--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Religion has really spawned some…" description: "\"Religion has really spawned some monsters. It always has, historically. Go all the way back to the Inquisition, you know, the Crusades, the Jehad and s..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/629/wole-soyinka-1587_crusades_religion-has-really-spawned-some-monster_1281993.jpg" --- # Religion has really spawned some monsters. It always has… ![“Religion has really spawned some monsters. It always has, historically. Go all the way back to the Inquisition, you know, the Crusades, the Jehad and so on.” quote by Wole Soyinka](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/629/wole-soyinka-1587_crusades_religion-has-really-spawned-some-monster_1281993.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/629/wole-soyinka-1587_crusades_religion-has-really-spawned-some-monster_1281993.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/629/wole-soyinka-1587_crusades_religion-has-really-spawned-some-monster_1281993.jpg) > “Religion has really spawned some monsters. It always has, historically. Go all the way back to the Inquisition, you know, the Crusades, the Jehad and so on.” [Wole Soyinka](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wole-soyinka/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Religion has historically produced harmful forces like the Inquisition and Crusades. **In simple terms:** Faith can inspire both good and evil. Key Takeaway Critically examine belief systems. Themes history religion power Mood critical analytical Type historical philosophical When to use this quote - education - interfaith dialogue - policy analysis - personal belief assessment Key Concepts theology social critique Questions to Reflect On - What positive roles has religion played in history? - How can we separate doctrine from abuse? A Different Perspective Not all religious influence is negative; many promote peace. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Crusades](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/crusades/) [Inquisition](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/inquisition/) [Inquisition Know](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/inquisition-know-4145019/) [Knows](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/knows/) [Monsters](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/monsters/) [Monsters Historically](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/monsters-historically-4145018/) [Religion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/religion/) [Religion Really](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/religion-really-286795/) [Way](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/way/) [Way Inquisition](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/way-inquisition-4145020/) ## Related quotes > [When I hear from people that religion doesn't hurt anything, I say really? Well besides wars, the crusades, the inquisitions, 9-11, ethnic cleansing, the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-maher/when-i-hear-from-people-that-religion-doesn-t-hurt-anything-i-say/) [Bill Maher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-maher/) > [There is nothing intrinsic linking any religion with any act of violence. The crusades don't prove that Christianity was violent. The Inquisition doesn't prove…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/salman-rushdie/there-is-nothing-intrinsic-linking-any-religion-with-any-act-of/) [Salman Rushdie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/salman-rushdie/) > [It appears an extraordinary thing to me, that since there is such a diabolical spirit in the depravity of human nature, as persecution for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laurence-sterne/it-appears-an-extraordinary-thing-to-me-that-since-there-is-such-a/) [Laurence Sterne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laurence-sterne/) > [The greatest tragedy in the history of Christianity was neither the Crusades nor the Reformation nor the Inquisition, but rather the split that opened…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hans-urs-von-balthasar/the-greatest-tragedy-in-the-history-of-christianity-was-neither-the/) [Hans Urs von Balthasar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hans-urs-von-balthasar/) > [The Scriptures have been misused to defend bloody crusades and inquisitions; to support slavery, apartheid, and segregation; to sanction the physical and emotional abuse…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mel-white/the-scriptures-have-been-misused-to-defend-bloody-crusades-and/) [Mel White](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mel-white/) > [I read in the newspaper that the Catholic Church finally decided that it had been theologically improper to try to convert the Jews. Whoops!…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-dershowitz/i-read-in-the-newspaper-that-the-catholic-church-finally-decided-that/) [Alan Dershowitz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-dershowitz/) > [And lest we get on our high horse and think this is unique to some other place, remember that during the Crusades and the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barack-obama/and-lest-we-get-on-our-high-horse-and-think-this-is-unique-to-some/) [Barack Obama](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barack-obama/) > [“Killing, raping and looting have been common practices in religious societies, and often carried out with clerical sanction. The catalogue of notorious barbarities –…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeffrey-tayler/killing-raping-and-looting-have-been-common-practices-in-religious/) [Jeffrey Tayler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeffrey-tayler/) > [The very fears and guilts imposed by religious training are responsible for some of history's most brutal wars, crusades, pogroms, and persecutions, including five…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-g-walker/the-very-fears-and-guilts-imposed-by-religious-training-are/) [Barbara G. Walker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-g-walker/) > [Many argue that Christianity is "different" from other religions - that it is primarily about love of one's fellow man. The Crusades, The