Say What You Will About Religion

Although my Easter wasn't quite as fraught as energetic new blogger SRB's, I did have an interesting conversation with a family member about the usefulness of attending church, or being a part of organized religion in general. It went something like this:

People just go to church because they're lonely losers who need the community.
Yup, that does apply to a lot of churchgoers, but half or more are families or couples who are incredibly busy but still find it important to make time for church. Besides, wait until you're out on your own and come try telling me about lonely losers.

Everybody at church acts fake.
After a discourse about how no sane person behaves in class the same way she does out at the bars, I pointed out that one of the great things about church is the way it forces us to at least act as though we believe that people different from us are our sisters and brothers. If you have the means, you can arrange your world so you never have to encounter anyone you don't agree with: drive your own car, live alone, go places where those of your age, race and income cluster. In church, we know that we're not only going to encounter people different from us, but also that our being there advertises the fact that we believe in our own equality with and fraternal love for everyone else there. This is a holy goal, but it's against lazy human inclination, so no wonder if someone acts a little strange in trying to live it out.

Then I went into this unprompted speech about how one of my favorite things about Catholicism is the way it connects you to two thousand years of history. The faith we celebrated Sunday is the same our grandmother was baptized into and the same her ancestors emigrated to exercise freely and the same the disciples began to build after the death of Jesus. (The Easter vigil liturgy, with its sweep from our oldest faith story to the confirmation of the newest Catholics, reminded me powerfully of this.) Your relationship with your faith will probably be the oldest single relationship you have and the only one that may last your entire life. And then it was:

So you're saying that religion is one constant interpretation that never changes.
No, of course the job of our leaders in faith and our own reflection is to take elements of tradition and make them relevant to our own lives. Isn't it WONDERFUL!

But if people do that, they'll just hear what they want to hear. Like people who just want to come and hear that they're forgiven and so they're all okay.
Yes, a lot of people definitely come to religion for what they can get out of it, and hear what they want to hear in any religious message. But at least they're getting their affirmation in a place that is also going to remind them that they have a responsibility to the poor, and a responsibility to be in community with one another, and a connection to history and to the future. That's not the same as the "Whatever you do is totally fine!" message they'd get from other sources, like Oprah.

And that point I carried. Religion: It's better than Oprah!