History Main / HidingBehindReligion

** Every once in a while, Lisa falls under this. Anything and everything that allows her to stand on her soapbox, she will take in an instant. She instantly changed religion to denounce Burns turning Lovejoy's church (temporarily) into a for-profit venture rather than, say, search for a church that wasn't like that (and she instantly had thoughts about switching back when it looked like she wouldn't get any more Christmas presents). [Recap/TheSimpsonsS31E9ToddToddWhyHastThouForsakenMe Another episode]] has her trying to exploit Todd having a CrisisOfFaith to convert him to Buddhism (Todd quite understandably [[WhatTheHellHero calls her out on it]]).

** Every once in a while, Lisa falls under this. Anything and everything that allows her to stand on her soapbox, she will take in an instant. She instantly changed religion to denounce Burns turning Lovejoy's church (temporarily) into a for-profit venture rather than, say, search for a church that wasn't like that (and she instantly had thoughts about switching back when it looked like she wouldn't get any more Christmas presents).

Sincere members of the religion (or those simply educated in the tenets of other faiths) may invoke the NoTrueScotsman trope when people like this are mentioned (i.e.: "No ''true'' Christian would torture nonbelievers, no ''true'' follower of Islam would kill fellow Muslims, etc.). Then again, this may be {{justified}} since by definition a faker is not a true follower of the religion.

* In season 2 of ''LightNovel/ACertainMagicalIndex'', Vento of the Front uses the Catholic Church's warlike policies as an excuse for her vendetta against science [[spoiler:due to her brother's death]].

* ''LightNovel/HighSchoolDXD'': Freed Sellzen is an AxCrazy BloodKnight who works as an exorcist in the church. As it turns out, he never believed in God to begin with; he ''only'' joined the Church and became an exorcist so he could kill and satisfy his bloodlust without consequence.

Sincere members of the religion (or those simply educated in the tenets of other faiths) may invoke the NoTrueScotsman trope when people like this are mentioned (i.e.: "No ''true'' Christian would torture nonbelievers, no ''true'' follower of Islam would kill fellow Muslims, etc.).

* In ''Manga/{{Berserk}}'', Farnese di Vandimion [[CharacterDevelopment starts out]] as a ChurchMilitant who is desperately ''trying'' to be TheFundamentalist and convince herself that burning heretics alive for the Holy See is a regrettable but necessary duty. The truth is that she discovered when she was a young child that taking part in burnings gave her relief from the violent outbursts and hopelessness she felt [[FreudianExcuse due to her upbringing]] in a [[LonelyRichKid lonely and controlled aristocratic family]], and as it was mistaken for religious devotion, she was encouraged to take part in more and given a position within the church that let her indulge her desire, so that by the time she's an adult, she gets [[LovesTheSoundOfScreaming sadistically aroused by burning, screaming, and torture]]. Notably, she is still a sympathetic character, as even before her HeelFaceTurn, she was shown to be deeply disturbed by her own nature, and in one memorable scene, she finishes [[ADateWithRosiePalms pleasuring herself]] while thinking about burning people and then breaks down crying and trying to tell herself "I am not wrong".

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Castlevania|2017}}'': The Bishop's supposed goals of helping the people are nothing but hollow lies for him to get away with murder and heartlessness, and he actually takes advantage of Dracula's rampage to increase his own power and standing within the Church. [[spoiler:In the end, God Himself is so disgusted with the Bishop's actions that He [[GodIsDispleased withdraws His protection]] and allows Dracula's demons to kill him.]]

Religion is often associated with virtue, for various reasons including the incentives the former is often perceived to have for the latter, that religion plays a role in defining morality for societies and the belief that virtuous minds accept religion in the first place.

In turn, this also creates an incentive, in a character who wants to be seen as more virtuous than they really are, for [[TitleDrop hiding behind religion]].

** Similarly, Dios in ''Literature/{{Pyramids}}'' isn't exactly HidingBehindReligion, seeing as [[spoiler:he came up with most of those gods himself to teach people the right way to do things over seven thousand years, and has become too stuck in his ways to do otherwise]]. When Djelibeybi gets kicked into another dimension and the gods start manifesting, it causes no end of trouble for the priests, since belief requires their absence.

