Well, since today is Easter and all, I figured I should at least talk about something semi religion related. After all, I can talk about video games anytime I want, and in fact I often do. But today is a special day when people all over the country gather together and go to church in order to celebrate the resurrection of Jesus. Yet here I am, at home, not doing that. And what better chance to explain why that is then here! So here it is, my super long post about me, organized religion, and why the two of us just don’t get along.

Fair warning to all, there is a real chance I’d be damned to rot in hell by quite a few people if they read this. So, you know, feel free to stay clear of this blog or join Hudson and just enjoy the ride…

Let me start by saying that I grew up a Lutheran. And while I haven’t exactly forsaken the religious beliefs of my youth, I’ve found myself growing farther and farther away from them over the years due to little more than my growth as a person.

You see, I’m a psychology major with a minor in communication. I’ve spent a great deal of my life learning why people do the things they do, why they think the way they think, why they hold to the value systems they hold to, and how they communicate (successfully or unsuccessfully) those thoughts and values to the people around them. While I’ll be the first to admit that psychology is one of the weakest and least “stable” forms of science out there, I feel that the field as a whole has come leaps and bounds over the last few decades. Regardless though, my time studying in those fields has given me a view of mankind and our interaction with each other that I did not have prior to my college education, which I can safely say has impacted my view of organized religion as I’ve grown older.

You see, here’s my quandary: If mankind if supposedly sinful and wicked at his (or her!) core, then how is it that an organized religion, which is just a group of those sinful creatures, is somehow going to be immune to that sinful nature and do nothing but God’s work? And if an organized religion is doing things that aren’t God’s work, then what makes them any different than any other organization out there?

Now I know what the knee-jerk response to this is, “Well God keeps them in check and makes sure his will is done.” Oh? Is that so? Because I’d wager that Churches hurt and wound just as many people as any other organization. Just ask all the boys who have been sexually assaulted by priests over the years — was that God’s work? “Oh no,” people would say. “That was just the work of a sinful individual in an organization run by God. He is the exception to the rule.” Yeah? Is he? You mean to tell me that somehow the religious leaders of a church can be tainted and turned by Satan but the rest of the people running it are somehow immune? The level of hubris necessarily to accept something like that is just astounding.

“But Jason,” people might say. “It’s not like every priest is a pedophile. Sure bad things can happen, but that doesn’t harm the goal and overall mission of the church as a whole.” Fine then, let’s take a step back for a second…

Discounting such extremes at pedophiles and whatnot, why is there the assumption that those leading a church are somehow immune to the everyday squabbles and drama that find there way into every other group or organization that mankind makes? I don’t know if you all have realized this yet, but mankind is not capable of creating a hivemind yet. There is no such thing as a group of people that agree 100% on any one thing. In fact problems and dangers actually arise when a group starts to shun outside ideas and engage in what is know as “groupthink“. It’s a very real danger, and something that becomes a problem because a group ignores the individual ideas and creativity of it’s members. Mankind needs it’s disagreements and individual viewpoints in order to function as a whole.

And the fact is, even those in a cult or church that share the same beliefs do so through the personal value systems and experience they’ve each accumulated over the years. As I’m sure many of you have realized by now, no two pastors or priests give quite the same sermon. Each one has their own, slightly different take, on what verses or lessons one should take from the Bible at any given time. That isn’t because God is magically keeping them” different” but still “the same.” It’s because they are two different people that see and view the world in two different ways. When I read a book, what I visualize in my head is going to be different than what you and your friends see. That’s why so many people complain about movies based on books. If the book looked the same in all of our heads, then the director’s wouldn’t have a problem taking what was in the book and transferring it onto the screen. But alas, each of us is different and see’s the world a different way. Those in leadership positions at a church or organized religion are no different.

“But Jason, God is there to help guide and lead them so they can work together despite their different viewpoints in the world.” Well that’s fine and good an all, but it doesn’t hold up. Because by that same “logic” Satan is also going to be there to see them miscommunicate and fail at every turn. In fact, I might even argue that Satan would try harder to make a church fail than he would any other group, since churches have the capacity to turn people away from God with any number of slip-ups that wouldn’t even matter in a non-religious organization. If God really is there, then so is Satan. And the whole thing ends up a wash with mankind stuck in the middle somewhere. My point then, is that God offers the same level of protection and guidance to a church’s leadership that he offers to any other group. Which is to say, not much at all.

You’re more than welcome to chalk up my logic to a lack in faith in God. But you’d be wrong. I’m simply a firm believer in using the gifts God gave us. Like free will, intelligence and creativity. Why give us those things if he’s just going to magically lead us to the right choices? That seems counterintuitive to his plan, and only proves my point about leaders in a church being no different then leaders of any other group. If signing a paper and making a group officially “for God’s plan” could somehow make it more successful and immune to drama, then I’m sure we’d all have figured that out and done that by now.

So there lies the rub of it all: the people running your church are no different then you and me. They are regular people with regular problems, and they are no more immune to drama and miscommunication than the group of friends you sit and chat with in the break room at work. Just think about that for a second. The people who are guiding you and your family’s spiritual well-being are no different then the group of people you sit and BS with every day at work. The drama queens? The brown-nosers? Those jerks who just like to complain about everything? They are the ones who are “speaking for God” every Sunday when you go to church. They are the ones who are leading flocks down paths that they decide are correct. Do you really think that’s God’s master plan for the souls of mankind? Because if it is, then count me out.

Of course I’m not going to sit here and claim that churches should be abolished or that they have no purpose. Because they do. Mankind needs community and family, and for many people churches offer that sense of fellowship with others. My problem comes when churches and organized religions claim to “know better” then everyone else. When they convince the people underneath them to change their lives and conform to ideals and beliefs that “come from a higher power.” Because they don’t. And any messages from a higher power that do come through the church, are still filtered through their own personal thoughts and ways of expressing it. Same with any other group out there. Churches aren’t special.

There is no way to remove mankind from the equation, and mankind is a “sinful” creature. God gave you a brain and a book to read. Use them both, and live your life as you see fit. Don’t let anyone else tell you otherwise, myself included.

That’s how I see things at least.