My Case Against Organized Religion

A recent discussion about a certain movie and the religious implications involved got the old gears in my head churning. Before I get into a full fledged rant, I should first make a declination of my religious background. I grew up with parents who were divorced and each of them struggled to find their way into a church that fit their spiritual needs. We started out Catholic (the divorce pretty much ended that rainbow ride) moved on to Baptist, Methodist, Presbyterian, and Assembly of God. Within those particular flavors of Jesus, you could find everything from the fire and brimstone pulpit thrashing to the crying on one knee to an all out rock concert. I wouldn’t say I’ve seen it all, but I’ve seen a lot. And all of them, for the most part, were full of hypocrites, telling you how to live your life and how some sacrifice made now will pay off in heaven.

I guess that’s where “faith” enters the picture. Maybe I could blame my parents’ indecisive church hopping on my cynicism toward organized religion. That and my father was renowned for smoking pot on the way to church. And that in and of itself is enough to raise the cackles on any god fearing Christian. It didn’t (and still doesn’t) bother me at all. Now it does make my father a hypocrite (probably), but if you think about it many pagan religions used some form of mind altering drug to “elevate their awareness” (i.e. get high) in order to make contact with the spirits they worshiped. I could also turn this into a marijuana legalization thing but that’s not a direction I want to travel right now. Let’s just say while I think people should be free to do with their body whatever they please, I also respect the law enough (and my employment) that as long as something is against the law, I will not cross that line.

So what do pot smokin’, church jumping parents instill in their children? First and foremost, though probably unwittingly, they liberate one from the shackles of dogmatic principles. Suddenly (or not so suddenly in my case) burning a doob, or having a drink, responsibly, without losing employment or hurting others isn’t so taboo anymore. The church would never really stand for that, had they known what my parents did behind closed doors. Or maybe they would have overlooked it, provided their tithe was adequate, so long as they kept it under wraps. Neither of my parents smoke pot anymore, it’s simply not commensurate with employment laws, worker’s compensation insurance, or anything else really. Neither of them go to church much anymore either. My mother tries, now and again to find spirituality and acceptance in churches she visits… with the same unfulfilling result in the end.

Which brings it back to control. I don’t really care what form or flavor organized religion takes, it’s really about control… and I’m not just talking about Christianity. From what you can wear to what you can eat to what day you can/cannot do something or who you can associate with while doing it, organized religion is really only about propagating itself and the only way to do that is to control the thoughts, will, and decisions of its members.

I want to make clear, this isn’t a protest against God, it’s defiance toward those people who use God as a tool to subjugate the rest of us. You can’t scare me with damnation or lure me with deliverance. You could try to emulate the teachings of Jesus, by showing the same love, acceptance, and understanding that he supposedly wanted for all of us. That would certainly entice me. So far in 2,000 years of trying, he’s the only one that was any good at it. I won’t hold my breath while waiting.