Answering "hate religion, love Jesus"

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His rhyming is brilliant, but the message is distorted, and corrupted. The person above me made an excellent point. Someone should try to contact this poet and e-mail him those facts.
 
I really liked it, I think he makes some great points about living our faith rather than hiding behind the façade of organised religion.

Jesus did come to turn things on their head, He did teach that the Law was unattainable and instituted to remind us of our imperfection and sinfulness. He did criticise the Pharisees, the legalistic religious institution.

However I don’t think that Jesus came to abolish religion and He most certainly was a good, faithful and observant Jew.

One of the main themes of Vatican II was a return to the Christocentric root of our faith, that’s the message I get from this video.
 
FightingFat said:
However I don’t think that Jesus came to abolish religion and He most certainly was a good, faithful and observant Jew.
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exactly, I recently made a thread about anti-religion and church philosophies, and one of my fellow friends said "You can’t judge a medicine by those who profess it works, but rather by those who take it." People need to have an open mind AND have a fair education in our Church’s History, before they make the same cliche statements and debates anti-church people make.
 
My husband firmly believes organized religion is useless. Then again, he’s seen a huge change in me, and in the kids and his ex-girlfriend, since I found Catholicism. 🙂

I don’t know if apologetics is the answer to many in this mindset. Being genuine and living your faith goes a long way.
 
Hey, Eric Filmer! Post your rebuttal in the “comments” section of that YouTube video. Way good. Thanks.
 
WOW, i was just going to post this, but looks like you beat me to it 🙂 although i dont undertsand why you are all being so harsh on the guy, sure he makes MASSIVE errors, but his heart is in the right place. and i think when he said he “opposed religion”, he probably meant the people who use religion as a tool to subjugate the masses. unfortunately that has happened in the past, so i understand where people like them are coming from, even though they are misinformed.
 
Irish_Polock said:
This is what the author has said in a post to an apparent Catholic on his ministry’s FB page about what he meant by the word religion:

"the word ‘religion’ is used to connotate those who are counting on their self-righteousness to earn salvation. It can be Jews, Muslims, etc. but Christians as well who think that by their good works, deeds, and obedience they will find themselves earning their own salvation. There is no hate behind the poem toward any person. There is, however, disgust with the distortion of the gospel that says we can earn salvation. Eph 2:8-19, Tit. 3:3-8. It’s by God’s unmerited grace alone that we are saved.

facebook.com/seasonofchisel/posts/322434024444366?notif_t=share_reply

Whatever his zeal might be, it appears to be misguided. 🤷
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I actually agree with the above. We ARE saved by God’s unmerited grace - not by our good works. However, it gets tricky because Jesus said if you love me, you will obey my commandments. Obedience is how we show Him we love him.

Often people take a verse or two from the Bible and hang everything on that… it’s what I LOVE about being Catholic… we rely on the entire bible, taken a whole - and 2,000+ years of tradition. Plus Jesus Himself said He would never leave nor forsake us, and the gates of hell would not prevail over His Church.

I’d also like to ask the video maker what would have happened to Christianity if it wasn’t held together by a “religion?” For the first few hundred years the Bible didn’t exist - fast forward about 1,000 years give or take and it existed but nobody had one, not that it mattered because people couldn’t read anyhow. How would the gospel have spread without the Church?
 
callmeChris said:
youtube.com/watch?v=1IAhDGYlpqY

This video has been getting major popularity…his words are truly well put but His message makes me hurt inside :sad_yes:
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Why waste your time seeing things like this? If it causes you pain just avoid it. Nourish yourself with beautiful videos about the majesty of God ad His Church. Love God and your neighbors as God commanded it. If you feel inclined, pray for people that make such videos so that they might come to Truth. I don’t understand why you would subject yourself to this 🤷
 
EricFilmer said:
From this video’s text commentary:

“This poem highlights my journey to discover this truth. Religion either ends in pride or despair. Pride because you make a list and can do it and act better than everyone…”

But pride can also manifest itself in making a YouTube video spouting off a bunch of unsubstantiated and poorly conceived anti-Church cliches. Here are some things this guy says, and my thoughts in response to them:

"What if I told you, Jesus came to abolish religion?"
I would ask you why Jesus didn’t tell me this himself.
There’s lots of stuff Jesus said in the Bible, but “I came to abolish religion” isn’t in there.

"If religion is so great why has it started so many wars?"
It hasn’t started any wars. Economics is the real reason behind wars, so make an anti-economics video.

"Why does it build huge churches…"
Like the Temple in which Jesus prayed, taught, paid the temple tax, and drove out money-changers?

