Is it right to be religious?
Chinuch article by Giacomo Boscaini-Gilroy
Religion distorts peoples’ views to fit the rules that it lays down. Their beliefs do not always come
from their own instincts, but instead from some sort of higher authority, whom we call God. These
rules seem to suggest that there is a set definition of things that are right and things that are wrong,
but in ethics there is no ‘Ultimate Truth,’ but a balance between being relativist - thinking everyone
is right - and believing that one thing, which is never down to personal interpretation, is correct.
Different cultures have had varying beliefs for centuries: the Iranians have only recently brought an
end to stoning as capital punishment, which is something we have thought of as wrong for a long
time, but something that was part of their religion as well as culture. Many Jewish people will not
eat bacon, but I feel there is nothing wrong with it. In our society, religion does not always tell us to
take the most appropriate course of action.
Many of you will have heard of the viral ‘Kony 2012’. A little research showed me that Joseph Kony,
an individual indicted by the International Criminal Court for war crimes and crimes against
humanity considers religion important, he even seems to use it as a powerful tool to be horrifically
unlawful. He leads the LRA, ‘Lord’s Resistance Army’, seeing himself as a Messiah who wants to turn
Uganda into a theocratic state based on the Ten Commandments. ‘The LRA is a militant group with a
syncretic pseudo-Christian extreme religious ideology’ is admittedly a quote from Wikipedia, and I
have no idea what syncretic means, but it still suggests that Kony’s wrongdoings are grounded in
religion; either because Kony truly believes that Uganda should be more religious, or because he
uses religion in order to brainwash the children who follow him, and continue being a rebel who
cannot be caught.
I do not believe in God, and I am skeptical about the big bang theory too, because I do not see how
you can show that either of these is a logical explanation for our existence in this World – in fact, I
see religion as something that was created by man to try and understand the unbelievable
complexity of us on Earth. How did we get here? How does the World work? Does this really make
sense? What is the meaning of life? Religion is simply man’s imagination that has run too far,
something that has been agreed on enough to be deemed true. Someone else can write a chinuch
article on whether or not you can be a Jew and not believe in God, I have already written too much
in this one…
This is the point at which you remind me of my utterly blatant hypocrisy. “Giacomo, how can you say
religion is a bad thing when you are a practicing Liberal Jew yourself?” The answer to this is that I
believe that Liberal Judaism is the right religion for me. I know that I am being ridiculous in saying
that because it goes against my beliefs of how we should look at life (not all of everyone’s beliefs are
right, I belong to a religion I have embraced and not argued with, so surely some things I believe in
are wrong?), but Liberal Judaism is an important part of my life that has shaped these viewpoints
and made me stick with them. It just all makes sense really.
“But why is it that you would not want to turn to Orthodoxy?” I hear you ask! I do not believe that
everything written down in the Torah should be taken literally and neither does Liberal Judaism, thus
rejecting the notion of an ‘Ultimate Truth.’ The Orthodox believe it is all the word of God, but I do
not believe in Him; as a result, I do not think that it is really necessary to follow all the rules in the
Torah because what is important is that we lead good lives and that we try and make sure that as
many other people as possible lead happy and fulfilled lives as well. Liberal Judaism is all about
adapting our beliefs to the modern age, Judaism for the 21st Century. I cannot stand ritual and
therefore it feels silly for me to do certain things, such as going to the Wailing Wall to pray, because
what is that going to change for me, it is not relaxing like a soothing and spiritual havdalah.
However, I may choose to follow Jewish traditions concerning death e.g. shivas because Judaism
deals with death and bereavement well. I see no need for eating kosher food, but I will draw morals
from Liberal Judaism, such as social justice, and ethics that make the World a happier place to live in.
So you see, all I really want is a happy and peaceful planet.
The views expressed in this article are definitely my own and quite blatantly are not shared by
everyone else who is a part of LJY-Netzer. I would be very surprised if anyone else held my exact
same beliefs.