Organized religion

[abedog13]

I am a yoga teacher who has used my training to complement all that I have learned in my cradle catholic upbringing, I fear that many Catholics are afraid of the word yoga, but please stick with me. Throughout my trainings, I have never felt anything other than that yoga is complimentary to my religion and frankly most organized religions. I do believe that from my studies wanting say is as close to the catholic truth as I can get.

But here mes my real question. I’m at a yoga retreat right now where we are studying what our soul is compelling us to do throughout life. Hordes of people seem to be considering the afterlife for the first time. Perhaps I am an oddity when it comes to Catholicism, but if you have found and are following organized region then I believe your heart and soul are in the right place for the most part.

My main question here is why have so many people have not studied and embraced and organized religion. In no way does it have to be mine or even of Christian faith. But if you were bought into some sort of historical faith, these conceptsmight not be new to you at 45. Is that too harsh

How can we change this. The wold is made up of a diverse group of religious believers who seem to be working towards good. If that’s the case, why does it seem like there are masses of people to whom organized religion is so foreign! How can we change this?

 

[Kelfa28]

The way I see it is people feel that organized religion is a bunch of “rules” and people just don’t like being told what to do, so to speak.

I think of the story of Exodus and how Moses went up Mount Sinai to receive God’s law and was gone for 40 days. That was all it took for the Israelites to forget about God and his power and start committing every kind of sin imaginable. They had all seen God’s power before their eyes and yet they ignored it all in order to do what they wanted.

Most people don’t start considering the afterlife until death is right there and knocking. Many elderly people begin to worry and will start asking about the truth in their old age. Soldiers on the battlefield start to follow organized religion. My husband’s grandfather was a paratrooper during the Korean war and he never missed Mass or a chance to receive communion while he was there. But it was easy for him to disregard it all when he came home safely.

There is a general feeling of being a “good person” and the false notion of “I’ve been a good person” or “he/she has been a good person” so why would God deny good people? Surely a “good” person can go to heaven.
The truth is we don’t know what’s going to happen. No one has any concrete proof of the afterlife and what it’s like. Jesus is the only person on Earth who knew what the after life is like. He talked about Hell at length throughout the Gospels. He taught us how to be saved yet people ignore this and disregard God’s power.

If anyone has any way of changing the whole world to see this…let me know. I know to become knowledgable about my faith and why I believe it and be able to answer questions and pose questions that can’t be answered. I’m the only practicing Catholic on my side of the family. I mean that quite literally…but my family is also quite small. I haven’t been able to change hearts in my family yet…and until I do, I don’t think I can change the world.

I guess living as a Christian should and keeping a good example of your faith is the best advice I can give when it comes to changing hearts and minds.

 

[odile53]

I liked this explanation of “why organized religion” (meaning why a hierarchy and why a magisterium) from an attorney friend who converted to the Catholic Church a few years ago. He is a constitutional lawyer, and has been active in civil rights cases, non-discrimination cases, that sort of thing.

He said, “Okay, we’re all American citizens. Supposing, after some very basic training, we all got a copy of the US Constitution, were told to study it, and apply it as we saw fit. Chaos would ensue.”

Sounded like the best practical argument I’ve ever heard for the existence of organized religions. Somebody who knows what they are doing, and has some real credentialing demonstrating that knowledge, needs to be in charge!

 

[JRKH]

In what little exposure I have had, the primary complaint against organized religion by people stems from “hypocrisy” of those claiming that faith - even the leadership - down through history.
The complaints of “Religion starts wars” is a common complaint though easily refuted. What is NOT so easily refuted is the idea of people attending Church on one day of the week and oppressing their neighbor the other six (and a half) days of the week.
People look at things like the colonial treatment of “non-whites” by supposedly Christian nations. Slavery - treatment of the American Indian - Jim Crow laws - and on and on…
That is the overall crux of the matter. It has little to do with teachings and a great deal to do with living.

The way to solve the problem is to do all that we can to bring our lives into conformance with our faith. Love is the core and the key. If a faith teaches the two great commandments of Love (Mt 22:36-40) then it needs to be viewed in a good light. So embrace Love (Agape), and then embrace a faith.

Peace
James