THE BIBLE
John 14:15, "If you love me, keep my commandments."
1 John 1:8, "If we say we have no sin, then we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us."
1 John 2:3-6: "Whoever says, 'I know him', but does not do what he commands is a liar, and the truth is not in that person."
1 John 4:20, "If a man says, 'I love God', and hates his brother, he is a liar. For he who does not love his brother whom he has seen, how can he love God whom he has not seen?"
THE ARGUMENT
Why is it that so many ruthless women and men—mafia bosses, tyrants, and dictators—cling so fervently to their faith, even in private, while unrepentantly hating, oppressing, and even killing others? How can they make grand sacrifices for a religion whose core values they betray so profoundly, especially in something as sacred as love for others?
1. Religion as Identity, Not Just Morality
For many, religion is less about ethical consistency and more about belonging, heritage, and identity. Especially in traditional or tight-knit communities (like Sicilian mafia families or certain authoritarian regimes), religion is woven into the fabric of cultural and familial loyalty, not just personal piety.
A mafia boss might see Catholicism as "ours"—a defining feature of their people and values—regardless of whether their behavior contradicts its teachings.
For some dictators, religion may be part of national identity or used to legitimize power: “I am the defender of the faith.”
It may even be about "belonging" to God.
2. Compartmentalization and Moral Justification
Humans are exceptionally good at compartmentalizing conflicting values. People can genuinely believe in their faith while mentally separating their actions from its moral teachings.
They justify violence: "I'm not a murderer; I'm protecting my God, my religious tradition, family, my people, my way of life."
Some see themselves as instruments of divine justice or order, believing they’re enforcing a kind of higher will.
Others might rely on ritual acts (prayers, confessions, donations) to “balance out” their sins, consciously or unconsciously treating religion transactionally.
3. Fear, Guilt, and the Afterlife
Even among the cruelest people, there can be a genuine fear of judgment or hell. Some cling to their faith not out of hypocrisy, but out of a desperate need for forgiveness or control over their ultimate fate.
They may hope their good deeds, religious rituals, or final confessions will “save” them.
This is especially visible in deathbed confessions or religious donations near the end of life.
4. Power and Religion as Tools
In both mafia structures and dictatorships, religion is often instrumentalized—used as a tool to maintain control, loyalty, and legitimacy.
Mafia leaders sometimes use religious symbols and ceremonies to signal honor, loyalty, and community trust.
Dictators may appear devout to appeal to the masses or use religion to justify repression, claiming divine support or labeling enemies as heretics.
Even if privately devout, they may still see religion as a means to an end, not something that actually restrains them.
5. Twisted Theologies and Self-Deception
Some develop distorted interpretations of their faith that allow them to feel righteous even while doing harm. This could involve:
A belief that their enemies are less human or less worthy, making violence justifiable.
Seeing themselves as sacrificing their soul for the “greater good,” a kind of martyr complex.
Believing that power and success are signs of divine favor.
6. Cultural and Institutional Failures
Sometimes, the religious institutions themselves have enabled or overlooked such contradictions, especially when tied up in politics, power, or corruption.
If religious leaders turn a blind eye or offer absolution too easily, it can reinforce the idea that faith doesn't demand moral integrity.
This is part of how whole systems can normalize hypocrisy at high levels of power.
So, is it hypocrisy?
Sometimes, yes—conscious, strategic hypocrisy. But often, it's not fully conscious. Many such individuals genuinely believe themselves to be devout, even while acting against the very core of their religion’s teachings. Human beings are highly adept at self-deception, especially when power, fear, and identity are involved.
But be warned. At some level it is strategic hypocrisy. In this sense: to fool themselves and work so hard at it means that deep down, subconsciously, they know the real truth.
They exhibit a profound act of projection: instead of conforming themselves to the image of a higher, moral God, they reshape God in their own image—a god who sanctions their cruelty, justifies their power, and forgives without transformation. This is not true faith; it's theology twisted into a mirror of their own will.
A serious new issue arises - there is no way to refute the view that God for some purpose, wants them to simply project this.
And another - there is no way to refute the suggestion that God wants them to act on this evil projection - that he sees it as a necessary evil.
Faith, whether in a decent God or a terrible one, is just faith. It is a threat for it no matter how good it is, there is nothing stopping it from turning toxic. Faith is not good and not bad - it depends.
Faith is a double-edged sword. It is not inherently good, nor inherently evil — it simply is. Whether it’s placed in a merciful God or a monstrous one, in a noble cause or a delusion of power, faith carries the same danger: it asks for trust without proof, loyalty without condition, and obedience without question.
And that is its power — and its peril. For the same conviction that inspires compassion can also justify cruelty. The same unwavering devotion that uplifts can also destroy. Once faith takes root, there is often nothing to stop it from turning toxic.
We must stop pretending faith is a virtue on its own. It is a tool. It is a fire. It warms or it burns — depending entirely on what it's feeding.
GOD SOUNDS REMARKABLY LIKE AN IDEA IMAGINED AS A THING
A God who is goodness itself or whatever, who has no body, sounds very abstract. Believers may engage in reification, treating an abstract idea as if it were concrete or real, to an important extent or do it completely. The error in itself shows that some wishful thinking or projection is going on.
But they go further than that. They project - attribute their own thoughts, feelings, or motivations to something external. If God should be seen in his creation, then to project unto it is going to reflect on how he is related to. That would be indirect projection unto God.
And the projection has a direct side. They can be compared to lighthouses projecting their rays directly onto their God.
Reification and projection when applied to God, explain a lot about religious psychology — especially in individuals who are devout but act in ways that are clearly immoral or harmful.
