Daily Life Lessons from Rabbi Heschel
Year 4 Day 20
“Religion has adjusted itself to the modern temper by proclaiming that it too is the satisfaction of a need. This conception, which is surely diametrically opposed to the prophetic attitude, has richly contributed to the misunderstanding and sterilization of religious thinking.” (Insecurity of Freedom pg. 8)
All prayers and thoughts go to the residents of Los Angeles in this time of dire uncertainty and destruction. Please pray with me for their safety.
The prescience of Rabbi Heschel (and others) is astounding to me. “Come to (my) church and you will be happy”, “the prosperity gospels”, “only strict adherence to dogma will save the Jewish People”, “Kill the Infidel and you will be rewarded” and other such bullshit slogans have permeated religious thinking and acting in order to ‘get more members and raise more money’! So many fundamentalist religious people and groups lure unsuspecting people, people who are seeking to belong, seeking to be accepted for who they are, into their ‘flock’ by promising the moon and delivering dogma. They continue to promote their ‘acceptance’ and ‘caring’ as long as the unsuspecting seeker keeps moving their observances, their donations, towards the goals of the clergy, the goals of the boards of directors, etc.
We have seen the uptick in religious institutions which claim to be speaking to a certain group. Just as we have “identity politics” , we have developed “identity religion” as well. If you are LGBTQ, come to our Church, if you are Black, come to AME, if you are an Interfaith Couple, come to our Synagogue, if you believe in being a martyr, come to this Mosque, ad nauseam. Rather than every Church, Mosque, Synagogue being a place for anyone and everyone to come, to belong, we are witnessing the growth of these “identity religious groups” and how they claim to envelope people and, many times, seek to change them. Rather than accept people for who they are and where they are at, rather than be a place for spiritual growth to take place in the seeker’s time, many of these so-called “identity-welcoming” institutions seek to change people so they “fit in” rather than belong.
This is not to say that many of the spiritual centers that ‘cater’ to one group or another don’t do amazing service-many of them do-the problem is with the many that do not! While it makes sense for people of the same mindset to worship together, it prevents the free exchange of ideas and ways to fulfill the demands of the Bible, the call of the divine presence(whatever you call it for yourself), and the responsibility of each individual human being. Dr. M Scott Peck, in the opening sentence of his book, The Road Less Traveled, says: “Life is difficult”. It is and our religious institutions are here to make life more navigable. Religion should be calling us to live into our higher consciousness, to live up to the level of being human that all of us are capable of and born with. Religious institutions are not here to perpetuate themselves, they are here to help their congregants, give safety and security to the poor and the needy, give comfort to the stranger in their midst. Religious institutions are here to welcome us with open arms and be very clear of their goals-the spiritual growth of the individual and the spiritual growth of the community. This means they are not here to satisfy the whims of an individual or even the ‘desires’ of a group. Religious institutions are here to move the ball forward, to help people move closer to their unique purpose, to fulfill the need they are uniquely able to, to grow and mature their inner life and to live from their soul’s knowing rather than from their ‘heart’s desire’ or ‘rationalizations’.
In order for this to happen, the extremes have to be more tolerant and welcoming of opposing thoughts, remember there are 70 (at least) faces to the Bible, 70 (at least) ways to understand the words, the thoughts, the walk the paths of the Bible and the subsequent literature is not prescriptive, it is just one person’s thoughts. The religious institutions ‘in the middle’ have to be less afraid of ‘what if they are right’ because no one knows! We have become so misunderstanding of the Bible, of the spiritual path, we are lost and don’t even know it. We have sterilized the beauty of the debate, the power of the dissent, the importance of knowing one’s soul and living from it and we are suffering because of it. There is no way that any religious institution would go along with any authoritarian, much less promote authoritarianism in the name of Jesus Christ. There is no way any religious institution would go along with and promote the total destruction of a people who are your neighbors and, possibly, relatives and call it ‘god’s will’. In each and every faith, every spiritual discipline, there are those who want to promote “satisfaction” as a means of drawing people in and catering to their desires rather than their souls. In all faiths and spiritual disciplines there are those who want to sterilize and sanitize the messiness of faith and walking the path so they can control people for their own sake, not for the sake of heaven.
We, the People have to say NO to this way of being. We, the People have to return to the core of religious thinking-figuring out how best to serve. Each morning we wake up, remember to be grateful to be alive. Each morning we ask ourselves: “what am I going to learn today” rather than ‘who can I screw over to get ahead today’. Each afternoon we check in with ourselves and ask how we are doing with living gratitude, learning and being of service. Each evening, we ask ourselves how we did, what we need to repair and what we need to enhance tomorrow. We, the People need to demand of our religious leadership and institutions that they do the same! It is time for We, the People to call out the bullshit and the mendacity of religious institutions so they can return to their core purpose-helping all people live into the prophetic attitude: “Turn your swords into plowshares, your spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not life up sword unto nation, neither shall men learn war anymore”(Isaiah 2:4). Since our religious institutions are more interested in the dogma of their own making, it is up to We, the People to change our religious institutions so none of us “Learn war anymore”.
I have fought this fight to return to the “prophetic attitude” for myself and for the people I serve. While many of the seekers bought in, what I found out, in a rudely shocking way, is that the board did not! I became a liability rather than an asset and, truth be told, in the “identity politics”, “identity religion”, “political correctness” atmosphere: I am. I understand the need to jettison me, I gave ample reason and I am still in the “prophetic attitude. Which one are you in? God Bless and stay safe, Rabbi Mark.