When they get religion wrong ...

Religion.  It can be the most beautiful experience in someone's life.  It can give meaning to a meaningless existence.  It can give hope, when hopelessness is all that a person or a people has ever known.  I spend my whole life being a dutiful son who went to church with my parents.  I was baptized when I was an infant.  When I was old enough, I went to CCD, got my communion and confirmation, and served as an alter boy and eventually became a lector.  I went to an all boys Catholic high school where I got more religious but watched most of my classmates become less.  When I moved away from home, I strayed away from my weekly attendance.  But when I returned home after college, I rediscovered religion as an adult.

What truly amazes me is how badly some people misinterpret religion.  On one end of the spectrum, people who get it wrong, are harmlessly carrying on spiritual beliefs and rituals that were passed down from generation to generation.  For example, many Catholics cross the line between petition to worshipping saints and angels.  Praying to St. Anthony to help find loss items is harmless even though the widely accepted practice is pretty much a contradiction to an institution built on the idea of monotheism.  On the other end of the spectrum, there are those who have wage war and instill hate in the name of religion.  Almost every major organized religion are tainted by periods where misguided masses kill or hate in the name of belief.  The Spanish Inquisition, the Crusades, 9-11 are all examples of people who mindlessly follow insane rhetoric and forgo true religious teaching of mercy and love.

Is there a worse idea than a supposed religious leader of a loving God going on public television to rally support for acts of hate against another?  Hatred begets more hatred.  The burning of the Koran as retaliation to the plans to build a mosk near Ground Zero will only deepen the hatred of the misguided religious fanatics and widen the ill feelings to the otherwise peace believers.  Why preach love if your answer is to only love those who are like you?  Why preach mercy when your actions are intended to inspire hatred?

Religion works on many levels.  History has shown religion to unite individuals, raise morality, and promote mercy and community service.  It provides belief and identity to those who sought deeper meaning in life and for something to believe.  History also showed how charismatic individuals can twist religion and misguide masses to wield religion as their sword to hate and kill.  If it is morally wrong for one side of a religious war, then it is wrong on the other side as well.  If it is wrong for Muslim extremists to preach hatred and train soldiers to kill infidels, then it is equally wrong for Christian leaders to retaliate using the "eye for an eye" rationale.  Shouldn't a "religious leader" be above what is hard for the average person?  How do you call yourself a preacher of the same bible that preaches love thy neighbors, love thy enemies when you choose to accept the consequences and collateral damage that come with inciting emotional pain to the loving people who share the same bible as their extremist counter parts?

When we get religion wrong, we stray from its deeper purpose and yield to everything from which religion attempts to steer us away.  We suppress love and mercy, and we fill our hearts with pain and hatred.  Even though you may have ultimately made the right decision in calling off the burning at the end Pastor Terry Jones, you will have to live with the misery that you wrought.  I pray that  those of us who are religious, and those who are not, will have the grace to know when someone gets religion wrong and not follow that person blindly.

Stay cheesy,
The Rambunctious Rat