Rethinking Religion
We can do this, everybody
Religion is a loaded term
I feel like we all need to revisit our relationship with religion. What is it actually? What is it for? Why do so many people treat it like a four-letter word? Is it really that bad? Does it have to be?
Religion has existed in some form since humanity began, and I think we ought to regard it with a degree of reverence—even if some of us don’t believe in its core concepts. Sure, it’s complicated, but as we’ve covered before, religion is unavoidable. Perhaps it’s time we re-evaluated our relationship with it.
So let’s examine why we may have negative feelings about religion, consider its benefits, and discuss what this means for us.
To get my beliefs and biases out of the way
I am a hardcore metaphysical idealist, monist, and mystic in my beliefs. To me, religion is simply an avenue within the physical world for the soul to arrive at its metaphysical home. I don’t believe the events of the Bible or the Gita happened in a literal sense, but I read them for the truths they contain. I take the words of Jesus and Krishna very seriously, and I happily worship with congregations of multiple faiths, occasionally shedding tears of religious fervor.
The Divine is the ultimate truth, but it’s ultimately something that cannot be understood materially. In order for us to arrive at the realm beyond concept, we need stepping stones—ideas, stories, and rituals that bring the reality of idealism into the illusion of materialism. Therefore, I think religion can be a good thing, as long as it helps souls transcend toward the Divine while elevating this world for everyone involved.
I do not think all religions are equal, per se, as they are collections of ideas and practices (remember the three B’s), and not all thoughts and actions are equal. Thinking of solutions for hunger is greater than plotting murder, and clothing the poor is a worthier activity than arson. Obviously.
But as teleology teaches, we can judge a thing by what it’s for and how well it achieves its purpose. With that in mind, I believe religion can be phenomenal in many cases, but a disaster in many others.
The sins of man
One of the biggest critiques of religion, and deservedly so, is the brazen way people have used—and continue to use—it as justification to kill, subjugate, and violate their fellow human beings. Most of us can agree that’s a fair thing to find distasteful. If you think that kind of behavior is acceptable due to your beliefs, you may want to further examine your values and where they come from.
No matter where you look, people of every creed are profoundly damaged and imperfect. The two questions are: What’s the official doctrine, and what are the motivations of the devotees?
If the ideas are purportedly good yet lead to suffering and death, it might be a good idea to meditate on whether they’re actually good in any sense of the term. If it’s good for you but bad for others, that’s not definitionally good—it’s just convenient.
Texts are written by people, and not everyone writes or canonizes texts with the best intentions. Many great teachings are found in man-made texts, but they’re great because they align with universal truth. If you’re reshaping your conscience to accommodate the words of someone else, you aren’t using the gift of reason God blessed you with.
If someone is acting in the name of doctrine but going against its teachings, they’re a con artist. It’s not uncommon for clinical psychopaths to take positions of religious leadership, and it’s a problem. This leads to bloodshed, sexual assault, and the disillusionment of people searching for truth. If a religious authority figure is caught with his pants—literally or figuratively—down, that’s a statement about him, not what his title suggests.
I’ve known multiple innocent people who were murdered in the name of what’s “good” because “God said so.” If you think there’s any context in which that’s acceptable, your beliefs may need revisiting. And believe me, I know extremists from multiple religions who would justify that sort of thing under the right circumstances.
Religion itself can be great
Religion has brought us some truly great things. From the Salvation Army to the Seva Foundation, religion has inspired people to do beautiful things for complete strangers. Not all religious gatherings are preachy or militant; some are simply kind.
From the Sabbath and communion to puja and darshan, there are countless elements within religious traditions that lead us to the good. If your practices bend your will outward, dissolving your selfishness to make way for altruism and love, then you’re likely on the right track. The blessing of religion is that it often provides a ready-made system so you don’t have to figure it all out yourself through contemplation and searching.
Mysticism can be a psychologically and spiritually hazardous journey, and religion offers a safer, more cautious approach to the path to God. And there are many religions and sects to choose from. Not everyone has the same psychospiritual makeup, and that’s fine. Some people need Buddha; others need Zoroaster. If you’re unsure what will guide you to God, investigate with your heart, mind, and a healthy dose of patience.
If you’re currently a member of a religion that you don’t feel comfortable leaving but it doesn’t feel right where you currently are, that’s okay too. My advice would be to explore more moderate sects or your faith’s mystical branch. A big part of why I started writing this Substack is to highlight the vast overlap of beliefs in mysticism and to bridge divides. Look at the sections of your religion where passages that make you uncomfortable move from literal to metaphorical.
But you have to be brave
If you find you’ve been living by the wrong beliefs, that’s okay. It’s healthy to change your mind when presented with new information. Don’t shoot the messenger because your worldview is threatened by truth. The whole point of religion is to bring us to ultimate truths. If you use it for anything else, that’s not what it’s for. And if you find it’s using you for something, it’s time to make a change.
You’ve been blessed with the gift of a conscience. You have an intuition of what is right and wrong, good and bad. You don’t need a book or a clergyman to tell you what you believe—you already know it. Follow those beliefs and seek the truth that shines through the illusion. You deserve to live an authentic life, one where you honor the part of yourself that cries out for its spiritual home.
Religion is like a romantic partner. It can be beautiful, but the relationship needs to be loving. It needs to be honest. It needs to feel two-way and safe. It needs to allow you to be fully who you are, and you need to be able to accept it fully in return if you’re to build something good and beautiful together.