Inquisition,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-bernstein/many-argue-that-christianity-is-different-from-other-religions-that/) [Andrew Bernstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-bernstein/) > [I find that religion really does motivate people to do horrible things because they have this passionate faith in whatever their religion happens to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-dawkins/i-find-that-religion-really-does-motivate-people-to-do-horrible/) [Richard Dawkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-dawkins/) > [If a person is dying and you need information about the religion, it's really embarassing that there are over humanity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mak-786/if-a-person-is-dying-and-you-need-information-about-the-religion-it-s/) [Mak\_786](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mak-786/) > [If a person is dying and you need information about the religion, it really is embarrassing that there are over humanity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mak-786/if-a-person-is-dying-and-you-need-information-about-the-religion-it/) [Mak\_786](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mak-786/) > [The secret of a person's nature lies in their religion and what they really believes about the world and their place in it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-anthony-froude/the-secret-of-a-person-s-nature-lies-in-their-religion-and-what-they/) [James Anthony Froude](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-anthony-froude/) > [Honestly, I'm not a big person in terms of religion, but I really believe in nature. I feel like anytime you see anything beautiful…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sara-rue/honestly-i-m-not-a-big-person-in-terms-of-religion-but-i-really/) [Sara Rue](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sara-rue/) ## More by Wole Soyinka > [Writers and intellectuals have a duty to humanity. It is to insist that the human entity remains the primary asset in overall development; thus,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wole-soyinka/writers-and-intellectuals-have-a-duty-to-humanity-it-is-to-insist/) [Wole Soyinka](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wole-soyinka/) > [When I tried to create a new political party, which I stressed that this is not my party. I believe very much that there…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wole-soyinka/when-i-tried-to-create-a-new-political-party-which-i-stressed-that/) [Wole Soyinka](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wole-soyinka/) > [Each time I think I've created time for myself, along comes a throwback to disrupt my private space.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wole-soyinka/each-time-i-think-i-ve-created-time-for-myself-along-comes-a/) [Wole Soyinka](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wole-soyinka/) > [I began writing early - very, very early... I was already writing short stories for the radio and selling poems to poetry and art…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wole-soyinka/i-began-writing-early-very-very-early-i-was-already-writing-short/) [Wole Soyinka](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wole-soyinka/) > [My horizon on humanity is enlarged by reading the writers of poems, seeing a painting, listening to some music, some opera, which has nothing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wole-soyinka/my-horizon-on-humanity-is-enlarged-by-reading-the-writers-of-poems/) [Wole Soyinka](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wole-soyinka/) > [Under a dictatorship, a nation ceases to exist. All that remains is a fiefdom, a planet of slaves regimented by aliens from outer-space.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wole-soyinka/under-a-dictatorship-a-nation-ceases-to-exist-all-that-remains-is-a/) [Wole Soyinka](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wole-soyinka/) > [The phenomenon of creativity, we know, is closely related to the ability to yoke together separate, and even seemingly incompatible, matrices.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wole-soyinka/the-phenomenon-of-creativity-we-know-is-closely-related-to-the/) [Wole Soyinka](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wole-soyinka/) > [One, a mass movement from within, which, as you know, is constantly being put down brutally but which, again, regroups and moves forward as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wole-soyinka/one-a-mass-movement-from-within-which-as-you-know-is-constantly-being/) [Wole Soyinka](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wole-soyinka/) > [One has to confront history honestly.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wole-soyinka/one-has-to-confront-history-honestly/) [Wole Soyinka](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wole-soyinka/) > [We wasted a lot of creative energy in that immediate post colonial era, when there was a struggle between, you know, the Cold War…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wole-soyinka/we-wasted-a-lot-of-creative-energy-in-that-immediate-post-colonial/) [Wole Soyinka](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wole-soyinka/) > [I have a kind of magnetic attraction to situations of violence.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wole-soyinka/i-have-a-kind-of-magnetic-attraction-to-situations-of-violence/) [Wole Soyinka](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wole-soyinka/) > [The Egba kingdom was one of the very last to be ceded to the British protectorate. It remained almost an independent entity within what…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wole-soyinka/the-egba-kingdom-was-one-of-the-very-last-to-be-ceded-to-the-british/) [Wole Soyinka](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wole-soyinka/) > [One's own self-worth is tied to the worth of the community to which one belongs, which is intimately connected to humanity in general. What…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wole-soyinka/one-s-own-self-worth-is-tied-to-the-worth-of-the-community-to-which/) [Wole Soyinka](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wole-soyinka/) > [I was born into a Christian household, in a parsonage in fact, so I grew up in