"…but fails to feed the poor?"
The Catholic Church is one of the largest charity organizations in the world. Add the charities run by Orthodox Churches and Protestant denominations and you have the poor being fed in every corner of the world. My parish helped establish the local food bank, routinely staffs it with volunteers and takes up 12 collections each year to help support it.

"Tells single moms God does not love them if they’ve ever had a divorce"
Uh, exactly who ever said this?

"But in the Old Testament God actually calls religious people whores"
Yes, but the specific religious people being referred to were idolaters.

"Tend to ridicule God’s people; they did it to John the Baptist"
Uh, exactly who is doing this ridiculing of God’s people?
And John the Baptist was not ridiculed. The Pharisees questioned him, and refused to accept him, and Herod Antipas imprisoned him and executed him, but I know of no instance of him being ridiculed.

"It’s just behavior modification…"
Ever hear of the Ten Commandments?

"…like a long list of chores"
Ever hear of the Book of Leviticus?

"I ain’t judging, I’m just saying…"
Well that’s good to know.

"Quite putting on a fake look, because there’s a problem if people only know you’re a Christian by your Facebook"
I thought you weren’t judging.

"Because if grace is water then the Church should be an ocean…"
My parish baptizes between 70 and 100 people a year. How’s that for some grace-filled water?

"…It’s not a museum for the righteous but a hospital for the broken"
My parish has an ER and an ICU. It’s called the confessional.

"I don’t have to hide my failure, I don’t have to hide my sin, because it doesn’t depend on me, it depends on Him"
A sentiment shared by every person who goes to the above-mentioned confessional.

"Which is why Jesus hated religion"
I didn’t know Jesus hated anything. And where in the Bible did Jesus say, “I hate religion”?
Maybe it’s in the place with that other hard to find passage about Jesus coming to abolish religion.

"Don’t you see it’s so much better than just following some rules?"
“If you love me, you will keep my commandments.” (John 14:15)

"But if Jesus came to your church, would they actually let him in?"
He’s already there.

"He was called a glutton and a drunkard by religious men"
And other religious men called him “Lord” and the “Son of God.”

"But the Son of God never supports self-righteousness, not now, not then."
This is very true!
As a matter-of-fact, every time I feel compelled to create a YouTube video to tell people what I think is the proper attitude they should have in order to be true Christians, I remind myself of the dangers of self-righteousness and refrain from doing it.

"Religion puts you in bondage, while Jesus sets you free"
I would like to know of one thing that my religion has enslaved me to that Jesus wants to free me from.

"Religion is man searching for God while Christianity is God searching for man"
I thought Christianity was a religion.

"Which is why salvation is freely mine, and forgiveness is my own, not based on my merits, but on Jesus’ obedience alone"
And this is a doctrine taught by the Catholic Church, all the Orthodox Churches and all the Protestant denominations. This guy acts like this is some sort of new revelation.

"That’s why I literally hate religion, in fact I resent it, because when Jesus said ‘It is finished’ I believe that he meant it"
And what exactly are you saying here? That when Jesus died on the cross it was supposed to be the end of religion? Then explain how you would have known that Jesus died on the cross for your sins without religion as a vehicle to preserve and teach this to every generation for 2000 years?

And I believe that when Jesus established the Church and gave his followers the Great Commission, he literally meant it.
Exactly how does a person have a Church and obey the Great Commission not in the context of a religion???
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Well said, but there have been a few wars that were over religion so be careful. For example the crusades and after the Reformation (protestant wars) etc…
 
Hi Guys,

I’m new here and I just want to say thank you to all who took the time explaining their point of view about this “phenomenom”. I wasn’t worried too much about all this, until I saw that Youtube video. Since then I’ve been trying to find what the Catholic interpretation of this phenomenom ‘‘I am not religious but I love Jesus’’.

If I may say, don’t you think that these people are dangerously on the border of idolizing Jesus and in my perception, somewhat disregarding God, himself ? It’s to the point they might just infact make a faith called “Jesus-ism”.

What do the Apologists have to say about this ?
 
Slinger said:
I think it’s really just a matter of perception. When I hear the word “religion” or “religious” I don’t think of relationship with Christ but rituals and rules and people who believe that if they simply follow those rituals and rules they have bought a spot in heaven.
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You know this how?
 
DominicJoseph said:
Hi Guys,

I’m new here and I just want to say thank you to all who took the time explaining their point of view about this “phenomenom”. I wasn’t worried too much about all this, until I saw that Youtube video. Since then I’ve been trying to find what the Catholic interpretation of this phenomenom ‘‘I am not religious but I love Jesus’’.

If I may say, don’t you think that these people are dangerously on the border of idolizing Jesus and in my perception, somewhat disregarding God, himself ? It’s to the point they might just infact make a faith called “Jesus-ism”.

