SQJ Taipei

Seems like people like to talk bad about “organized religion”.

I see it on internet message boards a lot… but you also hear people say it on news programs and documentaries… and if you get out and talk to people… some may mention it.

I guess in my head I know that people who say this must have an issue with the Pope or with the Southern Baptist Convention or a group of hypocrites at some church they used to go to… or who knows?

But… part of me is really confused by this statement when it is clear that the people saying it are putting me in some group labeled “organized”. I don’t mean that they label me personally… it is just that oftentimes those blanket statements about religion… evangelicals… “fundies”… missionaries… whatever… tend to be groups I might (at times) say I’m a part of… and…..

there is certainly not much that I would call “organized” about anything religious that I’ve been a part of. The most organized things that I’ve ever experienced are things like schools and police departments and the like… but “organized religion”? What is that really?

If it is “the church”… it is really sad that people are of the opinion that “the church” could ever be organized or controlled… it is by its very nature more like a wildfire than a candle… it seems irresponsible to me to call the church “organized religion” as it can’t ever be that… so… people must be referring to…

a specific church or denomination? If so… I might agree with you to a large degree… but isn’t the answer really simple? If you don’t like how catholicism is “organized”… don’t go to a Catholic church. If you don’t like how “Your city here” Bible Church is “organized”… don’t go there. For the most part… church attendance statistics will show that the more “organized” a denomination is… the faster its attendance is declining. I’ve been a part of a few different local churches in my life and while I could say a great many things about them… I’m not sure that “organized” would be a word that would come to mind.

I know that this post helps no one… and I have no real answers… only more questions…

I just don’t really understand why people use that term – organized religion – about people (Christians) who are, in general, pretty disorganized and who actually don’t seem to play well together. I also can’t get my mind around the idea that the same people who say “organized religion” usually liken adherents to “lemmings” or “sheep(le)” or say they are “weak minded” and yet it would be those same fools (the adherants) who can somehow mastermind a large scale religious takeover of global proportions? I’ll just say it… again.

I don’t understand.

I’m just trying to clean my desk and dresser off… I promise you I’m not a part of this “organized religion” thing that people keep talking about.