** Zhaspahr Clyntahn could be considered a case of this combined with TheFundamentalist. Since he's highly prone to [[BelievingTheirOwnLies believing his own lies]], his HidingBehindReligion often takes the form of deciding on a response to some threat to his personal power, using whatever logic he needs to use in order to make it appear he's acting in the name of God's Church and proceeding to genuinely believe whatever logic he's come up with.

** For the most part, averted: horrible things done in the name of religion are done in the belief that such things are right ([[WorldHalfEmpty and given the setting]], they ''are''). If anyone is committing atrocities HidingBehindReligion, they're usually secretly dedicated to the Chaos god they really work for, and when the Inquisition finds out...

** The trope gets played straight with about half of the Church of God Awaiting. The entire Inquisition, especially its leader, use blackmail, espionage, assassination, murder, and coercion for its little problems, like declaring an (unofficial) jihad/crusade to destroy the main character's kingdom. Once the war gets started, though, they ''really'' kick it in high gear. Doing little things like [[spoiler:build Nazi-style concentration camps for "discovering heretics"]] and [[spoiler:launch a "partisan revolution" in an ''allied country'' (unsurprisingly, those parts of it which the rebels don't take quickly cease to be allies)]].

* Used in ''Literature/TheDinosaurLords'' when count Montañasul starts lambasting religious sect Garden of Beauty and Truth, spiritually opposed to his own Life-To-Come. He gives heresy, hedonism, and straying for accepted Church doctrine as his reasons, but when Melodía questions him, it quickly becomes apparent that the real problem is that Garden endorses fair treatment of serfs and greater equality of social classes, while Montañasul is infamous for the way he treats his peasants.

* ''Series/AmericanHorrorStory'' Season 2: The reverend mother turned to Christianity after she got drunk as a teenager and ran someone over. Fifty years later, she still thinks of herself as that teenage sinner who couldn't own up to murder.

* ''Series/BattlestarGalactica2003'': The Number Ones (aka Cavil) make a habit out of infiltrating the Colonial Fleet by posing as priests for the polytheistic Lords of Kobol. However, whereas the rest of the Cylon race is composed of religious monotheists, the Number Ones make no secret of the fact that they're atheists to their fellow Cylons and often mock their brethren's religious displays as interfering with their machine nature. Supposedly they view the Colonial religion with just as much contempt.

* ''Literature/TheCanterburyTales'' reveals this to be OlderThanPrint, as there are a ''lot'' of religious individuals involved in the journey (it is, after all, a pilgrimage), and just about every single one is a hypocrite to some degree. Most of them dress richly and appear quite well-off, several are all but stated to have visited brothels or had affairs, and a couple are even described as extorting people or using their positions to get money. (The only real exception is the Clerk, who does seem to take his position seriously.) Most obviously, there's the Friar and the Summoner, who both hate each other and call each other out for not living up to their stations (the Friar thinks the Summoner is a greedy conman, the Summoner thinks the Friar is a corrupt lecher), but aren't really able to defend ''themselves'' aside from claiming the other guy is way worse.

* Uncle Ezra from the ''Series/TalesFromTheCrypt'' episode "A Fitting Punishment" is a cruel and greedy funeral director who hides behind a veneer of piousness for his clients. Most of his biblical quotes don't even come from Literature/TheBible, which gives away that he's a phony, but what really defines his character is [[spoiler:crippling and later murdering his orphaned nephew, simply because he didn't want the extra burden]].
* ''Series/BattlestarGalactica2003'': The Number Ones (aka Cavil) make a habit out of infiltrating the Colonial Fleet by posing as priests for the polytheistic Lords of Kobol. However, whereas the rest of the Cylon race is composed of religious monotheists, the Number Ones make no secret of the fact that they're atheists to their fellow Cylons and often mock their brethren's religious displays as interfering with their machine nature. Supposedly they view the Colonial religion with just as much contempt.
* ''{{Series/Rake}}'': Cal [=McGregor=] makes a show of having "got religion" while in prison, wearing a crucifix and carrying a Bible at all times, from which he quotes liberally. This was only to better his chances of parole, however. The moment he gets out, he's back to his old ways, bedding two prostitutes and doing cocaine.

* Cardinal Trebaldi from ''ComicBook/LeScorpion''. He doesn't even believe in God but plots to become Pope because the Vatican's position will give him a stranglehold on power in Europe.

