"Religion as a human phenomenon is as riddled through with potential for both good and evil as any other phenomenon"
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Neuhaus threads a needle that most religion talk refuses to even acknowledge: the problem isn’t that religion is uniquely virtuous or uniquely toxic, but that it is uniquely human. The line does quiet rhetorical work by stripping religion of exemption status. It denies both the secular caricature (religion as the special engine of cruelty) and the pious alibi (religion as the special sanctuary of goodness). That “as any other phenomenon” lands like a corrective to moral grandstanding on both sides.
The phrasing matters. “Human phenomenon” shifts the frame from metaphysics to sociology and power: institutions, tribes, narratives, and the messy psychology of belonging. “Riddled through” suggests something structural rather than occasional; the capacity for harm isn’t a contamination that appears when religion is “misused,” it’s baked into the same mechanisms that also enable charity, courage, and meaning. Neuhaus is arguing against the comforting idea that evil is merely an aberration committed by “bad believers” while the real thing remains pure.
Contextually, Neuhaus made a career insisting religion belongs in public life, not sealed off as a private quirk. This sentence functions as a preemptive concession: yes, religion can go dark, and no, acknowledging that doesn’t disqualify it from the civic arena. The subtext is a wager about maturity. A pluralistic society shouldn’t demand that faith present itself as innocent; it should demand that it own its risks, the way we expect politics, markets, and ideologies to.
The phrasing matters. “Human phenomenon” shifts the frame from metaphysics to sociology and power: institutions, tribes, narratives, and the messy psychology of belonging. “Riddled through” suggests something structural rather than occasional; the capacity for harm isn’t a contamination that appears when religion is “misused,” it’s baked into the same mechanisms that also enable charity, courage, and meaning. Neuhaus is arguing against the comforting idea that evil is merely an aberration committed by “bad believers” while the real thing remains pure.
Contextually, Neuhaus made a career insisting religion belongs in public life, not sealed off as a private quirk. This sentence functions as a preemptive concession: yes, religion can go dark, and no, acknowledging that doesn’t disqualify it from the civic arena. The subtext is a wager about maturity. A pluralistic society shouldn’t demand that faith present itself as innocent; it should demand that it own its risks, the way we expect politics, markets, and ideologies to.
Quote Details
| Topic | Ethics & Morality |
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