Here's how the pattern tends to work:
Reification of God:
People take the abstract concept of God — infinite, unknowable, transcendent — and turn it into a fixed, defined being. Often, this "God" mirrors their own worldview, moral standards, or desires.
Projection onto God:
They project their own biases, values, fears, hatreds, or sense of superiority onto this reified God. In other words, "God agrees with me, wants what I want, hates who I hate, forgives what I do."
Result – No Fear, No Guilt:
Since the "God" they believe in is essentially a reflection of themselves, they feel no inner conflict. They can be cruel, judgmental, or even violent — but still feel devout, righteous, and saved. Because their God says it's fine.
Why This Is So Dangerous:
It creates moral immunity — an illusion that one is always righteous.
It inoculates against empathy — because others who differ are "wrong" or "evil."
It short-circuits conscience — because the divine has been fully personalized.
Example in Real Life:
Think of people who commit atrocities or support oppression but claim they’re doing "God’s work." They may genuinely believe it — not because they’ve deeply contemplated theology, but because they’ve reified and projected a god that validates their behavior. Take this personally - people who think that way have hurt you and will do so again.
THE INFINITE AND THE FINITE
Religionists may want to create a lot of mystery around God, they say he cannot be accurately even imagined for he is infinite and wonderful. That means they will find gaps that they fill with their own impressions.
If God is a mystery - that will indeed happen.
If they want God to be that mystery, even if hypothetically he need not be, that will indeed happen rapidly.
PARADOX
A paradox is a statement, idea, or situation that seems self-contradictory or absurd, but may actually contain a hidden truth — or reveal a problem in logic or assumptions. It is necessary to make sure that its a and not-a are actually both true - then rather than a contradiction, one will notice that despite the absurdity there must be an answer even humanity will never find it. Any other approach leads to outright contradictions being accepted.
Human nature accepts paradoxes - often many of them are just contradictions mistaken for paradoxes. Humanity is wired to.
This may lead to evil people being evil because of their faith in a good God.
Or to a God being sincerely described as good when he has to be evil for ignoring and even blessing their evil.
People project the coherence they want, unto paradoxes.
Their sense of paradox is a catalyst for religious projection and helps gives rise to such projection in the first place.
EVIL AS SELF-DESTRUCTIVE
From observation, evil, no matter how it is defined or appears, seems to inevitably ruin itself - maybe over a long time. It is incoherent.
Human nature by dallying with evil is letting in something that contradicts itself.
Human nature psychologically adheres to yet another contradiction: treating evil as necessary/good/neutral when it is not. The world insists that the evil eat themselves and each other. Human nature when it engages in evil is self-harming simply by doing so. But it will aim for other forms of self-harm. For example, John lets poison in by hating Joseph. But he wants to do something with this hate. He wants to see Joseph lose his family. John is bringing ruin on himself - maybe more than on anyone else. If evil were not inherently self-destructive, humans would make it so.
So that is two contradictions. Evil is seen as deceptive so that deepens their hold. People have the power to adhere to paradoxes anyway which is yet another reason for the grip.
It goes a long way to explain how believers say prayers against enemies, that are effectively curses, to a God who is firmly commanding, "Love your enemy." It accounts for the devout becoming terrorists and warmongers.
Once the paradox form of thinking sets in, it will be hard if not impossible to shake the person out of it. Religion keeps converting and spreading its message knowing that many will fall into that trap.
KNOW
Psychologically, it’s possible to know something—that is, to hold a belief with conviction and confidence. But here’s the paradox: you can firmly believe you know something, yet what you know can actually be false. In other words, you don’t truly know it at all.
This happens because “knowing” is often more about our internal certainty than about objective truth. Our minds can create strong beliefs based on incomplete information, biases, or emotional needs. When that belief feels certain, it functions as “knowledge” to us—even if it contradicts reality.
This paradox reveals the fragile nature of human cognition: certainty doesn’t guarantee truth. Holding a mistaken belief with confidence isn’t genuine knowledge; it’s a kind of self-deception. True knowledge requires openness, evidence, and the humility to question even what feels unquestionably true.
There’s a dangerous ladder from psychological certainty to moral license. If you feel certain that you “know” a belief - you are saying, "I know it even if I am wrong." So it involves a lie. Lies breed lies.
If you feel certain that you “know” a belief—especially a religious conviction—you can convince yourself that any action that follows from it is justified. That includes murdering another religion to please your God of absolute love. Or thinking that your God of perfect love approves malicious prayers for the destruction of your enemies.
Are we claiming something superhuman when we say “I know”?
In a sense, yes—especially on a subconscious level. When we declare, “I know,” we’re doing more than stating a belief. We’re implying several unspoken assumptions:
That we have unfiltered access to reality as it actually is.
That we’ve interpreted the facts correctly.
That we’re free from significant bias or error.
That our judgment is complete—no need for further questioning or revision.
These are heavy claims for beings as limited and fallible as we are. Whether we realize it or not, such certainty borders on cognitive overreach—suggesting a kind of god’s-eye view of truth that we rarely possess. It’s not usually intentional, but the implication lingers beneath the surface.
It is no wonder we are so prone to supernatural and magical beliefs such as in divine revelation. We build on a God-complex.
It is no wonder that devotion to a loving God may hide something more sinister or turn rapidly to faith-based malice and evil.
CONCLUSION
The puzzle of how devout individuals can behave with ruthless cruelty while professing faith in moral ideals is not just moral or theological — it is deeply psychological. Research confirms this. Much of the evil is in explicit religious trappings. It arises not despite faith but often because faith, when intertwined with identity, power, and self‑justification, can become a shield for moral incoherence. The very structures that might nurture compassion — rituals, community, doctrines of love — can be warped into tools of division, domination, and cruelty.