Is religion more good or more bad for human society?

Mr Akhlaq's old mother was beaten by
the crowd, there are deep wounds
on her eyes

Since we had been discussing both eating meat and its cultural aspects, when I saw the BBC News story "Indian man lynched over beef rumours" (2015) a few days ago, I was immediately interested. This article, which reports how a Hindu mob killed a man because he was rumoured to have killed a cow and eaten the beef!

But this morning there is a much more shocking follow up story in the BBC News. According to "Viewpoint: Why has India's 'beef' lynching sparked no remorse?" (2015), the Hindu people, inspired by their religious beliefs, do not think they did anything wrong in beating to death a man for the "crime" of killing and eating a cow! That would be like Australian's beating a person to death in Australia because they killed an ate a kangaroo, which is, with the emu, the main symbol on the coat of arms of Australia. However strongly the society might feel about kangaroos, however strongly Hindus might feel about cows, it is morally wrong to kill people for eating those animals.

Mr Akhlaq's family says a temple
made an announcement that
they had consumed beef 

But the killer Hindus in India argue, exactly as some people seem to have argued in this class, that if a society has a certain custom or value, then that is morally right for that society, which would mean the Hindu killers were in fact doing a morally good thing to beat the Moslem to death because he ate beef. This is another example that seems to me to show that there is something seriously wrong with thinking that moral good and bad are whatever a society thinks that they are.

However, my real interest here was different. It seems that religion often teaches and causes great evil. The Hindu example in these BBC News reports is one. I'm sure everyone knows of the bombings and other violent acts that people commit in the name of Islam. And Christianity has a very bloody history against people of other religions. Sadly, so does Buddhism, as the violence against the Rohingya in Burma shows. Maybe Jainism is truly a religion of peace and good morals, but if so, it seems an exception.

Of course, religion has also inspired great art: the great Buddhist art of Sukothai and Angkor are truly beautiful, although I suspect they may have been built by slaves (I'm not sure. Does anyone know?); similarly, much of Western art, architecture, along with music and literature, is inspired by the Christian religion; and Islam, too, has inspired great art and learning. And there are religiously inspired groups who feed the hungry, care for the sick and sometimes work for political progress, such as the abolitionists in the US who were largely Christian groups working to end slavery in that country, although the slave owners also had the teachings of the Holy Bible to support their immoral desire to continue the socially accepted custom of slavery. In the Bible, St. Paul very clearly says, "Teach slaves to be subject to their masters in everything, to try to please them, not to talk back to them" (NIV, Titus, 2:9). This is not loving. It is not morally right. It is what the Christian Bible teaches. (I should also add that many of the good American citizens who opposed slavery were atheists.)


Some good news to conclude: in case you visit Australia, it is perfectly safe to eat kangaroo, also emu. Both meats are regular items on menus, and I usually have some when I visit. The emu and kangaroo might both adorn our coat of arms, but that does not stop them being tasty meats for dinner, or lunch if you prefer. I like the steaks, but there are many other ways to enjoy this quintessentially Aussie taste delights.

I don't think anyone in Australia will beat you to death for eating our national symbols. I'm not sure about the legality of eating dog or elephant in Australia. I guess that elephant is off the menu because they are an endangered species. Dog is probably OK, provided it's killed painlessly and cleanly.
_______________________________________ 

My question is:
Has religion been more a force for moral good or for moral wrong in human society?

___________

Reference

Indian man lynched over beef rumours. (2015, September 30). BBC News. Retrieved from http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-34398433

Viewpoint: Why has India's 'beef' lynching sparked no remorse? (2015, October 3). BBC News. Retrieved from http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-34409639