The Motives and Functions of Religious Accusation

Religious accusation consists of ascribing objectionable attributes to a person or persons, thus implying a fault, deficiency or nonconformity in that person or persons’ beliefs, rituals, actions, or all three.

The aim of this research is to study and analyze the motives and functions of religious accusation in a religious society. Part one explains the concept of religious accusation and the scope of the research and the necessity of it. Then, in part two, we will attempt to completely clarify the topic of the research, namely religious accusation, which has not been directly addressed before, using references to past works. Thus we will be prepared for part three, which contains examples of religious accusation in the history of Iran. Part four discusses the motives and functions of religious accusation from a sociological point of view, presents solutions for preventing this morally and socially destructive phenomenon throughout society and the media and in the end emphasizes the importance of eliminating this great obstacle in the path to freedom of thought, scientific progress and the moral and mental health of a religious society.