Final answer:
People practice sinful excesses of religion through engaging in supernatural activities for personal gain, using elaborate ceremonies to attract followers, and utilizing spiritual oppression to maintain power and control. Historical examples include ascetic monks engaging in violence and Christians selectively showing compassion.
Step-by-step explanation:
Throughout history, individuals and groups have engaged in sinful excesses of religion in various ways. One practice of excess involves individuals or groups who engage in evil supernatural activities to gain access to worldly desires such as wealth, sex, and/or knowledge. This misuse of religious practices subverts the intended spiritual goals for personal gain. Another form of excess is the use of elaborate religious ceremonies to display decorum and attract followers. These complex rituals can become more about show than genuine faith or devotion. Lastly, some practices devolve into spiritual oppression, where religion is used to justify the status quo and subdue the masses, offering a cheap way for the exploiters to maintain power while promising the exploited heavenly rewards as compensation for their suffering.
In addition to these, historical examples include ascetic monks in Late Antiquity who resorted to violence against nonbelievers, showing an excess in their pursuit of 'pure' Christianity. Moreover, the contrast between the professing of love for distant 'heathens' and the neglect of local needs by Christians in America highlights another form of excess in the selectivity of religious compassion. All these examples illustrate how religious practices can sometimes diverge from their intended purposes and manifest as extreme or excessive behaviors.