sort of a missionary atmosphere but it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wole-soyinka/i-was-born-into-a-christian-household-in-a-parsonage-in-fact-so-i/) [Wole Soyinka](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wole-soyinka/) > [The problem with literature, with writing, is that it works sometimes in terms of correction of social ills. Other times, it just does not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wole-soyinka/the-problem-with-literature-with-writing-is-that-it-works-sometimes/) [Wole Soyinka](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wole-soyinka/) [Explore all 225 Wole Soyinka quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wole-soyinka/) ## More Crusades quotes > [Our nation was born in genocide when it embraced the doctrine that the original American, the Indian, was an inferior race. ... We are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-luther-king-jr/our-nation-was-born-in-genocide-when-it-embraced-the-doctrine-that/) [Martin Luther King, Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-luther-king-jr/) > [Helen Crawfurd and the Women's Peace Crusade, made a march on the City Chambers, distributing an illegal leaflet in front of police and even…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/willie-gallacher/helen-crawfurd-and-the-women-s-peace-crusade-made-a-march-on-the-city/) [Willie Gallacher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/willie-gallacher/) > [Soldiers, Sailors and Airmen of the Allied Expeditionary Force! You are about to embark upon the Great Crusade, toward which we have striven these…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dwight-d-eisenhower/soldiers-sailors-and-airmen-of-the-allied-expeditionary-force-you-are/) [Dwight D. Eisenhower](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dwight-d-eisenhower/) > [Well, for me, my favourite 'Indiana Jones' is 'The Last Crusade,' because you get tears in your eyes when you see the old guard…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ray-winstone/well-for-me-my-favourite-indiana-jones-is-the-last-crusade-because/) [Ray Winstone](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ray-winstone/) > [After more than two decades of trying to destroy the firearms rights of more than 80 million law-abiding American gun owners - and statistically…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-gottlieb/after-more-than-two-decades-of-trying-to-destroy-the-firearms-rights/) [Alan Gottlieb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-gottlieb/) > [You know — we've had to imagine the war here, and we have imagined that it was being fought by aging men like ourselves.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kurt-vonnegut/you-know-we-ve-had-to-imagine-the-war-here-and-we-have-imagined-that/) [Kurt Vonnegut](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kurt-vonnegut/) > [When Conservatives crusade against government while they are trying to be appointed to head the government, I think that's weird!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rachel-maddow/when-conservatives-crusade-against-government-while-they-are-trying/) [Rachel Maddow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rachel-maddow/) > [Hope springs eternal, even for hopeless crusades.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kayleigh-mcenany/hope-springs-eternal-even-for-hopeless-crusades/) [Kayleigh McEnany](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kayleigh-mcenany/) > [Now that they talk about Islam as being a violent faith, when you look at the history of Christendom, the Crusades and the many…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/desmond-tutu/now-that-they-talk-about-islam-as-being-a-violent-faith-when-you-look/) [Desmond Tutu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/desmond-tutu/) > [What we need are mental and spiritual giants who are aflame with a purpose . . . We're a race ready for crusade, for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nannie-helen-burroughs/what-we-need-are-mental-and-spiritual-giants-who-are-aflame-with-a/) [Nannie Helen Burroughs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nannie-helen-burroughs/) > [Many argue that Christianity is "different" from other religions - that it is primarily about love of one's fellow man. The Crusades, The Inquisition,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-bernstein/many-argue-that-christianity-is-different-from-other-religions-that/) [Andrew Bernstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-bernstein/) > [...until the Crusades Islam was indistinguishable from Judaism and... only then did it receive its independent character, while Muhammad and the first Caliphs are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nikolai-alexandrovich-morozov/until-the-crusades-islam-was-indistinguishable-from-judaism-and-only/) [Nikolai Alexandrovich Morozov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nikolai-alexandrovich-morozov/) > [The notion of political correctness has ignited controversy across the land. And although the movement arises from the laudable desire to sweep away the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-h-w-bush/the-notion-of-political-correctness-has-ignited-controversy-across/) [George H. W. Bush](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-h-w-bush/) > [“I remember one Gentleman objected to the Christian Faith, that it made Men insolent, quarrelsom and ill-natur'd. From whence I concluded, (as I told…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-stephens/i-remember-one-gentleman-objected-to-the-christian-faith-that-it-made/) [William Stephens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-stephens/) > [People used to complain about 'the idle rich.' But the idle rich did not do the kind of harm being done by today's busybody…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-sowell/people-used-to-complain-about-the-idle-rich-but-the-idle-rich-did-not/) [Thomas Sowell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-sowell/) [Browse all 208 Crusades quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/crusades/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Religion has really spawned some monsters. It always has, historically. 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