Disorganized Religion

Disorganized Religion

Jan said, “I’m uncomfortable with religion. When I hear it, all I can think about is the violence of the church and all the wars, and the greed, and the discrimination, and their lust for power that permeates history. Organized religion has used God for its own ends.”

My first thought was humorous. “Jan,” I thought to myself, “most of the well-meaning churches I have belonged to were closer to disorganized religion, than organized. Just attend a few board or committee meetings, and you’ll see what I mean.” What I said aloud was, “Jan, there are many people who agree with you. A cursory survey of history shows that you’re right. In our lifetime, it was the Catholics against the Protestants in Northern Ireland. There were the ever-popular Crusades, and dozens of Pogroms against the Jews in Europe. I don’t think God had much to do with those things. Those were about people —— about power, money, control, hatred, ideologies, dogmas, bigotry, scapegoating, and land.” Churches are culpable for many of those things, but God isn’t to blame.

Humans have frequently used religion as an expression of hate. It’s not just Christians either; Sunnis and Shi’as are duking it out in Iraq, and neither Sunni nor Shia is fond of the Sufis. Hindus and Sikhs have fought for centuries. Unfortunately, anybody anywhere can do wrong in the name of God.

Let’s Pray: Dear God, please don’t let the history of religion get in the way of those who seek You. Let those who are troubled by history see beyond the human flaws of religion. The only perfection is You, and You are love. Amen.

Today’s Thought Is: God doesn’t misuse religion; people do.