What Religion Is ... And Is Not

To describe what something is is much better than describing what it is not. However, there are exceptions to the rule.

Religion is an exception to the rule.

Religion is about making broken pieces whole.

The roots of the word come from the idea of making something that is broken, something that does not fit together correctly to be made whole, to fit together correctly.

To be able to say what religion is, how it is supposed to function, what it is supposed to look like would be much more preferable. Heck, it’d be a whole lot more fun.

However, I do not know one single person for whom religion has not at some point in their lives functioned as a tool to divide, to exclude, to bring about fear, to point a finger of blame.

So, we need to say what religion is not. Maybe one day, down the road, we can be constructive, put the broken pieces back together, and say what religion is ... but not today.

Here’s what I think:

Religion is not supposed to make us fear.
That’s what fundamentalism does.

Religion is not about shame and embarrassment.
If something claiming to be religion shames and embarrasses its followers, that’s not religion.

Religion is not one-sized-fits-all. We are all different. It seems that God likes that (see the Tower of Babel story).
Fundamentalism is one-sized-fits-all. Fundamentalism does a great job of telling you exactly how to live and how to think.

Religion is not corny and cheesy.
If a particular brand of religion does not work for you, that’s okay. Bless it and realize it works for others.

Religion is not about excluding other people.
That’s what fundamentalism and kickball are for. Picking sides does no one any good.

Let’s use our words thoughtfully. Religion means making broken pieces whole. If a so-called religious system, religious denomination, religious church, etc. does something that is not making broken pieces whole, okay, they have the freedom to do that. But that’s not religion.