Siding with Social and Political Critics
When religious clerics are not themselves involved in governing society or holding political power, they may readily side with social and political critics and question many aspects of the existing system.
Of course, many people do this, and it is not something unique to religious clerics.
What is more characteristic of them is the claim that if society were governed according to the teachings of their religion, there would no longer be anything to criticize.
This can lead many critics and supporters of social change to follow religious clerics. It can be especially effective on people who already have strong religious beliefs and are dissatisfied with the existing situation, but know little about how societies are actually governed.
They may also know little about the details of their own religion’s teachings on government, while still believing that their religion provides a complete system for governing society.
We can probably guess how these believers came to have that impression in the first place.
The Iranian Revolution of 1979, which ultimately brought religious clerics to power and led to the establishment of a religious government, is one historical example of a situation in which such conditions contributed to the rise of religious clerics as a political force.
