Recently, a friend of mine showed me a YouTube video titled "Why I Hate Religion, But Love Jesus." Though many of you may have seen the video, I will nonetheless offer a recap.
In the video, Jefferson Bethke recites a poem he wrote arguing against institutionalized religion and the misconceptions which it spreads. He criticizes the facade of righteousness and faith which religion can create. Most people assume that attending church or other places of worship makes them believers, but he points out that simply showing up does not equate with piousness. He implies that religion has become too focused on rules and restrictions and that religion should be focused more on faith rather than man-made issues.
The video has received numerous responses ranging from unapologetic support to harsh criticism. Recently, The New York Times published an article titled "How to Fight the Man" in which the author, David Brooks, discusses Bethke's views, finding his desire for rebellion is a result of youth and lack of life experience.
Nevertheless, Bethke still has something significant to say. The rigid and antiquated views of modern religions can discourage many from devoting themselves to any religion. I agree with Bethke in that, in some ways, institutionalized religion has the superficial aspects of the spectacle, where it preaches one thing, but does another. Thus, today's youth find themselves rightly questioning institutionalized religion.
The Pew Forum for Religion and Public Life indicated in 2008 that approximately 16 percent of U.S. adults identify themselves as being religiously unaffiliated, while 25 percent of individuals between the ages 18-29 are religiously unaffiliated. Though 16 percent does not seem like a large percentage of the population, it is a significant increase - double in fact - from the same figure 18 years ago. The fact that a quarter of today's youth are religiously unaffiliated is quite remarkable.
The general increase in young individuals being unaffiliated with any religion cannot be traced to any one reason. Partially responsible for the decline in religious affiliation, however, is the loss of trust felt toward recognized religious bodies.
Scandals such as The Vatican's sexual abuse cover-up made people question the motivation and purpose of the Catholic Church. People want to believe the Church is honest and pure, but cannot help questioning it when such issues appear.
Moreover, international incidents arising from Islamic extremism have aided in creating a negative perception of the religion, and have deterred people from practicing in public or at a Mosque for fear of being associated with those extreme beliefs.
Furthermore, homophobic or racist viewpoints force people to question the validity of specific interpretations presented by religious believers. For instance, an interracial couple in Kentucky was forbidden from participating at their local church. I will concede that the situation may very well be an isolated case, but there are examples of generalized bigotry in religious practice. In cases such as homosexuality, the Pope has made his anti-gay sentiments clear, and other major religions share a similar view. Religion ought to unite people, but has continued to appear exclusive and hypocritical, preaching a piousness and unity it departs from in practice.
Part of the problem is that organized religions are structurally inflexible and have lacked the willingness or interpretative haste to continually adapt to modern thinking and culture. By either broadening the interpretation of religious texts or being more far-sighted and tolerant, many institutions could reduce the negativity with which they are associated.
Religious leaders do not have to change what is written, but they should at least show a capacity to more fairly deliberate on issues as they come. Until then, this conflict between modern sentiments and traditional religious thinking will encourage youth to shy away from organized religion and just practice religion individually through personal appeals to spirituality.
Of course, not all religious institutions exemplify what I have described, but many do. I am not proposing that the religious institutions overturn their views, but that they make modification a possibility in theory and practice.
Maybe the individual in the YouTube video was being merely rebellious. Or maybe he really does have a point. Of course, he does not speak for everyone, but general statistics of people being more religiously unaffiliated attest to its message being not off the mark.
Perhaps I am being cynical in my perception of religion, but then, so are many others. Yet the fact that people have continued to self-identify as less affiliated with organized religion will cause religious institutions to open their doors to more and different kinds of people.
Fariha Kabir's column appears Thursdays in The Cavalier Daily.
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