What do the Apologists have to say about this ?
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It’s a fadish thing to say is what apologists should say. It has within it a perception of surperiority that “I have something those poor dumb Catholics, Orthodox, Anglicans, Methodists, ect. don’t have”
Instead of using thier definition of the word, its better to simply remind them of the origins of the word.
 
It’s youtube, nothing offensive. Basically a guy contending about the role in religion and the love of Jesus.

Done in poetical form.
 
Well, there’s a video on youtube that’s making the rounds on facebook among evangelical Christians, called Why I Hate Religion, But Love Jesus.

After seeing the link several times, I had to check it out, and then I had to respond. I’m copying my response here in case any others would like to paraphrase a bit (for reposting on facebook if YOU see it too!) or expand on the argument for me!

BEGIN MY RESPONSE:

Interesting rhymes, but I have these few things to say:
  1. It is impossible to hate religion for the christian: Religion is literally defined as “the service and worship of God or the supernatural” and “commitment and devotion to faith and… observance”… to say I hate religion is to say “I hate the service and worship of God”… not correct. What he means to say is that he hates legalism.
  2. He’s all assertion and no arguments, as a specific example he states that “religion says do, Jesus says it is finished”, but those two statements are not incompatible. If they were, then Christ would not tell us:
    – Confess your sins to one another
    – Those who are not born again of the water and the spirit will have no life
    – We must eat the Body and drink the Blood of the Lamb… specifically HIS Body and Blood
    – That not one “jott or tittle” of the law will pass away until the end of time
    – In fact he’s MORE restrictive than the Jews, because Jesus applies the divine law not only to actions, but to thoughts as well.
We have to also consider the consistancy error: Judaism was a covenential, sacramental faith system. Yes, it got lost in legalism along the way (the false idea that an external checklist of behaviors is sufficient for salvation as opposed to the idea of intrinsic righteousness such as Christ demands)… but the bottom line is this: God designed a covenential, sacramental religion for His chosen people… and God’s design today is LIKEWISE for a covenential, sacramental faith (unless, of course, we want to assert that God was WRONG in forming Judaism, but a God who is wrong really isn’t much of a God…)
  1. Finally, factual errors:
    – Religion has been the PRETEXT for many wars, but the reality is that many “religious” wars were landgrabs by greedy nobles, expansions of aggressive empires for monetary purposes, etc.
    – While religion builds huge churches, it does not fail to feed the poor. The single, largest charity organization in the wordl is the Catholic Church, and when all Catholic Charities are combined, the US Government fails to provide as much for the poor… and when religious charity is all combined… well, it’s monumental (This of course, ignores the rebuking Jesus gives the disciples for saying something similar about the woman who annointed His feet… if God is King, He deserves a respectable building to represent Him).
    – There is no church I’m aware of which teaches that God does not love anyone (okay, westborro baptist lunatics aside, no mainstream denomination)
Aaaaand one final note: sourcing. The line “Church is a hospital for sinners and not a museum for saints” is a line that Abigail van Buren (writer of Dear Abby) paraphrased from St John Chrysostom (“Enter into the Church and wash away your sins. For there is a hospital for sinners and not a court of law.”), who himself had taken it from St Ignatius of Antioch, who had said: “so that ye obey the bishop and the presbytery with an undivided mind, breaking one and the same bread, which is the medicine of immortality, and the antidote to prevent us from dying”… that’s a catholic line of thought 🙂
 
This guy (in the video) is a fool. It might help his case if he got educated. And also if he did not speak in that stupid rhyme.
Peace,
Tom
 
It’s a poem about how a guy loves Jesus and hates religion.

What did I take out of it? A message I’ve heard a hundred preachers give.

Thankfully, I know where the Facebook spam people have been doing “Jesus>religion” has been coming from – which is ironic because I’m fairly certain that is not the message of the poem.

I wasn’t terribly moved. But then, this last week I visited a Baptist church on vacation with family and wasn’t moved there either. I’m getting to a point where I’m tired of cookie cutter cliches and want to hear someone preach something deeper.
 
Agreed it wasn’t life changing, and I hear you on wanting something deeper, but I often feel there is a compromise to be made somewhere.

Does anyone really think Jesus would have wanted a religion like the Catholic Church in it’s role today, with the gowns and garments, 1000 page catechism’s drawn out of fragments of Gospels etc.
 
The catechism grew out of having to explain things in context. It helps people understand complicated human situations in the light of a simple Christian faith. I think Jesus would be all for explaining things so that people can understand them. The catechism is a book of charitable instruction, not mindless rules and regulations!
 
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