Organized Religion
Okay, people, what are everyone's thoughts on organized religion? I have been spurred to thinking based on some recent comments that I have read in friends blogs, and now I am curious what my peers think.
posted by Moose Tucker @ 9:07 AM
2 comments
2 Comments:
This is a difficult subject to compress into a comment-sized box. However, short answer, I agree with you in that organized religion often tries to offer an easily understood picture of the world, one that paints issues in black and white. While I know countless church-goers who are completely independent thinkers, I know just as many who base their world-view on what their religion has suggested without questioning anything.
Going to church on Sunday does not make up for gay-bashing Saturday night.
In its worst form, organized religion can lead to crazy things like the Inquisition or Salem Witch Trials. I don't want to suggest that we live in the same climate, but I do wonder how bad things will get when 11 states have passed laws banning gay marriage (and/or civil unions). How many of those voters can even claim to know a gay person? If they did, would they be able to get over their own prejudice and see that person as anything but an abomination? Fear feeds this kind of thinking and religion doesn't have a very good track record when it comes to managing that fear.
I don't know what else to say here. How many words does Blogger allow?
Organized religion... this is tricky. I have had a very difficult time finding a church that doesn't preach hatred. I couldn't go to church in NC because I really felt the word coming from the pulpit was hate. To me, my religion is about tolerance, love, and hope. It is the belief that every person is a child of God, and should be treated as such, by which I mean, with respect and compassion.
I think the greatest evils in this world have been done in the name of religion. Look at the actions of terrorists, they ally themselves with Allah. The Crusades were slaughters perpetrated by Christians. The Inquisition, the Salem Witch Trials...
So why? I believe Organized Religion is extremely dangerous anytime you have a congregation of people willing to follow without independent thought / without questioning their beliefs and actions. Sure, a ruthless leader is frightening, but it's the masses that follow blindly that do the damage.
It's tough. When I listen to the religious right talk on television or on the radio, I feel ashamed that we both describe ourselves as Christians. The thing that so frightens me is that Christianity is Christianity because of the new testament. And in the new testament, we are told "love thy neighbor as thyself" and "judge not lest ye be judged." This is not the life I see practiced by the Moral Majority.
Post a Comment
<< Home