Men Behaving Badly: Leaders Who Play The Religious Card

In this episode, we delve into the all-too-frequent exploitation by some leaders and regimes of religious narratives to justify their ideologies, control populations and bolster their power. Taking an editorial approach in which we don't hold back from expressing our opinions, we examine historical and contemporary examples to understand the nature of how state power becomes mixed with religious dogma, revealing the detrimental effects on human rights and democracy, as well as the manipulation and misrepresentation of religious teachings to justify wars. As always, we invite listeners to nurture positive change with our focused intentions and prayers.

If you wish, you can go straight to this guided time of prayer and intention sending, and join with us in sending energy at: 41 minutes.

Suggested Intention Focus for this week

This week, as we consider the abuse and exploitation of religion to justify personal power and political ideology, we suggest holding as our main intention:

We will that there will be a movement of compassion, realism and integrity in the hearts and minds of those who might justify war on the basis of the perceived religious rights of their nation or people.

Please join us in holding this.

Mentioned in this episode:

Listen to our episode, ‘Unmasking the Global Authenticity Crisis,’ at https://www.heartfulimpact.com/e/unmasking-the-global-authenticity-crisis/.

Listen to our episode, ‘Unpacking Narcissism: The Leaders Among Us,’ at https://www.podbean.com/eas/pb-3645z-18c9ad9.

Chapter markers:

00:00:00            Introduction

00:01:33            Tyrants and Religion

00:06:48            Contemporary Examples

00:08:38            Religious Justifications in Conflict

00:13:26            Misinterpretations of Faith

00:19:31            Political Use of Religion

00:26:56            Consequences of Religious Exploitation

00:37:57            Gender and Religious Authority

00:41:00            Intentions and Prayers

Sources referenced in this episode:

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https://amwaj.media/article/hamas-israel-war-highlights-divergent-views-among-iranian-clerics

https://www.jpost.com/christianworld/article-698136

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https://www.ynetnews.com/article/b1egvtdwyl

https://www.cnn.com/2025/06/16/middleeast/israel-operation-iran-regime-change-netanyahu-intl

https://www.inss.org.il/publication/israel-uae-deal-and-islam/

https://www.972mag.com/with-new-laws-netanyahu-is-hijacking-judaism-as-we-know-it/

https://www.timesofisrael.com/haredim-slam-netanyahu-for-heresy-against-god-in-ukraine-comment-mk-blasts-zionism/

https://www.pbs.org/newshour/world/netanyahu-frequently-makes-claims-of-antisemitism-critics-say-hes-deflecting-blame

https://www.news18.com/world/those-who-bless-israel-tucker-carlson-ted-cruz-clash-as-latter-defends-us-support-citing-bible-ws-l-9394238.html

https://www.perplexity.ai/search/which-polish-politician-said-t-3EKsY584SUWBSHUp8Pe8Nw

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