What Is It About Religion That People Don’t Like?

There is a noticeable trend in hard-copy books and articles published online that would make our grandparents turn over in their graves. I say that because the word “religion,” which was sacred to previous generations, has acquired a patina of resentment in the last few generations. I don’t know exactly how that came about, but let’s look at a couple possibilities here.

There are some obvious reasons that include allegations of mental, physical and sexual abuse on the part of leadership in all religions. Some have received more press than others, but the dark side of human nature residing in all of us to some degree occasionally rises up to create havoc in all cultures, all over the world. And it has always done so, but before the invention of printing presses and certainly before the internet there was not the wide-spread publicity that we all enjoy or suffer from today.

With that monumental reason out of the way, what other social trends contribute to the fact that churches and synagogues are not as popular as they once were? Or, is my opinion a misconception altogether? This article is not a collection of facts regarding trends in institutional membership or attendance. It is not about quantities of people at all, but about an attitude. I see emails announcing webinars and selling books and courses about a variety of spiritual teachings from all over the world because I’m interested in knowing what other people are selling these days. And I notice that if religion is mentioned at all it is used to represent the opposite of freedom and growth. Religion seems to have taken on the role of the big, bad establishment, the authoritarian, parental, judgmental “other” that anyone who is trying to grow had best avoid. Religion is often used to represent the exact opposite of growth.

Have you noticed this trend, too? Of course there are hundreds of thousands of websites and whole bookstores full of books about Christianity, and in smaller numbers the same can be said about Judaism and Islam. However, I am looking at a cutting-edge attitude that is also apparent in popular culture. Perhaps the degradation of established religion has always been degraded in popular culture, that’s part of what makes it popular. It’s shocking and therefore newsworthy and cool. It’s popular with young people who are exploring and looking at everything in order to find themselves, and adults who have become jaded with their life choices and want to explore other possibilities. It’s popular to be thumbs-down on religion.

I think that none of us likes to be told what to do, and when our chosen religion becomes the voice in our head telling us what to do when we would really rather do something else, well, that’s when we go looking for other voices. I think that the role of religion as a guide is what many people resent. They want to be comforted, fed, inspired and entertained, but they really don’t want to be admonished or led.

It reminds me of that fascinating question, “Who decides who decides?” Whether it’s in a family, business or other group setting, that question rules. Apparently it rules up there in our own minds as well. We want what we want when we want it. If our religion gets in the way of what we happen to be wanting, that’s when it needs to go away, or, more accurately, when we choose to go away from it.

You might think that I’m speaking from the standpoint of a person who has taken the same religious stand my whole life, but I am not. I am well-acquainted with these things I’m expressing. And I welcome your comments and viewpoints on this enormous subject of what it is about religion that people don’t like.