TIME TO RE-THINK RELIGION

This is not an attack on religion, neither is it intended as one.  I am aware that there are those who may wish to attribute unintended motives, and they are welcome to have a field day with their human desire to assert victimhood.  I have no interest in feeding that need. Simply, it is time to rethink religion.  Jesus Christ did not form a religion but he preached redemption, love, forgiveness and social justice – all values which His apostles instructed that all who call themselves Christians ought to abide by. Some Muslims tell me that Mohammed encouraged peaceful coexistence and adherents of Judaism also know that the character of God is defined by love, peace and righteousness.  As we move deeper into the 21st Century, we need a re-examination of what we know and believe if we are to be responsible custodians of a world that was given to us for caretaking.

We live in a world that has more affluence than at any time in human history, yet we have more people scraping for a living than at almost any time in history.  We are much more technologically advanced and yet more blinded and driven by a desire to destroy others by what we know and build.  We are more aware of the importance of religion but are more driven by a need to affiliate ourselves with religious denominations and doctrines.  We deny the possibility that we all serve the same God and, instead, we claim that our God is superior to the one that everyone else serves who does not belong to the religious group with which we affiliate.  

It certainly appears from recent history dating back to the last few decades that the more religious a family or society becomes, the more hate and conflict that evolves in that family or society.  When we look around, we see religious leaders flying around in private jets, and living all-out in the lap of luxury while members of their congregations who finance the lavishness live in penury.  They build schools and universities that most members of their congregations cannot even afford to send their children.  As if that’s not enough, they twist the holy books of their religions to extort money and respect from their followers.

Thanks to terrorism built on, and propelled by religious interpretations, our world is much more dangerous than at any time in recent human history.  Even then, we tend to claim that one form of terrorism is justified while another is not.  So, most of us condemn Islamic terrorism while some of us justify acts of terrorism against Planned Parenthood clinics or keep silent when a young white supremacist enters a church and kills black worshippers in what most reasonable people would consider a terrorist attack.  Due to religious beliefs, we condemn law breakers but embrace members of our religion who disobey court orders and claim to do so in the name of the same God who warned us to submit to established authority.  Around the world, politics has become increasingly polarized, and polarizing, either because of religion or because of the belief that some of us are superior to others – a claim which is also often justified by religion.

What are we to do?  I do not claim to have the answers but there are some things that I know.  One is that you could travel the world or even through a little town and you would find that the people that would be the kindest and most loving toward you are not people who practice your religion or any of the major religions that you know.  In many cases, they would be people who do not even adhere to any religious practices but their actions are consistent with what we know to be the character of God’s love and goodness.  I also know that God is not the author of confusion.  Therefore, no religious leader or believer who implicitly or explicitly supports any of the conflicts that now prominently destroy families, societies and nations around the world should be considered as a true representative of God.  Finally, I know that God is true and our world is moving farther and farther away from His truth and clinging to religious dogma.  In so doing, we are becoming an increasingly fractured and morally bankrupt people.

We should allow ourselves the space to re-examine our beliefs and actions to see if they actually square with the values of the early leaders of the religions that we are affiliated with, and of the God that we profess to serve.  High chances are that we would find that they do not.  In that case, we must step back and begin our faith journeys afresh.  In a world where religion now appears to be causing more problems than it solves, it is indeed time to re-examine religion.