The Organization of God

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When I think of organized religion, many things come to mind.  Men in colorful robes, gigantic decorative hats and bejeweled sticks are images that dance around my head.  This was evident in a recent cannonization event at the vatican.  Amid all of the pomp and circumstance, the Pope sat regally on his throne dressed in a flowing robe of gold and white.  His headpiece, to the best of my knowledge, was encrusted with a total of nine ruby-like stones.  In the more contemporary churches, these images are of men in expensive suits driving around expensive European sedans.  In the early days of this country and world, organized religion was an idea that would have worked had it stayed on its originally intended course.  Today it has become the idealistic undertaking of mere mortals, in a quest to distort the true religious foundation of this once great nation and world.

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The thought of believing in a higher power could give one hope in times of need and answers in times of confusion.  In a widely known quote by Karl Marx, he says, “Religion is the opium of the people.”  This I do not believe to be anything derogatory towards religion because he goes on to say, “People are in distress and religion provides solace, just as people who are physically injured receive relief from opiate based drugs.”  So, basically he was saying that people who are in a time of need use religion as a crutch to feel better.  It has become apparent that an enormous amount of this world has a need for some kind of relief.  According to the Adherents.com database, the top two religions are roughly 3.6 billion members strong.  Those two religions are Christianity and Islam, with 2.1 billion and 1.5 billion members respectively.

One word that comes to mind when thinking of organized religion today is conformity.  With conformity comes the unwillingness to logically question things.  When religious leaders rally against scientific research that could potentially cure something like cancer, their loyal followers will get behind them, no questions asked.  When issues such as gay rights come up in the community, religious leaders are the first to stand against it, and yes their followers are not far behind.  These actions border on bigotry and judgement by the very people preaching about Jesus, who accepted all people with open arms.