Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Coffee and Crucifix

Home
Catholic
Is It Right To Hate Religion?

Is It Right To Hate Religion?

Last updated on: March 4, 2021 at 11:26 am by Coffee & Crucifix

Is It Right To Hate Religion? 2021-03-04T11:26:16-06:00 Coffee & Crucifix

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Image credit: Wikimedia Commons

“If any one thinks he is religious, and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his heart, this man’s religion is vain.”
— James 1:26 RSV

I was a nominal Roman Catholic with no real knowledge of my own belief-system. In the summer before grade 12, I spent a week at an Evangelical Christian Bible camp where the course of my life was changed forever. At the time my mind was focused on making new friends, sports, music and flirting with girls. I had no interest in God, or religion for that matter – until one day a guest speaker talked about the importance of forgiveness. Because I’ve had to deal with constant bullying in my junior high years, I was compelled to talk with this man who happened to be a radical advocate of the KJV-only movement. When I told him about my family’s religious upbringing, he asserted,

“A person cannot stay Catholic. It’s a religion, and God hates it! Jesus is not a religion!”

I was quite taken aback by such a bold statement – and yet my raging, hormonal, teenage self embraced the rebellious nature of the phrase. Later that week, I made the step of accepting Jesus Christ as my personal Savior and carried that phrase with me like a badge of honor.

I had kept in touch with the speaker from camp during the school year. He gave me my very own King James Bible and told me to read that version only. I was confused as to why anyone would say this Bible was better than any other. Later that year, he also sent me a series of anti-Catholic evangelical tracts by Chick Publications in the mail. With their use of biblical passages and historical references taken completely out of context, they made everything to do with Catholicism seem outrageously evil. Being young, stupid and impressionable, I ate up everything that was fed to me. As a result, I had developed an irrational fear of the Catholic Church which lasted up until my mid 20’s.

I attended Bible school part-time for a year, and also involved myself in the church denomination that was associated with that same youth camp for nearly a decade after high school. But over the years, I grew more and more irritable towards the amount of hostility some of my Protestant friends displayed towards Catholics. Some even told me that all Catholics are going to Hell and that I should burn the Bible my parents had given me for my 16th birthday (which I still have, and will always carry close to my heart). It was through these observations that I developed a longing for Christian unity.

It seemed like the constant accusation is, “The Catholic Church is not a Christian church!” The usual arguments I’ve heard were about how their so-called ‘traditions of men’ and obsession with rules were supposedly more important than the Scriptures – even though the Bible itself is a tradition that was written by men who were inspired by God. It was usually compared to those moments when Jesus would tell off the Pharisees for putting themselves and their ideology before people in need – which, to be fair, is a valid point. On the flip side, it took me several years to wrap my mind around Catholic theological topics like purgatory, transubstantiation, papal infallibility, confession and honor of the Virgin Mary. The more I dug into these teachings, the more I realized they are a lot more rooted in Scripture than most other Christians realize.

As I became more involved with church activities (and politics) over the years, I found myself developing a resentful disdain towards Christianity. In fact, I actually found myself desiring to hate church altogether. As an avid fan of heavy metal music, the popular phrase Jesus is not a religion eventually led me to embrace anti-religious songs like Die Religion Die by former KoRn guitarist Brian Head Welch, and then anti-Christian songs like Cult by Slayer. I later came to the realization that my negative attitude about church-life had stemmed from hating something that isn’t the real problem…

Religion in itself is supposed to be the art of believing, following and worshiping a deity. There is truth in the fact that Jesus himself is not a religion, but the same could be said about Mohammad or Buddha. When a person says, “I follow the one true God and not a man-made religion,” then how does he follow his said deity? To me, it’s a self-defeating statement that contradicts the historical fact that the Christian Church was founded by Christ Himself.

Did the Jesus of the Bible condemn the religious hypocrites of his time, or did he condemn Judaism itself? According to Matthew 5:17, Jesus says that He did not come to abolish the law but to fulfill it. Considering the sweeping biblical evidence that Judaism is the precursor to Christianity, this leaves very little room for a sincere argument that God could possibly hate the Jewish art of believing and following that He Himself ordained. Such a mindset can lead a person to believe that the Christian Church acts as a substitute for Judaism rather than a continuation of it, which is an ideology known as Replacement Theology. As Jesus once said,

“You people worship what you do not understand; we worship what we understand, because salvation is from the Jews.” – John 4:22 NAB

Regarding the seemingly endless debate between Scripture and tradition, if church liturgy, ritual and history reflect what is revealed in the Bible, how can it be wrong?

If religion is abused in a similar manner to what the Pharisees did, then the problem lies within the person who deceives himself just as a driver (not the car) is at fault for driving recklessly. The actions of individuals do not always line up with what a religion actually teaches.

If Christ is truly the head of the church, then separating religion from God would be similar to severing the Body from the Head. What kind of impression does this leave for people of different religions when it comes to interfaith dialogue?

Is hating religion truly about following Christ? Or is it really about a refusal to acknowledge God’s commandments because it is an inconvenience for our own self-interests? As John 14:15 says,

“If you love me, you will keep my commandments.”

One could say hating the commandments given by God is showing a complete resentment to the One who established it.

But in the case of Christianity, religion is the art of a divine relationship.

“So then, brethren, stand firm and hold to the traditions which you were taught by us, either by word of mouth or by letter.”
— 2 Thessalonians 2:15 RSV

Previous Post

June 1, 2023

Martin Scorsese Meets With Pope To Discuss Film About Jesus

Next Post

February 22, 2016 My Love For Mary Deepens My Love For Jesus

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Catholicism Christian Life Christian Life Church History Community Eastern Orthodoxy Entertainment Fiction History Mental Health Movies Music Politics Protestantism Reflection Religion Satire Science Fiction Self esteem Self Love Spirituality Star Wars Suicide Theology Uncategorized

Select a Month June 2023 April 2023 May 2022 April 2022 July 2021 April 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 June 2018 April 2018 January 2018 November 2017 October 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 December 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 June 2016 May 2016 March 2016 February 2016

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

What false teaching did Paul correct in 1 Corinthians 15?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Denial of resurrection Pagan temple worship Animal sacrifice Circumcision