Reply #34: It's a certain type of personality, I suppose

[muriel_volestrangler]

We tend to think we judge things better than average - most people think they are better drivers than others, and most think they have a better understanding of 'real life' than average. Some people may just take that to the extreme of felling certain they know the answer to Life, the Universe and Everything.

It is probably made worse by the 'siege mentality' of some sects. If we can see other people as humans just like us, we can entertain the notion that they've got something right that we've gone wrong. But if your priest or holy book tells you that there are evil people looking to catch you out and distort your religion, it makes entertaining doubts a sin in itself. Cut yourself off like that, and then your own thoughts, with the one religion you've decided on, become the 'only truth'.

Yes, religion has often been used as an excuse for grabbing power and wealth - the Arab expansion, the Crusades, the Spanish conquest of Latin America, and many more, I'm sure.