Simply put, religion is failing us

It is a sad conclusion on my part that religion today is failing us. It has, historically, had a shady past creating some of the most brutal and oppressive acts on human life in spite of whatever good it has produced.

But today, worldwide, it is often the fuel of cruel prejudices, hatred, and violence. The wars of the Middle East all have their origins in religious disputes. In Iraq, Afghanistan, Yemen, and Iran, religious clashes and the refusal to honor other beliefs, often just other interpretations of their own beliefs, have led to the slaughter of millions of helpless people.

Today, Evangelical Christianity, in our own nation, has become one of the most confusing, deceptive, shallow and self-serving belief systems anywhere. The hypocrisy of modern Christianity has swallowed it whole and left it a mocked and rejected object of derision.

Clearly, there are exceptions. But a wide-spread image of religion in our world today is one of withering decay.

I grew up in the church and spent over 20 years as a full-time minister serving four unique congregations over that time span. After college and already into my second church as pastor, I went to seminary seeking not just answers to the big questions of life, but I wanted to know if my faith had any real substance. Was it genuine? Did it actually guide my life in healthy and remarkable ways? Was it something I could ask others to experience?

I studied Greek and Hebrew, biblical backgrounds, world religions, pastoral counseling, religious ethics, Church doctrine, and much more. It was an arduous but wonderful learning experience.

When I decided to pursue my doctorate, I omitted the traditional seminaries and studied with an ecumenical and interreligious institution for ministry professionals. The campus was a modest but beautiful Catholic retreat center located on Long Island Sound in Madison, Connecticut. The faculty was made up of career ministers, priests, and nuns, professors and scholars from New York seminaries and the University of Oxford, England.

That experience was one of the most profound of my life.

I studied urban ministry, anthropology in both secular and religious cultures, liturgical and creative writing, and more. The faculty was amazing—warm, human, brilliant, and challenging. My class colleagues were from across the country. Men and women of various denominations with remarkable skills and deep longings for understanding God in our lives, our churches, and our world.

So, religion to me has always had a significant place in my life. Still, today, long after I left an active, full-time pastorate, I remain curious. The mystery of God is not something I have been able to deny or escape. I often doubt. I sometimes consider myself a humanist, a skeptic, an agnostic. But mostly, I am a seeker. And deep within me is a love for people, especially the vulnerable and the forgotten, the broken and the rejected. Life is often hard. Sometimes cruel. And I have always wanted to find my place in relieving that if I can in any way.

That is why I am so disappointed in religion today. Especially Christianity, which is my own choice of faith. But all religion, world-wide, seems embroiled in political scheming, greed, power, and control. Left out is the sweet and kind heart of people led by a divine spirit and the principles of transcendent love.

All religions are guilty. None can claim superiority or infallibility. There is no perfect faith. But there can be and should be a desire to use religious faith in ways that enhance all life and give genuine respect for and concern for every person in the world.

Perhaps that is not achievable. But people of faith ought at least to try.

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The Unclad Soul

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