Success Quote by Hans Kung

Kung’s line lands like a quiet indictment delivered from inside the house. As a Catholic theologian who spent decades arguing that faith could be intellectually honest and ethically modern, he isn’t taking the cheap shot that “religion causes war.” He’s targeting the more uncomfortable mechanism: religion as a language of legitimacy, easily conscripted by people who already want power, territory, or obedience.

The word “misused” does heavy lifting. It implies an original purpose - moral formation, community, transcendence - and then points to a hijacking. That’s classic Kung: reformist rather than dismissive, critical without abandoning the tradition. It also dodges the comforting idea that abuse is rare. “Often” makes the charge structural, not anecdotal: this isn’t just a few bad actors but a recurring temptation built into institutions that can sanctify authority.

“Purely power-political goals” is almost deliberately clunky, and that awkwardness is the point. Kung is stripping away the romance. Holy war, civilizational clash, righteous crusade - he reduces them to ordinary geopolitics wearing sacred costume. The subtext is less about theology than about propaganda: religious symbols are uniquely efficient at turning complex conflicts into simple moral binaries, recruiting not just soldiers but consciences.

Context matters: writing in a post-World War II, Cold War, and post-9/11 world, Kung pushed “global ethic” thinking - a bid to make religions part of conflict prevention rather than conflict branding. The warning is aimed as much at believers as at leaders: if faith can be weaponized, it can also be un-weaponized, but only with vigilance.