Yes indeed, with a Sky-God whose power on earth is mediated by a male hierarchy there is always an excess of fatal love for those who do not fit into the divinely attributed social structure, and our mullahs and inquisitors and South Dakota legislators and priests must exert full control over the frightening power of unrestrained woman, birthing, life and thought, or "all" will be lost to "the devil" and "Marxism." Better YOU (never they) die and "go directly to heaven" -- guaranteed even better than the lifetime of your car's tires -- than to upset this finely honed hierarchy of domination and denial. GOD IS MURDER.
Torture exists because some people are "better" than others by virtue of their power, which they invariably declare a right descending from a Divinity that favors them as Its agent, Its "disciple," Its "servant." They are merely "soldiers in the Army of Christ," men who humbly submit to Allah and man His jihad, all to bring you into alignment -- defined by your betters -- with the "will of God." Priests are the executioners of the human soul, the headsmen of human intellect, stunting and poisoning the growth of human potential. Camus describes how Catholic priests blessed the barrels of the rifles of Falangist firing squads executing Republican prisoners during Spain's Civil War (1936-1939) and the following dictatorship.
Objectively, there is no compelling reason why a person of any religious or non-religious view should be more or less likely to be a torturer. But, as one looks at the sweep of history it is clear that torture follows religion, because torture is cruelty practiced by fear and ignorance. As one moves to social groups more firmly based on the Enlightenment (post-Renaissance humanism and socialism) and Buddhism (as a philosophy and psychology more than a devotional religious practice and sectarian division) one moves away from the likelihood of torture. And don't tell me about Communist torture until after you have read Camus's book "The Rebel" and understand that Stalinism was just another man-made religion -- as they all are.
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