FACING THE AFFLICTION OF INSTITUTIONAL RELIGIONS

Judaism, Christianity and Islam are not unique in depicting religious practice as the most important among the basic needs of a fallen humanity; since the dawn of history insecurity of the mere mortal and the quest for the individual’s happiness have been the two main factors generating religious orientation as one of the most essential necessities of human life.
From Homeric times, a terminology of reverence and fear (αιδως και δεος) has been in use to signify the magnetic attraction exerted on mankind by the sacred or divine and experienced either as mysterium fascinosum or as mysterium tremendum. Inextricably connected with such experiences –in fact originating from them- is an apprehension of “supreme authority” as the imaginary recipient of the human soul’s submissive responsiveness to powers, gods and demons. Hence, “authority” in all its aspects has initially been perceived as evidence of divine presence, and thus as the prerequisite for making religion possible… This explains both: how religion became the core of all civilisations as well as why every human culture had to be preserved through religiously authorised practices: The very concepts of law and order were indistinguishable from divine authority and thus to exercise authority of any kind (as leader of a tribe or king of a nation, even as father of a family) became identical with playing God. The primitive idea of the city-state is based on the belief that everlasting divine powers have pre-ordained the lifestyle of man as part of their role in maintaining human life on earth.
As was to be expected, “supreme authority” in human hands has caused severe conflicts and-consequently- tremendous loss of life throughout the history of mankind. Abuse of power and jurisdiction exercised in the name of God or gods always was and still is rife all over the world. Two dismal developments have immensely contributed to that: 1) Manipulation of the inherent desire of the human soul to keep in unconditional and unmediated touch with the Sacred; it aims at enforcing compliance with strictly prescribed forms and practices or “traditions” almost always added a posteriori to the fundamental principles of faith for the sake of distinguishing its followers from all other human beings – hence the most disturbing question: do religions unite or divide? and 2) Substitution of God or gods by a lasting institution of either His single locum tenens or His collective sacerdotal agency under the pretext of preserving divine transcendence.
Because of these two developments, religions not only have been enabled to sustain and perpetuate themselves down the ages but –most significantly- they have managed to induct and institutionalise themselves as if by divine command and in the name of the “ truth” they are supposed to embody. In doing so religions have become overtly mundane thus contradicting their implicit or explicit promise of translating mankind into the divine realm: to patch up this discrepancy the translation of the faithful has been inevitably postponed till after death, in an after life which is customarily described as “eternity” only to be met with disbelief by a vast majority of sceptics. Because of such discordance, those who strive to practise what they believe to be truth according to their religion, rather than those who renounce religions altogether or openly betray and violate particular religious principles, are doing much more harm to mankind. Hence, most of the known religions can only prove themselves far from being consistent or reliable and this renders the question of their credibility or truthfulness almost redundant; all the more so, in the face of that ambiguity all religions would seem less humane and certainly far from wonderful especially if true…
Paradoxically it is precisely this evasiveness that lends every religion its ultimate appeal! Exactly as on the stage, religious ceremonials can instil submissiveness into the human soul as far as their pageantries sublimate reality and render salvation tangible; it comes as no surprise then that all religions saturate their followers with a peculiarly submissive culture. This evokes the ambience necessary to showing them what to do and –even more importantly- what not to do! No wonder therefore that many of such followers sink into existential benightedness assailed as it were by heavy waves of guilt - a state of being that has often enabled the noblest minds to become great masters in fine arts. Hence, the long trail of cultural legacies whereby religions mark their presence in history. Yet, cultures thoroughly submissive to an ultimate authority bring always about all sorts of religious creativity in perpetually desperate attempts to preserve certainty and stability through faith in universally compulsory axioms. Worst amongst them is probably the fallacy that the Almighty need receive constant support from and collaborate with a fallen mankind so that His salvific will may be done; and this involves the duty of Mission.
Mission in this context is not exhausted in announcing the good tidings to ignoramuses; it posits a determination to compel, the willingness to exercise divine authority in the name of God or gods, for nobody is allowed to resist divine will. The mere conjecture that such a Will need become reality through peaceful or violent human effort has never been questioned; yet, such undermining of God’s omnipotence is a disservice to Him verging on blasphemy! St. Augustine became the first Christian to presume that there was nothing wrong in coercing people to accept the “truth” of God: on the contrary, it was God’s will to do so as he had found out in the Gospel: “Compel them to come in!” (Luke, 14:23). This doctrine provided the medieval Church with sufficient excuses for raging holy wars against the infidels and burning “heretics” at the stake. As the Dominican Jean Quidort of Paris (+ 1306) has succinctly put it in his De Potestate Regia et Papali: “…initially the Church had no powers of compulsion because it was itself subject. But now, in its modern state, it has full authority to compel and command everyone as Augustine says…”(XI, 34).
