“The whole aim of practical politics is to keep the populace alarmed (and hence clamorous to be led to safety) by menacing it with an endless series of hobgoblins, all of them imaginary.” -H.L. Mencken
The chair screeched across the floor. Everyone in the college religion class looked up to see what was happening. A friend of mine, the president of a small Christian group on campus, stood from his chair, wadded up his test paper, and threw it in the trash can as he left the room. His faith in his God had fallen apart.
He had been one of the few active Christians in my university studying for a religion degree. Like him, I had become a religion major to strengthen my faith. As I have shared in a previous post, I was rebuilding my life around Jesus after my parent’s divorce in London. I wanted to deepen my trust in Jesus and it seemed obvious that becoming a religion major would help me to do this. When I watched my friend leave with his Christianity in tatters it was clear to me that my untested assumption had led me astray. The academic study of religion is not about deepening the student’s faith journey.
The goal of religious studies1 in my university is to sharpen the student’s “critical” view of religion. “Criticism” is “the analysis and judgment of the merits and faults of a literary or artistic work” with an emphasis, at least in my courses on the latter. I was assigned a reading list of the greatest Western critics of religion since the Enlightenment. Their arguments were supported by lectures and research projects that sharpened our skill in poking holes in religious belief and practice. Most of the teachers in the religion department were, at best, angry at abuses of Christianity and, at worst, firm in their rejection of the faith. I realized that I had work to do if I was not going to share their fate.
I had a similar realization with the U.S. elections looming on the horizon. I am looking for leaders for whom I can gladly cast my ballot. Since I don’t know them personally, I need sources to state clearly what each candidate stands for and provide a thorough argument about why their ideas makegoodhappen. The media and marketing around the candidates have very different motivations. They are angry and cynical. They are more interested in smoke and mirrors than in informing the public. We are urged to vote out of fear rather than conviction. We have work to do if we are not going to become angry and cynical ourselves.
During my years as a college religion major, I found an effective method of seeing through the smoke and mirrors that can also help us see through the political fog. I invite you to join me!
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