4.3.3.3  Religious Organisations

(This is an archived extract from the book Patterns of Power: Edition 2)

Adult people can have their beliefs influenced by joining, or remaining part of, a religious organisation and accepting its governance – but they should also have the right to leave it.  (The Islamic prohibition against apostasy in some groups is due to a confusion with treason, dating back to the early days of Islam; the Quran mentions divine retribution for unbelievers, but it does not urge humans to act against them.[1])  Attending a religious service is an expression of obedience to a God, an affirmation of belief in a set of ideals, an expression of solidarity with fellow-worshippers and an opportunity for self-examination.  It also gives the religious organisation an opportunity to influence the beliefs of its congregation.

Religious leaders can also exercise moral leadership by addressing crowds and through publication, potentially influencing people's political views, as with Pope Francis’s condemnation of inequality in an exhortation.[2] 

Religious organisations have internal power structures which operate further up the Moral Dimension, from the level of the congregation through to global governance; all Roman Catholics recognise the authority of the Pope, for example.  Religious power structures constrain the freedom of individual congregations to vary from the collectively agreed doctrine and practice but, as in any organisation, some people have a hunger for power and this has resulted in a continuing tendency for a religion to split into separate sects. 

In some societies, religious organisations also have a role in the Legal Dimension: religious law, as described in the next chapter (5.3.3).  

Religion also has a history of exercising political power under a religious banner, as described in the Political chapter (6.7.4.2).

© PatternsofPower.org, 2014



[1] Reza Aslan, in his book No god but God, commented that: "even today there are some Muslims who continue to make the unsubstantiated and un-Quranic assertion that the two sins – apostasy and treason – deserve the same punishment: death".

The Quran states that “those who disbelieve …have incurred severe retribution” (2:6 – 2:7, further elaborated in subsequent verses).  This translation was available in May 2014 at http://www.sacred-texts.com/isl/yaq/index.htm.

[2] Pope Francis published an exhortation in November 2013, entitled EVANGELII GAUDIUM, which was available in May 2014 at http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/francesco/apost_exhortations/documents/papa-francesco_esortazione-ap_20131124_evangelii-gaudium_en.html.  It included the following sentence (at the start of section 53):

“Just as the commandment “Thou shalt not kill” sets a clear limit in order to safeguard the value of human life, today we also have to say “thou shalt not” to an economy of exclusion and inequality.”