With or without religion, you would have good people doing good things and evil people doing evil things. But for good people to do evil things, that takes religion.

Steven Weinberg, 1933- , American Physicist

Some atheists and agnostics refer to religion as “the opiate of the masses”.

That is only sort of true. Religions are not really opiates so much as clubs. Clubs have rules to follow for membership and for which the hierarchy guarantees certain benefits. In a club, you don’t have to do anything really, you just belong. Rules aren’t an opiate. They don’t make you go to sleep; they allow you to. You fall asleep on your own.

Judaism, Catholicism, Evangelical churches, etc. all have traditions and rules. Judaism is of course based on The Law, an elaborate system of rules. Christianity is supposed to be a new, free covenant of love. Hardly. The same human propensity to reinvent that corrupted Judaism in Christ’s time, took only a few hundred years to do the same to Christianity. This became so bad by the early 16th century, that Martin Luther tried to face it and rather unintentionally led the way to a whole new church. The idea was to get back to a true faith, but now the various protestant churches each have their own rules and traditions and therefore their own brands of insularity. The ultimately arrogant (and unscriptural) judgment is that observers of other religions are not “saved” if they do not relate to God as the judger does.

None of which has much to do with faith.

Jesus was killed for standing against the corrupt religious traditions of his time, but He is both the source and the model of Christian faith.

Jesus teaches us to go the first mile to fulfill our obligation to the world and also an extra, second mile to fulfill our obligation to our Heavenly Father. Religions often become obsessed with going the second, visible, mile, but they will rob you blind on the first.

People of real faith are so obsessed with doing well on the first mile that they humbly fear not even getting to the second mile.

The religious are so sure they have God packaged by their own traditions that they feel more than justified in condescending and judging those outside of their traditions. How many people have suffered violence or even been killed in the name of God or at least someone’s idea of what is right?

The faithful are humble. More than that really. They have learned that the more you know God, the further you realize you are from His perfection. That realization will tend to make you humble. They are therefore more likely to be obsessed with loving and forgiving others so that they might enjoy the same in this life and in heaven. They understand that Jesus taught us that we should judge no one before we have perfected loving them.

Are there people of faith within religious organizations? Of course. Are there philosophers? Yes. But how are they regarded? They can be leaders or they can be controversial. It is interesting that they are rarely followers, content to uncritically follow denominational traditions. That role is better tailored to those who don’t think or don’t want to. After all, religion is an exercise in programmed response. It is a compact one enters into in exchange for membership and salvation.

Living the faithful life is much harder than living the religious life. It requires thought and constant introspection and bravery, sometimes even bravery to stand against a religion. It can be lonely. Make no mistake; every walk with God is alone. You have in fact only one constant companion, but He is a good and faithful one. Often you don’t even know He’s there, but you can tell. Everything that is good and beautiful, everything that makes you pray, whether joyous or painful, is from Him. The two men walking to Emmaus after Jesus was killed were thrilled to walk with Him, but they didn’t recognize him. Not until he handed them their meal. That’s when they saw those holes in His hands.

Religious magic just isn’t the same. You can’t say some magic words and then forget about it and be okay, as some religious leaders would tell you. You can’t just put your hands on the TV or pray to Mary or carefully employed saints. You have to get in there and believe that you have a deal just between you and God. You have to be involved. It’s a walk, and a dance. It’s beautiful, and terrible, and it will take your breath away. You won’t find it in a church or a bible study. Its only there if you have first found it in the world.

There are lots of clues, in nature, in Scriptures, in each other. You have to get it from all of those things too, not just one or two. It’s right there in your heart, regardless of whatever religious trappings are hanging around outside of you. The heart of real faith is like heaven. It has many rooms and it will fit many other souls. It will not bend to man-made rules, it only adapts to the Spirit, because only the Spirit knows what to do with it. The heart is the part of us that knows how to give but not take; to hope but not expect. Hope is purest when it is unfettered by expectation. Hope is our purest expression of our faith in God. It can be terrifying, but the heart is strong enough to be terrified and to go on anyway. God gives us grace that way. Grace is God’s purest expression of His faith in us.

So go ahead. Be in a religion, but don’t bet your life on it, much less your soul. Trust God, but test religion. Love others whether they are religious or not, but find ways in the world to walk your walk. God willing, you will find another heart or two willing to make the same walk and take one of those rooms in your heart.