Leader FOCUS - a weekly cyber-memo designed to help keep YOU on task

MONDAY October 11, 1999  VOLUME I Number 6

FOCUS - Organized Religion

This one I did not anticipate. "Organized Religion" – in the news. The topic of countless talk shows. TV and Radio.

All thanks to the colorful Governor of Minnesota. He touched a social nerve in an interview that appears in a magazine few LeaderFOCUS readers will see in its original context. Good thing.

Jesse Ventura tells the world what he thinks about organized religion.  Why the outrage?  Should we really expect that a thick tongued, shaved headed, neckless, muscle pumping, ex-professional wrestler could possibly have a clue about the merits of religious life?

There’s the standard response (common in the media this week from newspersons and political pundits feigning concern over the disparagement of religion in general) – "Well, I guess that means Mahatma Ghandi, Mother Theresa, Billy Graham and Dr. Martin Luther King (among others) are prime representatives of the world’s ‘weak-minded.’"

Dismissing "organized religion," as the straight talking politician does, is akin to a wholesale dismissal of - say - hospitals, or public schools, or private schools, or government, or retirement residences, or rescue missions. Every one of these has been the subject of vigorous criticism from someone. But are they all bad?

Organized religion, for the good Governor, is a "sham and a crutch." He takes aim at a few other targets, too, like obesity ("simple gluttony"), the so-called Tailhook scandal ("no big deal"), the Kennedy assassination ("can’t trust the government’s version") and the military industrial complex ("the primary reason Americans need firearms"). It’s as though being elected by 37% of the population of Minnesota makes you an expert on these sorts of things.

Religion, in secular terms, has always been difficult to define. The dictionary says that religion is a "sacred engagement with that which is believed to be a spiritual reality." ...huh?

For the casual observer, religion involves things like a holy book, sacraments, cathedrals, crowds of on-lookers, high-priests, icons and liturgy. Organized religion would be an attempt to formalize the whole thing. Raise the funds. Name the patron saints. Create loyalty. Embrace the values and doctrine and keep them visible. Enforce the rules. Make speeches. Have regular gatherings. The best are not just meetings, they are events.

In the 1988 movie "Bull Durham," Susan Sarandon plays a groupie who in the opening narrative proclaims, "I believe in the Church of Baseball." When you think about it, sporting events do indeed take on a kind of religious air.

Take professional wrestling. The holy book – the journal of the World Wrestling Federation. The patron saints – guys with names like the vampire inspired gothic wrestler Farooq. Sting and the 4 Horsemen. Ric Flair. Rocky "the Rock" Maivia. Jesse "the Body" Ventura. Sacraments – not unleavened bread and wine (or grape juice) from a chalice or thimble cup, but loaded up hot dogs washed down with a thirty-two ounce tumbler of barley brew. Icons are the trinkets and posters and T-shirts for sale in the lobby.  The chanting is guttural.  Pointing to the heavens happens a lot, raising both arms high.  The crowd is whipped into a frenzy of religious ecstasy.  The cathedral is the municipal stadium and the high priest the annual holder of the biggest leather belt and jeweled buckle money can buy – the prize awarded to the Grand Champion of the Universe – on pay-per-view. Just like "organized religion," there are the radio and television broadcasts, the snazzy web sites, the national conventions and megabudgets.

There you have it:  professional wrestling – a seriously "organized religion." Everything but the non-profit status. A "sacred engagement" with "that which is believed to be a spiritual reality."

I suppose then that Mr. Ventura would have to number his fans among the "weak minded" who bought into the "sham." Don’t you think?

Let’s face it. There is good religion. There is bad religion. There is good theology. There is bad theology. Just like there are good and bad hospitals, and governments, and schools. You get the idea. But how do we know the difference?

While the nation continues to debate the merits of "organized religion," I think there is a more important question. It’s a highly personal one. It has little to do with denominations or 501c(3) exemptions or Mecca or pilgrimages or Channel 40.   And it's a question I have for Jesse Ventura.

If there is a God – who is He? And what is your relationship with Him? OK, that’s two questions.

Yes, you can take the easy out – and say "well, I just do not know." Philosophers call that view agnosticism.

A tougher position to defend is this – "look, I just do not believe there is a God (god, gods – or whatever you want to call him or her or it.) The whole notion is nothing more than a wish projection manufactured by our primitive ancestors to explain the stuff they didn’t understand." This position is called atheism. Not many of those around these days. But maybe you are one.

Perhaps you are a parent. If you take either one of these views, agnosticism or atheism, you’re going to have a tough time with your kids. We can assume that you want them to know the difference between the good stuff and the bad stuff.

You can simply say, "look, I’m not taking a position on this religion thing (your seven year old is listening – scratching his or her head and looking a bit puzzled). It’s a wide open question. We live in a country that affirms freedom of religion. Your mother/father and I are going to give you the freedom to decide for yourself. Whatever you choose is fine with us."

No wonder kids get confused.

Or you can do the good thing. The right thing. You can make up your mind about God.

When the Bible hero of the faith Joshua said "as for me and my household, we will serve the LORD," he was not using the term "lord" in a general sense. It was highly specific. Joshua's God had a name. Come to think of it, He still does.

Do you know your God by name? Do you know your God well enough to teach your kids to know Him too? Do you and your spouse share that relationship with your God? Do you associate with a group of people who share your belief, and provide affirmation, encouragement and support?

While the national media wastes its time and ours measuring the political impact of criticizing "organized religion," let's you and I set that one aside.

Let's take our time to think more specifically our connectedness with the One who made us. The One who gave us every good and perfect gift. The One who gave us life. Let's humbly embrace that highly personal relationship. It really is the center of everything else.

Not because we know better than everyone else. We don't. It's because, really, we've got no where else to go.

And then as leaders, like Martin Luther (the one before King), declare with confidence and courage - "Here I stand."

© Copyright Kenneth E. Kemp 1999

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