Harvard’s On Fire
Anarchism Reigns
Obama had a breakdown
What more could you ask for?!
The only thing that’s true about this is the fear that there was a ringworm in my chest (I did, in fact, have some gross red marks coming up on my chest for a little bit of time. They’ve since faded back to their pasty, fleshy tone). I still don’t know what it was, but I hope it has none of the consequences that I’ve laid out here.
“The following are my memoirs regarding the events between December 10, 2010 and November 28th of the subsequent year, presented to you as both an attempt at catharsis and in hopes of developing your understanding of the human condition.”
A poem with murder, philosophy, rebellion, and a wandering Jew! :O
#readit (#wonttakelong) #enjoyit (#mullitoverabit?) #savourit (#goesdowneasy) #shareit (#goodformorale)
A thing to be read.
New Blog (w/ Consistency)
Tumblrers,
I have a new blog that I’m hoping to maintain more consistently than this one. It’s for my writing, which I’ve been doing significantly more of as of recent. This one will be updated still, but probably just as rarely as it has been recently. The new blog will be updated religiously, every week (:O) and have new pieces of fiction, non-, and poetry, fresh from my head.
The blog is here: carefullyarrangedwords.wordpress.com
Please read it. It would mean very much, and I would be very happy.
Love,
Me <3
Relational Religion (Or, Why Some People Aren’t Ready To Reject Religion And Join The Movement)
Two days ago, my facebook news feed was flooded with links to the now-viral youtube video “Why I Hate Religion, But Love Jesus.” The video received an overwhelmingly positive response, but, surprisingly to some, also garnered some pretty pointed critiques (including a poem from yours truly). In my mind, the critics seem to be concerned with a more fundamental issue; the misleading Jesus/religion dichotomy that has gained recent popularity. My generation is one that is inspired by the prospect of creating anew. We look to old, broken down religion (a religion characterized by corruption, hypocrisy, and judgement) and see something that is so broken, so unfixable, that it needs to be rejected in toto. I’d like to take a moment to first highlight where I am in agreement with the movement (yes, movement: the video went viral because it resonated with people. He said nothing radical, but gave a voice to the feelings many of us already had), let’s call the general “hate religion/love Jesus” movement Relational Religion, R.R, before outlining what it is that irks me about R.R.
The Good
The primary message of Relational Religion is that Jesus calls his disciples to be in relationship with him; to love him, worship him, and follow his commands. One’s relationship with Jesus is the most important thing in their spiritual life, and that relationship should remain central to the individual’s heart. Good. Yes. I agree. Additionally, R.R. recognizes religion as being deeply flawed and damaging to the world community. It sees this damage as being contra Jesus’ central message of love, and so believes such religion [for the purposes of this piece, I will use ‘religion’ to reference the hypocritical/corrupt/judgmental stereotype that the Church has gained, while withholding mention of the ‘Religion’ that the Bible exhorts us to strive for (see James 1:27)] to be worthy of total rejection and hatred. I’m a little on the fence here, but yes, on the whole, I still agree.
The Bad
In my mind, there are two major issues in Relational Religion that keep it from gaining my support. They are, in sum, (1) its deeply reactionary nature and (2) its concealed appeal to sinful desires.
1) R.R. is highly reactionary. At its core, there is not a positive religion, actively pursuing a new social project, but a religion of rejection whose motivating force is defense against a perceived threat (to loosely quote Zizek). Relational Religion cannot last. Should it complete its goal of overcoming religion, it would be forced to commit suicide. We see this happen all the time: people from all walks of life will gather together and stand side by side in opposition to a common enemy. Once the enemy is defeated, the group disperses and returns to daily life. If this example holds true for Relational Religion, and I believe it does, then the end which Relational Religion approaches is the end of itself.
I suspect some would respond with something along the lines of, “Yes! Exactly! If it accomplishes its goals, then people will deeply love Jesus and there will be no more need for religion at all. However, we know that that will probably never happen, so we don’t really need to worry about reaching our ends. R.R. is an ideal, like all religions, that will never be attained on Earth. The best we can do is try.” A quick response: while it is true that the ideal will never be attained, we need to ask ourselves what is our ideal. Relational Religion has an ideal that is just as dependent on hatred of religion as it is love for Jesus. As it grows over time, these ideological foundations will become sharper and stronger. Because even the Relational Religionist would admit that its ideal will never be reached, we need to ask ourselves: are we comfortable allowing its foundations of both hatred and love to flourish? The answer, to me, is a clear no.
2) The foundational hatred toward religion found in R.R. should also raise some eyebrows. Let’s be honest: the appeal of R.R. comes just as much from being able to righteously hate something that Jesus would probably hate as it does from loving Jesus. We’re sinful people. Ironically enough, I see many of those who proclaim “I Hate Religion, But Love Jesus” to be closer to the Pharisees than those who are part of the religion they’re rejecting. They, the Relational Religionists, are veiling a sinful desire to hate under the guise of doing so only because they love Jesus and know he would have done so himself. Relational Religion is the same old hypocritical religion in a new, more shiny, package.
“Hey, that’s not fair! Not all Relational Religionists are like that. Many of us deeply love Jesus and want to serve him with our whole heart. We’re tired of needing to justify how we can be part of a religion that is so hypocritical and messed up to our non-Christian friends. We want people to see Jesus when they look at us, not the sinful Church.” True, not all Relational Religionists are going to be so clearly experiencing a struggle between their hateful and loving desires. But, because R.R. has hatred (of religion) built into its very framework, those who subscribe to it are going to be taking a major chance. It seems unwise for a believer who recognizes their tendency to sin to stand so close to the tempting fire of hatred. They will, most likely, get burned.
Conclusion
I’ve left out many other critiques of Relational Religion. A cursory glance at some of the comments around the internet will show that people also have problems with hating religion at all, given that Jesus did not come to abolish religion, but religiosity. People also seem to have problems with the ambiguous language in the movement. Frankly, I think that’s a huge reason it has so much appeal. People are free to turn Relational Religion into whatever they want it to be because the language it uses allows them to do so. We saw it with Obama’s campaign for Change! and Hope! (what does that mean?! Whatever you want it to.) and we’re seeing it here. Regardless, what I’ve hoped to do here is outline two other, less common, critiques of R.R, in order to add some more fuel to this ongoing conversation. Please feel free to comment with your opinion.
Additional Blog!
I’ve recently gotten really into Nietzsche. I wanted to have a place to record my thoughts as I go through his work and some secondary studies, so I started my own Nietzsche blog. Thisisabigdeal will still be maintained (though not, as it seems, throughout the school year), but everything Nietzsche related will be there.
