Maggie's Farm

Seems to me that the misuse of religion, on the part of a single person or group of people, does not make that religion corrupt or wrong or credible.

It simply shows that people are corrupt, that religion is a good guiding force, but like any other system (such as government) it can become a force for evil in the NAME of good.

Governments have far worse human rights records than religions.

I have not been part of an organized religion for a very long time. It's been my choice to not be, I rely on the Groucho Marx view that I don't want to be part of a club that would have me as a member (I'm part of Maggie's, I'm part of a fraternity, I have a family...I make exceptions where they work well).

Being a part of a religion often means you have to provide answers (which aren't always difficult) for questions like Curtis posed. But the reality is bad things happen to good people all the time, and bad people pose as good people all the time. It's not unusual at all.

Seems to me if the devil is going to appear, he's going to appear as someone you like, appreciate and somehow look up to. This is why I distrust ALL politicians - PARTICULARLY those who claim to 'do good' for others.

That said, it's my view religion, Christianity, belief, spirituality, etc. is all part of a larger scheme. The main point isn't to be part of a large group of like-minded people (who, by the way, differ on many points of the religion you're of like mind about). The main point is to be a better you than you were yesterday.

You can't benchmark yourself against Mother Theresa. Who would? Her life choices are not mine, and frankly I don't have that kind of personality. Few of us do.

I can benchmark myself against an eight-year-old me, who thought it was funny watching teenagers kill a frog with a rock. When I told my mother she said "what makes killing a helpless thing funny?" It was a lesson in ethics and peer pressure, because at 8, teens were 'cool'.

I can benchmark myself against 18 year old me helping friends cheat to pass classes. I was good at it, had a great reputation with the nuns so none suspected me, and it got me friends. It never occurred to me that losing the reputation I'd developed was a larger cost than the gain of friends who weren't really friends and just using me. Another lesson learned (thankfully never caught, but reflection is part of moral growth).

I am also heartened when I see people - family, friends or acquaintances - whose lives have gone off the rails to a degree, or severely, regain their lives through religion. How many people can say "I regained my center, my life, and my family because of government"? None. How many people have kicked an addiction with the help of religion? Many.

Religion provides a balance which some people need, and many want. I watched as a young girl in my son's class became ill with a very rare form of cancer. Her family became close to the Church, I remember seeing her father go to Mass every day before catching the train. I was impressed. She lived for 10 years before succumbing at age 18, accepted at every (3) Ivy League school she'd applied to. Her family was devastated, but the entire community supported them.

People can, if they want, spend time talking about the 'destructive force' of religion. They will talk about pedophile priests (a small minority of the entire group), they will talk about the Crusades, witch burnings, and anything they can think of as 'evidence' that religion is somehow evil.

That, to me, is just the 'devil' (for lack of a better term) finding his way into everyday life to drag down the good ideas and foundations which support religion.