In my graduate school years, I made this friend who told us that he stopped tithing when he became of age – but instead would use this money to directly assist the needy in his society. In his opinion, it was more honest to directly support a community in need than blindly give a tenth of his income to a church where he is not allowed to question for what or how the funds are spent simply because it a holy sanctuary. His definition of tithing obviously seems rather peculiar in a traditional Christian set-up.
Towards the end of last year, I interacted with a young professional who said he stopped going to church several years back. And I asked what inspired this decision to which his response was he is spiritual but not religious. I have since heard many young people say the same thing or something close. Gone are the days you will find thousands of young people thronged in churches, they would rather spend their weekends on personal development causes. In case you are wondering what the difference between spirituality and religion is, read more at this medium analysis, or this other article. Spirituality is about seeking and finding purpose and meaning, being experimental and honest with yourself. It also exhibits some elements of self-awareness and wanting to find answers for why things happen the way they do. Religion on the other hand describes a group of people who share in the same beliefs about divinity. It may dictate that you obey or follow certain doctrines without questioning whether they are right or wrong, and to what extent. Spirituality pushes us to find the truth in what we do. Hope my attempt to describe what the two terms refer to has not made them entirely confusing– at least to those people who think religion and spirituality are two mutually exclusive things.
I am a strong advocate of doing the right thing by your own personal principles and not because your religion or religious leader said so.
In the case of Christianity, I think it is high time we openly spoke more about own sense of discernment and asking questions rather than allowing ourselves to be brainwashed in the name of religion. At the end of the day, even if you identify with a certain group and its beliefs, you remain an individual human being who must think and judge between right and wrong individually. It’s a shame that we find ourselves in spaces where religious leaders lie on our faces, uphold dishonesty and are afraid to condemn vices by one of their own – likely because they are too scared to lose the most influential flock in the society. I think it is more virtuous to stand up for what is right, and own up to your mistakes as an individual, than blame it on societal witch hunts.
Using religion as a shield when you probably used fraudulent means to rob the afflicted, enriched yourself and then take the resulting fruits to the altar in the name of tithe, thanksgiving or any other form of religious giving is one of the greatest forms of hypocrisy and impunity.
As you wake up to go to a religious gathering – ask yourself whether you are following what is being taught there because you have carefully thought about it and come to the conclusion that it is right. Humanity is gifted with a superior brain than any other creatures for a reason. So, we must learn to invoke and use this power to decide what is right or wrong, true or false, rather than blindly follow what we are told. It is better to live like my grad school friend who to date uses his tithes to directly serve the needy, or that colleague who stopped going to church several years ago but does the right thing by his moral campus. He does not steal a single coin or cone anyone.
Fellow religious humans, learn to stand by your own principles and virtues as an individual first, and not because your religion or religious leader has asked you to do so.
Until the next post, happy mastery of own sense of discernment.
