mean “choose” and “choice” respectively.)

            The early Hebrew tribes were known to destroy their enemies in the name of their god. “Christian” empires burned books of both indigenous and advanced peoples, and tortured and burned people alive for political and economic gain. Islamic tyrants are doing the same thing. The problem is not usually in the original inspired teachings, but in their corruption by being entangled in political power. In America, Biblical teachings have been used as justification for conquest, genocide, slavery, religious oppression, and protecting the wealthy and powerful. Shows of religiosity gain politicians social capital, despite their distortions and violations of the original teachings, not to mention their irrelevance to a constitutional government.

            It can be a beautiful thing when people of like mind bond together and celebrate their common beliefs and, in their enthusiasm, share their passion; but this quickly turns ugly when they move to impose those beliefs and customs on another. An insecure people not actively rooted in the core of their faith are threatened by anything “other” – anything that does not conform to their assumed authority and codes. And this is how a genuine, beautiful, and uplifting spiritual experience devolves into a nationalist movement and a social tool for conformist neo-colonialism.

To the devotees of any faith, I say share your good news and how it shapes your life but, if you have to impose it, it is not as good as you would like to believe it is. If its own light cannot draw others in, perhaps your own shadow is in the way or that of those who shaped your beliefs.