Who said religion poisons everything

The uncomfortable truth is no one comes out of history with clean hands. The law of unintended consequences is too potent, the feet of even our most cherished heroes too caked with clay. This is not to abdicate the responsibility either to act justly or to repent of the sins of the past. But it is to advocate for a measure of historical humility, an appreciation for how difficult it is to draw straight lines in a cracked and crooked world as cracked and crooked people.

In the case of Christianity, it will prick and nudge those who hold it toward things like enemy-love, self-sacrifice, generosity to strangers, and forgiveness.

As a first or primary response to the wounded or the outraged, though, the history lessons seem less appropriate—and much less Christian— than a wholehearted and heartbroken admission of guilt. When critics accuse the church of hypocrisy, violence, misogyny, and the like, can we not concede that what they say has all too often been true?

Defensiveness is a very human reaction; repentance is or ought to be a very Christian one. Making it has been both a bruising and, surprisingly, mightily heartening experience. This should not be extraordinary. To openly and without reservation own the wrongs of the past is the road less traveled, but alongside the advantage of honesty, it can also open up the possibility of a more engaged and fruitful conversation about the contributions as well as the failures of the church.

In grappling with the most shameful and the most shining moments of Christian action in the world, my colleagues and I have been using a governing metaphor that audiences have loved. It rests on the distinction between a musical composition and its performance.

We know to distinguish between a good and a bad performance of the same composition. For believers and for skeptics alike, going back to Jesus and measuring the deeds of his followers against his teaching and example offers a solid way forward through the labyrinthine complexity of a very mixed history.

Jesus wrote a beautiful tune. Christians claim that it has never been bettered. When those who claim to follow Jesus have played in tune with him, that has been of great and unique benefit to the world. But the tune itself continues to sound down the arches of the years, calling each of us to our appointed place in the orchestra. In the course of making the film, we had a conversation with novelist and essayist Marilynne Robinson.

In , an Ipsos poll conducted across 23 countries found that 49 percent of adults agree that religion does more harm than good in the world. In the US it was lower, at 39 percent; in my own country, Australia, it was significantly higher: fully 63 percent of Aussies are apparently convinced that overall, we would be better off without religion. Yet, intriguingly, 60 percent of the population ticked a box in the most recent census declaring an affiliation to one religion or another.

And another survey found that 88 percent of non-churchgoers in Australia like the idea of having a church in their neighborhood. Apart from the observation that most polls would be considerably enhanced by a few well-chosen follow-up questions, what the disparity suggests is that for many people, our personal experience does not tally with certain powerful ideas that come to us via the cultural ether.

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Add a review and share your thoughts with other readers. Tags Add tags for "God is not great : how religion poisons everything". View most popular tags as: tag list tag cloud. Religion -- Ouvrages de controverse. User lists with this item 33 Things to Check Out 92 items by gborchardt updated All rights reserved. Please sign in to WorldCat Don't have an account? Remember me on this computer.

Cancel Forgot your password? After you've read the piece, post comments in the right column of this page. I'm a writer by trade, and my most recent book is called "God is Not Great.

I describe religion as a poison because I think it attacks the very heart of our integrity. It says that we wouldn't have any knowledge of right or wrong, any ability to distinguish between good and evil if we were not afraid of a celestial dictatorship.

God did not make man. Precisely the contrary. Man made God. That's why there are so many gods. Always have been -- always will be.