NBC News and Organized Religion

NBC news has run several pieces on the changing face of faith in the United States. The reports state what most us already know. People seem to be migrating away from so- called, organized religion toward more individualistic expressions of spirituality.

Those interviewed make predictable assertions. They invoke the wars and atrocities perpetrated in the name of God. It is true that much evil has occurred with religiosity as the justification.

One wonders, however, if religion is to blame, or more likely, are the adherents the culprits? This is a subtle distinction, but it seems to me that anytime people amass in a group, of any kind, both good and evil are possible. An essential good can be defended and enforced through twisted means. As groups claim to be the only correct band, it becomes easier to justify the ill treatment of those not in the group. This is not merely an extension of religion. It seems to happen when people choose camps to inhabit.

So, this is, of course, not unique to religion. How many suffer through accepted and enforced economic systems, forms of government and nationalism. We defend economics, governmental systems and nations by saying, they provide the greatest good for the greatest number. Our rationalizations might be true, but they have a real cost

Perhaps the Achilles heel of all systems is that people are involved. People tend to be self-centered and self-obsessed. We tend to look out for number one. We will manipulate and pervert the most righteous of systems to get what we want.

Religion has certainly not proved immune to corruption. Yet, religion and communities constructed by religion are indispensable. Solitary spirituality, disconnected from a community is prey to a greater risk of self-centeredness and self-delusion. A community can create a culture of self-transcendence. The solitary quest is, all too often, bound up in the pursuit of the individual, and not others. How is this any different than the self-seeking culture of which we are a part? In fact the solitary quest may be the perfect reflection of our rabid individualistic culture.

The good of the proper exercise of religion is in bringing people together in mutual care and support. The religious community reminds individuals that it is not all about us. Without individuals bound together through a common ideology, I don’t know how you avoid devolving into the mere seeking of individual comfort.

Religious adherents have great responsibility for one another. We are charged to cling to the core principles of our religion. We need not get caught up in defending or protecting God. God can take care of God’s self. We must be vigilant for our own efforts to twist our religion into what makes us comfortable and right, to the dehumanizing detriment of others. When we do, we have compromised the tenets of faith that brought us together in the first place.

Final point: The list of good things done in the name of religion is virtually endless and it is added to exponentially, every day.