In the course of centuries two massive tides of religious coercion have surfaced and are still causing havoc to mankind: the first, known as fundamentalism, functions indirectly as a moral imperative implying that the Supreme Being always needs to communicate his messages to the world through appointed agents or authors of holy books; people must give heed to divine instruction or face temporary and everlasting penalties either side of the grave. The second tide, known as terrorism, is a purely religious militant movement though it may easily be mistaken for political; it functions directly as God’s agency seeking to enforce His will through the capital punishment of infidel, sinful and unjust people implying that those who offer themselves as instruments of divine wrath by sacrificing their own lives now, are instantly rewarded with sanctity and eternal glory in heavens. (Medieval crusaders, all sorts of nationalistic liberation groups seeking a certain motherland’ s independence and Islamic activists belong here). There is also a wide range of political, economic and philosophical ideologies to be counted here as forms of religious coercion, - because of their dogmatic rigidity and underlying devotion to absolute principles whereby they pursue their otherwise mundane aims – especially all totalitarian systems from fascism to communism, whether atheistic or not. All these movements share largely the very same anthropological aspects: a) human nature is the very source of evil (racists tend to except their own race). b) Virtue has nothing to do with nature but very much to do with nurture. c) Meritocracy, systems of values and moral codes are society’s indispensable tools for discriminating between its own members and making a social pyramid inevitable. d) The individual’s rights take precedence over any other rights (in communist systems only superficially this seems to be not so) e) felicity or happiness of the individual is the ultimate goal of human existence either side of the grave. f) Divine transcendence can never be compromised – any idea of real union with God is only the by-product of immature intellects (though mysticism is very good for spiritual entertainment) g) Metaphysics – not Physics is the cardinal pointer to a single “objective” reality (either theistic or atheistic).
Against these massive tides of religious coercion, mankind has countered a vast variety of passive resistances down the ages. The three most enduring attitudes towards oppression, intransigence and violence of any kind have been solidified in:
1) Non-institutional Piety such as is found in Quakers, certain types of Buddhism and Sufism. The irresistible appeal that some aspects of eastern and far eastern religions have exercised over the modern and post-modern era stems from their non-authoritarian approach to the present human condition: they offer holistic companionship on a universal journey rather than a standardised plan for personal salvation. In the Buddhist perspective in particular, individuality is definitely marked as the cardinal problem of humanity, [precisely as was the case in Biblical Judaism and early Christianity: if anything is to enter into the divine realm and thus be saved, this can only be the whole, not the part (1 Corinth. 13: 10); the world, not the individual (John 3: 17)].
2) Secularity (not to be confused with profanity): as a genuine gift of Providence to mankind, it knows no boundaries whatsoever in redeeming freedom - thus enabling individuals to be human - and in preventing institutional religions and absolutistic ideologies from turning the planet into a huge concentration camp. It is amazing how incomprehensible secularity remains to all closed circuits of global uniformity even today. That kind of “unlimited” freedom, which holds firm to universal principles without confining salvation to anything less than the cosmos, shall remain for ever inconceivable to all institutional religions. It shall keep threatening their very existence as long as they fail to see that being human is immensely more significant than being a devoted member of any religion - especially of one originating from the Bible. This is so because the God of the Bible has inalienably bestowed upon humanity the insuperable attributes of His own Image and Likeness. Having been naturally integrated into this humanity need be utterly more meaningful to a Christian or a Jew – even to a Muslim - than membership of any religion. No initiation or other rites of passage whatsoever can ameliorate a perfect Maker’s work, which He Himself has deemed excellent: “and God saw everything that He had made, and, behold, it was very good”(Gen. 1: 31). Only real union with their Creator exalts human beings to status identical with God’s, beyond humanity. The inescapable destiny of mankind is that exaltation to which all are naturally predisposed by two innate factors: a) the capacity to orientate themselves unswervingly towards their pre-eternal destiny and b) the incapacity to err (infallibility) regarding their destiny. Any error occurring to human beings in this life (including death) is the result of preposterous choices made by malfunctioning genes or mental faculties; and malfunctioning is the outcome of inadequate determination to realize their full potential. The medical problem thus created has only to do with intentions (biological, inherited, idiosyncratic or other), not with nature per se.
