Why You Don’t Hate Religion (Warning: Rant. Will probably piss you off.)

So, there’s that video that’s been going crazy-viral where a young man insists that he hates religion, but loves Jesus. His testament resembles spiritual slam poetry. You can view it here. And, here’s the text.

I found it slightly ironic that he talks about hating and resenting religion, while promoting his own.. religion.

Don’t get me wrong, it’s a cute poem, and it’s clearly made an impact with many people. But, I would argue that the people its impact has been greatest on are the people who are also members of.. ahem.. his religion.

What I think the young man wishes to say is that he hates corruption. Who doesn’t? Corrupt bastards ruin everything for everyone, at some point in time. He blames religion for wars and hypocrisy, among other things. And, that’s nice and all, but those are all the fault of corruption, exploitation, misuse of power.

Earlier, I tweeted this:

It’s amazing how someone can appear open-minded, say open-minded things, but still be narrow-minded and self-serving. And people eat it up.

I was talking about this video.

Here comes a guy who starts off telling you all these things that appear out of the ordinary, rebellious, thought-provoking, what have you. But, once you get right down to it, he’s just another Christian who’s intent that his religion is the only one that is right and is the only one in which people aren’t blind. He’s probably another one of those people who use “good person” and “Christian” synonymously. And, having grown up in the American South, I’m telling you right now — that shit gets old.

Like I said, he blames religion for starting wars. And, I think the argument could be made that the same sense of self-assurance we see here could very well be what led to some of the religious violence in years past, and even today. This sense that others are “doing it wrong” or “not looking at it the right way” or are just wearing blinders and we need to let them know how wrong they are.

I’m glad that this guy has mastered the art of creating poetry. I’m glad that he’s inspiring people to — do something? But, it’d be really nice to see something like this that’s profound enough to reach ALL audiences and not alienate everyone who he’s not passively insulting.

::rant over::

Feel free to send your hate mail to my Ask box.