Do All Religions Cause People to Take Advantage of Others?

Below is a brief discussion copied from "Ezine Articles" contributor Lance Winslow and my response to his piece.

By Lance Winslow

"Not long ago, I was discussing the sorry topic of religion with a pen pal from India. I say it is a sorry topic because far too much breath has been wasted on this topic, and it is as if it has been beaten to death often with such nonsensical fantasy and arguments in angry debate that one could ask; why bother, further, maybe we should all be asking if; enough is enough already. Too many wars and conflicts have been fought over religion, and too many long-lasting arguments have destroyed family relations, and neighborhoods and communities.
In any case my acquaintance noted that their family was Hindu and so too were all those in the nearby and surrounding area. Now then, she noted that there was abuse towards others in the society, where those of higher authority who had higher status in the religion had economically enslaved others at the lower levels, something she felt was wrong. Indeed, from a pure ethical standpoint it is wrong, and yet, I don't believe any of this should be blamed on Hinduism. Let me explain.
You see, her experiences with those of the Hindu faith are common to all religions, unfortunately sometimes religion gives an excuse for humans to micro-manage other's lives, often for their own gain. Religion after all is a control mechanism, used to organize society. So, it is not necessarily a Hindu problem rather it is a character flaw evolutionary throw-back for all humans - it is innate, part of their nature. Does that make it okay?
Certainly not, and yet, I can tell you that the Catholic Church has been a lot like this over 1000s of years, and my own heritage is of Protestant background, and they did the same thing here in America. I've noted the Amish in Pennsylvania doing the same thing, and Baptists in Georgia (US) also. This obviously goes on in Islam where Clerics control things and are the learned men who can read where many of the followers are illiterate and thus, everyone needs the Clerics to interpret and tell everyone else how to live. With that much power there is sure to be at least some abuse.
Remember "absolute power corrupts absolutely" so, do all religions take advantage of people, perhaps, although that would be hard to prove, still, it isn't the religion perhaps as much as the humans themselves acting out in their primal upright walking carbon biped based form. Please consider all this and think on it."

Lance Winslow is a retired Founder of a Nationwide Franchise Chain, and now runs the Online Think Tank.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Lance_Winslow

My Response:

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Kerry writesFebruary 26, 2013 at 3:39 pm

Subject: Human nature

Hi Lance, you ask the question "do all religions take advantage of people?" And then you answer from an evolutionary standpoint. 

I think you should turn the question on its head. "Do all people take advantage of religion? If you answer in the affirmative, and I think it reasonable to do so, then you see that the problem is not so much with religion- as it is with people themselves. 

Then we ask another question: Do we see this pattern repeated in other human institutions, say politics? I think you know the answer to that also! Find any sphere of human activity, what about sports? Hey I think we're onto something. The evidence points to- what might be called- a universal law, because it is applicable to all people in every place and for all time. What I refer to is the law of human depravity. It is at once the most commonly denied and at the same time the most empirically verifiable fact of human existence. 

No- evil is most certainly not confined to the religious domain. Having said all that, I think you and I agree that it would be impossible to make any statements about evil if we did not live in a moral world. All talk of "taking advantage" and the "corruption" of power- points to a standard of behavior does it not? 

Again this seems to me to point to a law or standard by which we measure good or evil. Now we have two "laws"- the law or rule that declares universal human depravity, and another standard or rule by which we have been able to measure this depravity, the moral law. 

Does the law of gravity depend on humanity for its existence? No. Well you might think humanity first expressed it in terms of a formula, but no- its existence is independent of humanity. Is that also true of moral law? If it is true of moral law then we might rightly give, as a reasonable explanation, that these laws are the result of a universal "law giver". 

Does there exist a belief system that endorses this view of moral law and human depravity? I would venture to say that Christianity is the only game in town that specifically is centered around these truths. 

"For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death." Romans 8:2 

Human depravity cannot be explicated in evolutionary terms. Does a lion commit evil when it devours the antelope? Of course not! Right or wrong behavior is only validated on the assumption of a moral law.