The recent visit of Pope Francis to the United States was filled with endless words of wisdom and inspiration – nothing new from the head of the Catholic Church. The pontiff has refused to restrict his leadership position to only religion and has commented on social issues and political problems omnipresent in the global community. His recent visit to the U.S. was no different. While addressing Congress in Washington, D.C., the Pope discussed his belief that America should support more refugees and immigrants, participate more actively in the fight against global warming and redistribute the wealth in our country, according to a transcript of his speech. These comments received a standing ovation from Congress, as they should have.
The Pope’s commentary on society was not his only departure from the expected statements of a religious authority. Pope Francis explained the importance of religious freedom, but not only for the religious. He applied this right to all human beings. Religious freedom, as redefined by the Pope, is a right that heavily influences “the way we interact socially and personally with our neighbors whose religious views differ from our own,” according to his interview with NPR. The Pope claimed that modern tyrants have tried “to use religion as a pretext for hatred and brutality.” Oppression in the name of religion has been present as long as religion itself and endless violence and conflict have come from religious differences. Being intolerant toward distinct groups in the name of religion is somehow more justifiable than blatant discrimination. But ostracizing a person based on inherent characteristics like race, sexual orientation and sex is discrimination, and discrimination is inhumane and unlawful. It does not matter if it seems to be condoned by religious texts.
This is mostly because religious texts have endless applications. During the Civil War, both Northerners and Southerners used the Bible as justification for their views on slavery. Henry G. Brinton, author of Balancing Acts: Obligation, Liberation and Contemporary Christian Conflicts, points to Titus 2:9, which tells slaves to “subject to their masters in everything, to try to please them, not to talk back to them.” At the same time, Northerners cited verses in the Bible on compassion, equality and love, saying slavery was a violation of these teachings. Similarly, Muslim men have translated verses in the Quran as condoning domestic violence and oppression of women, leading to campaigns and intervention from the Western world. Other Muslim men see no correlation between dedication to Islam and domestic abuse and treat their wives respectfully.
Religious texts are long and detailed and provide different morals in a variety of contexts, and these often cause conflict. Believers of the Bible have ignored the endless references to “loving thy neighbor” and accepting others and focused only on verses that condemn man lying with man. Religious leaders have denounced birth control in women, belittling their right to control their bodies. Their followers blindly approve their messages and leave women with no options for coping with unwanted pregnancy, seeing abortion as satanic and Planned Parenthood as evil. When pious individuals cite their religious teachings as reason for denying homosexual people the right to marriage, or women the right to affordable healthcare, or transgender individuals the right to protection, they are using religion as pretext for hatred and brutality.
Religious individuals have ignored this for generations, and that is why Pope Francis felt the need to comment. The pontiff would never discredit religion or religious leaders. Religion gives its followers a sense of purpose, a source of happiness and a community to rely upon. Religion was the motivation for the founding of our state, as well as entire civilizations. It is nearly impossible to discredit the validity of religion, for the billions of theological individuals prove its strength. But it is also nearly impossible to discredit the validity of Pope Francis’s statement and its applicability throughout the scope of history, including present social issues. The specific source of hatred, whether it is religion or political belief, does not change the detriment it inflicts. Reasons for discrimination, whether it is the interpretation of the Torah, Bible or Quran, do not make discrimination less unethical. There is no such thing as warranted hatred or discrimination, and religious context is no exception.