Evil and religion have long gone hand in hand. Many people in the Dark Ages were picked out as evil, for being witches or changelings. Evil in its strictest original definition does not just mean very bad, it means very bad according to God.

But historically, what is meant by evil according to God? ...it really meant, evil as interpreted by a priest, who claims to be in direct contact with God. These priests had great control over the masses, through instilling fear and guilt, for any apparent transgression that may inflame God's wrath. Of course in the Dark Ages, the burdensome worry of being accused of witchcraft, by a gossipy neighbor, instilled fear in itself, the fear of not just being executed, but a 'nice bit' of torture too.

Of course it is rather convenient, if one is seeking a 'little bit' of power over the masses, of none thinking dupes, if you can get them to believe that the words spoken by Church masters, are directly communicated to them by God.

How many Bishops, Popes Cardinals et al, I wonder, are really closet atheists? I am not the first to ponder this question. It has long been suggested by many reasonable thinkers, that many of the priests of the church, could not possibly be so benighted, with religious mysticism, as they claim to be. Nobody with a mind so fully inculcated with mysticism, could possibly hold onto such power, or could they?

...But then again, the 9/11 hijackers were not none thinking dupes, master programmed, with no thoughts of their own. They were all highly educated and came from families of doctors and engineers. Thus, perhaps one could assume it is possible, to be a mystical minded religious martyr on one hand and highly educated on the other. If this is possible, perhaps it is possible for a pope to compartmentalize too.

The ability of church leaders, to apparently communicate directly with God, is not just a claim out of antiquity. The Catholic Church in the name of the Pope, apparently has the ability to communicate directly with God on a regular basis. Not only does he claim to do so, but he does so, to an often heinous and inhumanely devastating effect. It has long been an edict of the Catholic Church, under the orders of the Pope, that condom use is an evil and sinful transgression against God...

Once one starts defining evil, in terms of religious edicts and once individuals start following those edicts, as if they were pronouncements of the one and only truth, then people often do suffer,

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