"What is hateful to you, do not to your fellow man. That is the law: all the rest is commentary."
— Rabbi Hillel
A friend of mine who is a professional sociologist was hired recently for two research projects: both concerning why the three major religions — Christianity, Islam and Judaism — can't seem to attract larger numbers of twenty to thirty year olds into their houses of worship. "I'll save you a lot of research time," I told her. "Have priests, rabbis and imams start telling their parishioners that individuals can define for themselves how to practice their own connection with God and, within one generation, we'll see far more people who are active in our religious communities."
We both laughed the laugh of "Wouldn't that be nice...?"
In reality, this kind of radical evolution won't occur in organized religion because, as its name suggests, organized religion requires organizing people to think in similar ways. And how — some people ask — can religious organizations allow their members to commune with God in whichever way they desire and still be considered "organized"? The answer, of course, is that most cannot: we usually sacrifice some degree of personal choice in order to join to our religions. To compensate, most of us prefer belonging to religious institutions which compliment the way we think, not contradict or challenge it.
There are, to be sure, some obvious gifts mainstream religions offer: along with sacred texts and oral traditions, certain codified methods of thinking, behaving and celebrating God are preserved for many generations. But does the focus on preserving a way of life also prevent natural social evolution? For despite the incontrovertible fact that humans have continued to evolve and change over the course of history, mainstream religion has chosen to not keep up with those changes. Worse, threatened by that very evolution, the major world religions continue to hold fast to certain, divisive positions: some Jews claim to be God's Chosen People; some Christians insist that we must accept Christ in order to be saved; some Muslims believe that only Muslims will go to heaven; and then there are those who cross-pollinate and confuse the shit out of all of us.
This doesn't mean that organized religion is flawed; rather, it highlights the problem with how religions organize. And throughout our shared history, that method has almost invariably been one of control: requiring people to adopt a certain inflexible idea or image of God, certain inflexible and sacred texts of God, or certain inflexible laws as given to us by God.
I would suggest that the disconnect between our evolving secular lives and — by comparison — our inflexible religious lives has occurred because of five simple reasons:
#1) We have allowed ourselves to believe that the only proper place to worship God is in a Synagogue, Mosque or Church. While it may be a satisfiying experience to join our religious community in a common house of worship, buildings are not required in order to connect with God. Our ancestors, hunters and gatherers, still found time to celebrate life, to commune with nature, and to practice a co-existance with a variety of Gods and Goddesses. If God is — as theologians tell us — omnipresent, perfect, omniscient, good and eternal, then we have access to that Divine energy at any time and from any place. A perfect being will never punish us for reaching out to pray from our bedrooms, our cars, our toilets, our hospital beds, our national parks or our churches.
#2) We've been falsely convinced that we need clergy to have a true relationship with God. Although clergy can certainly help provide laypeople with advice, commentary and traditions central to our religious organizations, they cannot lead us to God if we are not willing to make that connection ourselves. It is our own responsibility — if we wish — to forge a relationship with a power greater than ourselves. That connection is personal, often private and always sacred.
#3) We have allowed ourselves to believe that God is a force which exists outside of us and separate from us. This belief is, I would argue, the single greatest threat our civilization faces because it affects our personal interactions, our culture, our politics and our planet. If each of us were — as one teaching suggests — made in the image of God, then we carry far more within us than just the DNA of our parents, grandparents and ancestors: we also possess a piece of the Creator within each of us. It is this core truth which threatens organized religions as well as political institutions because it places us all on an equal playing field, where no one individual is more a child of God than anyone else. When we finally understand that this small, still voice, this Life Force, this Divine Spark exists in every living creature, it shatters the illusion that we are separate from God. Further, it also shatters the illusion that we are separate from one another as humans, from other animals or from the very planet itself. We are fovever interconnected with all living things, a fact which ought to unite and humble us.
#4) We've been taught that although God is omnipresent, perfect, omniscient, good and eternal, that God is also vengeful, hateful, likes retribution, and will damn us to an eternity of hell if we don't do exactly what we're told. This is, simply put, a contradiction which cannot be justified. Vengence, retribution, and inflexible control aren't the hallmarks of a perfect, good or omnicient Creator; they are indicators of imperfections and human character defects. Despite this obvious conflict, religions continue to embrace these characteristics and ascribe them to God in order to perpetuate fear among parishoners. It is a powerful and successful tool: fear of God often motivates humans to do as they are told and to not question authority, even at the expense of their own instincts. If God is perfect, then I personally have faith that God will act more like a kindly Father than like a schoolyard bully, a scorned friend or a destroyer of cities or the planet. And if God created the Platypus, then my bet's also on God having a mighty fine sense of humor. An egg-laying mammal that has a spatula for a nose...?!? Please.
#5) We've been taught to believe that our holy book, our God and our religious laws are the only true way to gaining salvation over evil. Some misguided Christians actually have the audactiy to believe that Christianity is the one, true religion. And how can they know this for certain? Simple: their Holy Book tells them so. Then there are the misguided Muslims who have the audactiy to believe that Islam is the one, true religion. And how can they know this for certain? Simple: their Holy Book tells them so. Finally, some misguided Jews tha actually have the audacity to believe that Judaism is the one, true religion. And how do they know this for certain? Simple: they experienced a psychadelic, mass encounter with God...which, as you might guess, is written for all to read in their Holy Book. But if all three major religions simulataneously claim to be the one, true religion...then which is correct? The answer is simple: no one knows for sure — not you, not me, not Jerry Falwell, not Abu Bakar Bahir, not Rebbe Schneerson, not anyone. Humans, imperfect even on a good day, can't possibly claim to speak for God and expect to be taken seriously. My personal belief is that if God spoke to Abraham, to Noah, to Mohammed, to Jesus and to others, then each of those prophets probably has something worthwhile to teach me. But no one person or organization has a monopoly on the truth. Truth is a much bigger concept than any one religion can claim to grasp as sole right.
Where does this leave modern humans in their search for religious connection? To be honest, the odds are stacked against us sometimes: we can't outpreach a fundamentalist Christian who insists we're going to hell; we can't outreason an orthodox Jew who claims we're commanded by God to put on tefillin each day; and we can't stop those Islamic clerics who base their hatred of Western culture and preach jihad on the Koran. I'd suggest that the only solution in a world where some organizations seek to dictate who God is, what God wants and how you should seek God is to free yourself from those chains and adopt a style of authentic living that best suits you...regardless of what others think. This takes bravery, patience and faith. But, no one is better equipped than you to figure out your own religious and spiritual journey, and the process is, frankly, way more fun than being foreced to eat sacred wafers or gifitte fish anyway.
Then, once we've each made that incredible leap into the spirit of the moment, into the knowledge that we are surrounded and supported by Spirit at all times and in all places, we will understand why we can't allow other institutions, organizations or religions get in between us and our relationship with the Almighty.
And besides, since most intelligent folk already know that the one real and true God is a flying spaghetti monster, you might as well have a little fun with your time here on Earth. Reach out and touch his noodily appendage. It's good for you.
Labels: politics, religion
