page_title: Criticism of religion
section_title: Corrupt or immoral leaders
hierarchical_section_title: Criticism of religion / Corrupt purposes of leaders / Corrupt or immoral leaders
caption_attribution_description: English: Brigham Young's 12 widows lament. Caricature in a newspaper about Mormon polygamy. Text:"In memoriam Brigham Young. And the place which knew him once shall know him no more" It references the apocryphal "long bed" story (and illustration) found in chapter 15 of Mark Twain's 1872 book Roughing It.
context_page_description: Criticism of religion involves criticism of the validity, concept, or ideas of religion.
  Historical records of criticism of religion go back to at least 5th century BCE in ancient Greece, with Diagoras "the Atheist" of Melos. In ancient Rome, an early known example is Lucretius' De rerum natura from the 1st century BCE.
  Every exclusive religion on Earth that promotes exclusive truth-claims necessarily denigrates the truth-claims of other religions. Thus some criticisms of religion become criticisms of one or more aspects of a specific religious tradition.
  Critics of religion in general may portray religion as one or more of: outdated, harmful to the individual, harmful to society, an impediment to the progress of science, a source of immoral acts or customs, a political tool for social control.
caption: Caricature of Mormon leader Brigham Young's wives at his death
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