[[folder:Web Comics]]

* The song "Jesus He Knows Me" by Music/{{Genesis|Band}} is a TakeThat to people like this. Specifically, those who use religion for self-enrichment, such as televangelists (as Music/PhilCollins dresses like a well-known one from the time, with a wig matching the guy's hair).

* Archbishop De Villiers of the Terraist Church in ''Anime/LegendOfGalacticHeroes''. Even though the Church was a PathOfInspiration, most of its clergy genuinely believed in their tenets of Earth being sacred and were well-known for their asceticism. De Villiers, however, believed nothing of that and saw the Church as simply a tool to seize power. During one episode, he was shown secretly indulging in hard liquors.

* The song "Jesus He Knows Me" by Music/{{Genesis}} is a TakeThat to people like this. Specifically, those who use religion for self-enrichment, such as televangelists (as Music/PhilCollins dresses like a well-known one from the time, with a wig matching the guy's hair).

* "His Holiness" Sanctus from ''VideoGame/DevilMayCry 4'', who is anything ''but'' a devout worshipper of Sparda, and mainly wants his power. It's noted that his goal, [[spoiler:unleashing a plague of demons upon the world so that his forces can kill them and be seen as the bringers of a new utopia]], is something Sparda would very much have opposed were he still alive.

* In Literature/TheBible, UsefulNotes/{{Jesus}} frequently calls the [[{{Hypocrite}} Pharisees]] out on this.

* Judge [[SexIsEvilAndIAmHorny Claude Frollo]] from the Disney adaptation of ''WesternAnimation/TheHunchbackOfNotreDame'' is initially HolierThanThou, until his lust for Esmeralda becomes an obsession, and he decides that forcing her into a "be mine or you will burn" ScarpiaUltimatum would be worth going to hell over. In public, he still maintains a KnightTemplar image and uses that to try to achieve his goals.

* ''LightNovel/HighSchoolDxD'': Freed Sellzen is an AxCrazy BloodKnight who works as an exorcist in the church. As it turns out, he never believed in God to begin with; he ''only'' joined the Church and became an exorcist so he could kill and satisfy his bloodlust without consequence.

* "His Holiness" Sanctus from ''VideoGame/DevilMayCry 4'', who is anything ''but'' a devout worshipper of Sparda, and mainly wants his power. It's noted that his aim ([[spoiler:unleashing a plague of demons upon the world so that his forces can kill them and be seen as the bringers of a new utopia]]) is something Sparda would very much have opposed were he still alive.

[[quoteright:350:[[WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/reverend.jpg]]]]
[[caption-width-right:350:[[SarcasmMode He's a very dedicated Christian.]]]]

* Hugo from ''Manga/InnocentsShounenJuujigun'' may very well be this. While we don't actually know much about his motivations, [[spoiler:harems of young men and women, fabricating supposedly Godly miracles, sleeping with four of the main cast (who are all male), and arranging demon-worshiping death matches]] are all far from what 13th Century Catholicism preaches, especially considering that his status as one of the well-respected Knights Templar allows him to get away with most of it.

* Judge [[SexIsEvilAndIAmHorny Claude Frollo]] from the Disney adaptation of ''WesternAnimation/TheHunchbackOfNotreDame'' is initially HolierThanThou, until his lust for Esmeralda becomes an obsession, and he decides forcing her into a "be mine or you will burn" ScarpiaUltimatum would be worth going to hell over. In public, he still maintains a KnightTemplar image and uses that to try to achieve his goals.

* Discussed in ''Literature/AChristmasCarol'', where the Ghost Of Christmas Present out right calls out those who do their deeds of passion, pride, ill-will, hatred, envy, bigotry, and selfishness in God's name, saying they are as strange to all his kith and kin, as if they had never lived.

* Used in ''Literature/TheDinosaurLords'' when count Montañasul starts lambasting religious sect Garden of Beauty and Truth, spiritually opposed to his own Life-To-Come. He gives heresy, hedonism and straying for accepted Church doctrine as his reasons, but when Melodía questions him, it quickly becomes apparent that the real problem is that Garden endorses fair treatment of serfs and greater equality of social classes, while Montañasul is infamous for the way he treats his peasants.