Rashid Zakat

I was raised in the church. And I don’t mean I went every Sunday…I mean my mother was the head of the music ministry so I was there once a day at some points. Church, bible study, intercessory prayer night, band rehearsal, choir rehearsal, childrens choir rehearsal and Friday night service. Needless to say, I should be the most sanctified person on the planet by now, lol.

What I’ve gained form church is a sort of moral compass. Not to say I’m the ultimate judge of right or wrong, because to a large extent…it’s subjective. But I think we can at least partly agree that there is some clear direction of what’s right, what’s wrong and I’ve been instilled with the value that right should be the clear choice (even if it’s not the decision I choose in the end).

The problem with church that I’ve found is that people begin to rely less and less on both their intellect and their clear intuitions, and instead rely on both a sort of dogma and a idea of God as some mystical genie that can solve their problems. Now, I’m no theologian, and I’ve questioned the concept of God countless times, often while sitting in church, so I may not be the best source on this, but I feel like modern religion and the way it’s taught and practiced takes the strength, compassion and a level of human connection that at least from my personal interpretation of any religious text I’ve read.

Church as an institution is a pretty amazing idea when you think about it. Imagine for a couple of hours a week you could go somewhere and get the inspiration you need to be the best you can. Now imagine for a second you had a working framework of how this works in some collection of documents. How accurate the stories are are less relevant than the point of them, and the impact that this type of behavior by a big enough following of people can have on a society.

Give without thought of receiving. Treat others with compassion. Behave with integrity and strive for perfection, though you know you’ll never reach it. These are all themes that I’ve found in every religion, and they’re all beautiful. I believe that human beings are somewhat wired to believe that these are universal truths…or something. My point is that these ideals have to hold some merit if they spring up in every culture that I’ve ever heard of.

Now imagine people getting this muddled up because they believe that they don’t have to change. The change will be made for them. They don’t have to think anymore, because it’s easier to have this magical genie tell them what to do. Now, I’m over simplifying this of course, and I’ll revisit this concept a little later, but just think about dedicating time every week to becoming a better person.

This is what I mean by having a church with no God. Instead of, or in addition to going to learn about miracles and how God can make it better, being inspired so YOU can be better. I sat in a service a few weeks back and listened to the pastor talk about how God can essentially take care of all of your personal issues for you. God can take your pain away. God can fix your problems. Poof.
Again, I’m not 100% sure where I stand on God to be honest, but from what I can surmise, if there is an all knowing all powerful being who’s given us life strength and intellect, I can also believe that in his infinite wisdom, he gave us the incredibly useful ability to handle any and/or all problems that come up as a result of our human nature.

The phenomenon of belief is amazing when you think about it. One of the most virtuous people I know is a former crack addict among other things. He had hit rock bottom (no pun intended). He came to my church a broken man, and was “given” faith. He was in every sense of the word…transformed. His family is in a much better condition, he himself is what I call aggressively virtuous. He gives without any thought to receiving, he’s one of the most understanding and compassionate people I’ve ever come in contact with on Earth, and while he’s not well off by any stretch of the imagination, but he gives anything he has because he knows that’s the way to make the world better. Well, that and because it is the will of God.

Now, this is interesting to me. I don’t know what caused his change…if it was actually God coming into his spirit and creating a physiological/chemical/psychological change that causes his will to increase and therefore have more self control, or was it the strength of his belief in a higher power that loves him, and the knowing that he can change his circumstance. Or was it a combination of the two?

I don’t know, but you know what I think. I think modern Christianity often undermines the ability, strength and willpower that human beings naturally have. I think a large part of the experience is an emotional experience, and while I think our emotions are closely connect to out intellect and, for lack of a better word, spiritual sides (or whatever you wanna call it), but its also very easy to mix that up without some other form of interpretation.

What’s more interesting to me is that the power Christianity has to build up strength and will power in willing people. I’ve watched new converts change their habits, and build themselves from what I’m sure many people would agree is nothing into something that’s not short of amazing. I’m not saying that they’ve become fully self-actualized people, but the change is more than remarkable. But again, how much of that can we attribute to the “power” of God, or to humans strength once they believe in something?

Again, (and I hope I’m not sounding cynical, because I’m not) the true power of God lies in the hands of those who believe. (I’m 90% sure thats a scripture). My mom used to always tell me that people are innately wired to believe in something, whether it be divine being, science, something abstract that they can make concrete like money, or their own intellect. I didn’t agree with her for a while until I started paying a little attention. Everyone has their own system of worship, small rituals that they have that they probably don’t even notice. Whether it be checking the stock market in the morning, finding out celebrity gossip or even a daily exercise. I’m not saying those who wake up and check celebrity gossip worship celebrities, lol, though some people do…it’s more about your system of ideals and what you do to maintain that.

I say all that to say we should all have a religion of improvement and virtue. No matter what you believe I think church, mosque or temple are all amazing systems of becoming an amazing human being, but I don’t think we should treat these deities like magical genies. I’m not saying we were placed here alone, but we shouldn’t forget the amazing abilities humans have when out intentions are placed correctly and we make a choice to move forward.