True vs. Tainted Religion: Why religion itself is not the problem

Thích Nhất Hạnh, a 21st century Buddhist monk, wrote of religion:

A finger pointing at the moon is not the moon. 
The finger is needed to know where to look for the moon, but if you mistake the finger for the moon itself, you will never know the real moon.

Religion is the finger, God is the moon.

Religion is the tradition we build and the beliefs we establish about God and the act of spiritual seeking, and what you were taught about religion will vary based on the time and the family you were born into.

And while being religious has been commonplace for most of human history, religious affiliation has been on the decline since the 1970s, and this trend has only accelerated in recent years.

I believe this is the outcome of true religion intermingling with religion that has been tainted.

Let’s discuss the difference between true and tainted religion so that we know what to take with us into the future and what to leave behind.

When so many have seen religion misused, they opt out entirely.

I’ve personally heard it a thousand times.

I’m not religious.
I don’t like religion.
Religious leaders are power hungry.
The church is controlling.
Religion is the problem.

I understand where they’re coming from.

We’ve all read the history books. We know about the holy wars and genocides, and we’ve studied religious imperialism and corruption.

We’ve watched religious leaders embrace self-serving politicians and television evangelists manipulate the masses for money.

We are not strangers to the misuse of religion and the abuses justified in its name, and this truth threatens the very existence of religion itself.

But I’m here to suggest that religion is not the problem…

We are.

Religion is simply a reflection of human consciousness.

Religion is a window into how far we’ve come and how far we still have to go.

Religion is a collective embodiment of human response, and even responses that come from true experience can be mobilized with tainted motivations. For example:

When humans are afraid, we seek control.

When we feel insecure, we seek power. 

When we aren’t content, we seek to posses more and more in an attempt to find peace. 

Individually, it’s easy to taint what is true within us.

It’s ok to be afraid, it’s not ok to try to control everything and everyone.

It’s ok to feel insecure, it’s not ok to pursue power because it feels like safety.

It’s ok to be discontent, it’s not ok to try to possess more of what we don’t need at any cost.

It is the struggle of the human condition, and we are all susceptible in these moments to create a world that eases our pain.

In the Christian tradition, this susceptibility is called the sinful nature.

And when it is so easy for us to taint what is true as individuals, of course the same will be true collectively.

True religion can just as easily become tainted, and in many ways, it has been.

We are human, after all.

But the gift of the Church, the gift of a collective response to a sinful nature, is that we can see these inclinations in each other and choose a different path together.

This is the reason for the foundational Christian value of Repentance:

Turn away from what you’ve been doing and begin anew with a lens of love.

In our individual lives, we have to repent over and over again.

The same is true of the group, of religion itself.

So let’s stop acting surprised that religion has been used for human means to maintain control, to wield power, and to possess more than what we need.

And while our outrage is justified, let’s remember that when it’s true to its original purpose, religion itself is not the problem.

We are the problem.

We’ve misused government and business and every possible avenue to ease our human struggle—not just religion.

Anything that humans orchestrate is susceptible to our condition.

So what do we do with our rage about the misuse of religion? Sue Monk Kidd suggests we turn to action:

What rage wants and needs is to move outward toward positive social purpose, to become a creative force or energy that changes the conditions that created it. It needs to become out-rage. 

Our action will be to untangle religion from what is tainted and to lay claim to what is true. After that?

We let what is tainted self-destruct.

Trust me, it already is.

People are walking away from religion in droves, but the human longing for spirituality remains.

Religion is the finger that exists to point us in the direction of the moon, the Divine, and we all want to know who we are and why we’re here.

So in the spirit of out-rage, let’s discuss the difference between true and tainted religion so that we know what to hold on to and what to let go.

Tainted religion requires obedience.

You’re told what to do and how to do it, and when you don’t, you are called to account and made to fear the consequences of your disobedience. God is viewed as punitive.

True religion offers guidance.

You are given guideposts for how to move in the world and moral lessons that will apply in different ways at different times. No one is demanding that you follow narrow, modern interpretations of ancient texts that were formed without historical context as if they are the words of God herself.

Tainted religion starts wars.

Actual wars and wars with other religions. If there is a justification for the conflict and killing, then the ends justify the means.

In the Christian tradition, we look to the moment when Peter drew a sword to defend Jesus as he was being arrested. Jesus told Peter to lose the sword, and healed the wounded man instead. Violence was never the way of Jesus, not even once.

True religion makes peace.

There is no justification for choosing war over initiatives for peace. And if you are using Jesus as model, it is better to die than to kill, to heal than to fight. In the same way, the calling of true religion is always peace.

Tainted religion seeks to control. 

You are told what to do with your body, sexuality, money, and time. And when tainted religion loses control over you, it relies on your internalized fear and an externalized shame structure to get you back on track.

True religion hands you a map.

You are taught ancient beliefs about the world, and you’re invited to embrace the deep roots of tradition. As you seek, leaders offer insight and a nurturing presence. And if you walk away, if you forget who you are and why you’re here, the longing for true religion draws you back without an ounce of force or shame.

Tainted religion calls you sinful first.

Rather than honoring the chronology where you are first created in the image of God and called good in Genesis 1, you are forced forward into Genesis 3, and your sinful nature becomes your foundational identity, one to fight and fear.

You’re not taught about your innate goodness—when we are ashamed, we can be controlled. You are taught that you are untrustworthy, and if you’re not careful, you might slip up. Your inherent goodness is overrun by dogma, your intuition is smothered by shame.

True religion honors the image of God within you.

You are told to trust yourself and the compass of the Spirit within. Your intuition is a gift.

Of course you are taught to be aware of your sinful nature, of your shadow self and your self-serving inclinations, but you are not required to walk in shame every day of your life, to be afraid of yourself and your desires, or to blindly follow someone else’s lead.

Tainted religion is containment.

Your freedom goes as far as the leash will allow, but even freedom is called into question. You wouldn’t want to be “too free” and end up somewhere uncharted or outside of their limited understanding. There is little room for expansion, progress, and individuality.

True religion is freedom.

You trust and honor God, your own body, and your fellow person. You discern using the fruit of the Spirit:

Is this action or perspective bringing more love, joy, and goodness into the world? Am I behaving with patience, kindness, and gentleness? You follow peace, and peace is freedom.

In tainted religion, you are obligated.

In true religion, you are invited.

It is the difference between a finger pointing at the moon and a finger claiming it is the moon.

Can you see how wildly different a tainted religion is from a true one?

Can’t you see that we need religion even still, just not the tainted kind?

Richard Rohr writes that, “True religion is always about love.”

Without religion, we have no form for passing down spiritual learnings and practices, no foundation from which to fly.

Without religion, we ask questions of no one and never receive a reply.

Without religion, it is harder to find the moon in the sky.

God remains, but one has to start with a blank page and chart their own path.

True religion offers us a map if we have a destination in mind.

And although there is no destination in this life but death, true religion can hold us unto it and tell us we have nothing to fear.

It’s not religion we want to eliminate.

It’s tainted religion that needs to go.

And until the world comes to understand what religion means without the tainting, the threat will be to lose it all.

Then we’ll have to start over again, but don’t be afraid about that either.

If people walk away for a generation or two, we will start over.

Wouldn’t it be great if we didn’t have to?