Religion as an agent of the Powerful and Powerless

Based on doing this activity, the thesis is "As time progressed, religion has gone from being used by the powerful to keep their power to being used by the powerless to fight for equality for minorities."Examples of how this is true is how All four agents of the powerless used non-violence to spread their message but violence ended up creeping into their lives. Martin Luther King said in his speech, quoting his daughter, "Daddy, why do white people treat colored people so mean?" This is an example of violence being used against non-violent groups. The Dalai Lama wanted peace for his country and used non-violent ideas to show his message, “As you know, my own country - Tibet - is undergoing a very difficult period.  The Tibetans -particularly those who live under Chinese occupation - yearn for freedom and justice and a self-determined future, so that they are able to fully preserve their unique identity and live in peace with their neighbours.” Additionally, Oscar Romero used religion to push for for social and political change. He says “Each week I go about the country listening to the cries of the people, their pain from so much crime, and the ignominy of so much violence.” Gandhi used religion in order to bring equality for minorities. He states “Non-violence is the first article of my faith.  It is the last article of my faith”. On the other hand, Pope Urban used his significant power in the religious community to manipulate and persuade his followers to fight for something that would increase his power. He states “And when this speech had already begun to be noised abroad, little by little, through all the regions and countries of Gaul, the Franks, upon hearing such reports, forthwith caused crosses to be sewed on their right shoulders, saying that they followed with one accord the footsteps of Christ, by which they had been redeemed from the hand of hell.” The themes that can be made are "Equality for All vs. Segregation: The powerful used religion as the platform of the Caste System, making the system holy, and preventing rebellion." Also, "Expanding and Gaining Power. The powerful used religion to expand and maintain their power, while the powerless used religion as a tool to gain power in order to ultimately achieve justice for all." The last theme is Violence and nonviolence: The powerful used violence to gain more power and to be feared by the powerless. The powerless did not use violence and mainly used peace as their way of advertising.