Criticism of religion is not necessarily unspiritual

Medieval Inquisition

One ought to be very careful when criticizing others. Jesus said, “Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye’ when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.”(Matthew 7: 3–5) Similarly, the famous psychologist, Carl Jung warned us about the projection of our own shadow onto others. He said, “Projection is one of the commonest psychic phenomena…Everything that is unconscious in ourselves we discover in our neighbor, and we treat him accordingly.” (Carl Jung, Archaic Man)

But not every thing, person or system we perceive as evil is a projection of our shadow. One’s criticism of others does not necessarily contradict one’s spirituality. Criticism does not have to be self-serving or based on malice. Yes, the more mindful you are, the more you will see “the plank in your own eye.” You will see that you and the things you most cherish — your beloved country, your race, your religion, your belief system — are not without flaws or blemishes. Thus, the first thing we should do before criticizing other people’s religion or belief system is to do some honest soul searching and see the shadow…