Religion deals with powerful moral categories: Right and Wrong. It is thus very prone to abuse. History shows no lack of cases where individuals, groups and whole societies have used “religious principles” to sanction the most cruel, destructive acts of wanton greed and folly. Even if we do not consciously want to deceive ourselves or anyone else, is there not a danger that natural human weakness may induce us to unconsciously misinterpret spiritual and religious teachings in order to provide rationalizations for our own unhealthy attitudes and behaviour? As Rebbe Nachman says: “The way the Yetzer HaRa (evil) deceives a person is by first dressing itself up in good, persuading him that the thing he is tempted to do is really good”. And even with no ulterior motives at all, one can sometimes simply get things wrong.
Filed under: Daily thoughts