Taking advantage of people’s errant condition the Medieval Church conceived and gave birth to a very peculiar notion of authority, the power of binding and loosing sins, in the hope of achieving ultimate submission in its membership and thus turning believers into subordinate functionaries ratione peccati. A new concept of being human, that of the sinner, emerged and universal salvation was privatised in order to be monopolised as the most precious commodity. Obedience was declared the cardinal virtue at the complete expense of freedom and Canon Law (Corpus Iuris Canonici) transformed Christendom from Corpus Christi into slavery of body and soul for the sake of paying satisfactions to Christ. Thanks to lengthy religious wars and controversies on whether the same person is entitled to hold both swords (spiritual and secular monarchy), the revolt known as Reformation gradually led all sides to the conclusion that there is no such thing as absolute truth about anything and secularity was reinstated. Thus, the trouble begun on the day the Roman emperors Gratian, Valentinian II and Theodosius I imposed “that religion which the divine Peter the Apostle transmitted to the Romans” (380 A.D.), ended properly on the day Luther burnt up the book of Canon Law (1520 A.D.); but the ramifications are still obvious all over the divided Christian Churches.
3) Spirituality, finally, is currently the driving force against all persisting forms of religious coercion. Giving priority to people – who are longing for experiencing the divine omnipresence - rather than to any holy structures, rules or remnants of religious past, Spirituality is rapidly becoming the most promising asset for the unity of mankind; a unity that disregards styles, forms, traditions obsessions and prejudice for the sake of substance alone. A sharp distinction between Faith and Religion does already make sense; believing in God, not belonging exclusively to a certain congregation is what mankind is after. Diversity, tolerance, inclusiveness are not obstacles to unity as long as the journey is in progress. All those who realize that an abundantly good and benevolent God could have never created the great majority of people spiritually handicapped, predestined to spend their lives in permanent dependence on a tiny minority endowed with spiritual powers and divine gifts and delegated to provide for the majority’s salvation, would rather dump institutional religions for the sake of a humble and meaningful spirituality. What irresistibly attracts humans to a living God is the desire for unmediated contact with the source of all Goodness hic et nunc, not a willingness to subject themselves throughout this life under the yoke of His vicars or ayatollahs in the hope to be rewarded by Him in the life to come. After all, no creature can ever substitute for the Almighty. (This was the argument whereby Arianism was defeated at the Council of Nicaea in 325 A.D.) Eventually spirituality has aptly provided the space where human beings are valued for their human nature alone rather than for what distinguishes them as individuals i.e. their talents or merits. Healing spirituality is a prominent feature following the realization that all are part of a divided and dispersed original integrity, hence incomplete, unsustainable and craving for love and mutual acceptance. New insights always bear the risk of leading to extremes and certain forms of spirituality do not escape this rule. There is some good overlapping with secularity and some bad overlapping with New Age worship verging on the daemonic and paranormal. However, people trying to find shelter from the abuses of institutional religions might sometimes fall victims of spirituality abuses…
----CONCLUDING REMARKS---
All institutional religions are rapidly loosing authority and their attendance numbers are dwindling. Their demise is certain and makes good news, although it is rather early to rejoice! This comes as no surprise at least to biblical religions: it is clear that in Judaism and Christianity whatever has a beginning has of necessity an end :( 1 Pet. 4: 7) Churches are no exceptions. Only God is without beginning or end and all those created in His Image and Likeness shall share by grace in His everlasting life. Faith shall last until the end of this world but religious institutions that proclaim it shall not. Their terminal decline is due to mankind’s maturity, which enables it to see that the Almighty has never been in need of any services rendered to Him by His own creatures, whereas all man-made gods have! Believers can also discern that no institutional religion can survive without providing God with such services!
Significantly, Psalm 15 appositely expounds this truth in verse 2: “ I said to the Lord, Thou art my Lord, for thou hast no need of my good deeds” (Septuagint). Early Christian writers such as Irenaeus have made it clear that no acts of worship or self-dedication on behalf of man must be seen as responding to divine needs but only as expressive of gratitude and thanksgiving (Against Heresies, IV, 17 -18). That is why those who insist on offering undesirable services to their God may inadvertently worship the devil! All those who divide the world into the sphere of the faithful and the sphere of infidels saying that conflict will never cease until all are brought into the same fold of faith or denomination, all those, finally, who undertake missionary work for the salvation of their fellow-men, most likely serve the devil, - certainly not God. Announcing His Uncreated Kingdom - being at once omnipresent and inaccessible, can be the task of no creature. Bearing witness to It is impossible for mere mortals apart from those already called to be sharing It together with their Risen Lord (Luke 22: 29-30).
If mankind can still advance a reason for paying attention to its Maker, this must have to do very much with His ineffable Silence in the face of all disasters – a Silence utterly indicative of His infinite Goodness. He tolerates everything, as He runs no risk of losing anything. He waits down the ages for His creatures to mature enough so that they may discover in their own nature how to link up properly with Him without receiving help from any religion. His compassionate and abiding endurance in waiting for us suffices to keep us ecstatic in this life, as He will in the life to come.