(Re)constructing Religion | Jake Haber

Is religion "totaled" or is there something worth salvaging? Where would we start? Join us as we dive into our (Re) series with Part 1: (Re)constructing Religion.

 

Quotes: 

Pete Holmes:

“I could have called the book, "Saving Baby Jesus From the Bath Water," It's about saving the core message of all spirituality from the bath water. Let's get rid of the bath water. Let's get rid of the shame, the judgment, the feeling that you're unworthy.”

 

Sarah F. Hoyt (1912):

“Roman Philosophical Poet Lucretius (96-55 BC)….considered ligare - to bind - to be the root of religio...the Century Dictionary, though referring to the uncertain origin of religio, cites the English ligament as perhaps allied”

 

Dalai Lama:

"This is my simple religion. There is no need for temples; no need for complicated philosophy. Our own brain, our own heart is our temple; the philosophy is kindness."

 

Epictetus: 

"All religions must be tolerated... for every(one) must get to heaven in (their) own way."

 

Pew: 

“A new survey by the Pew Research Center’s Forum on Religion & Public Life, conducted jointly with the PBS television program Religion & Ethics NewsWeekly, finds that many of the country’s 46 million unaffiliated adults are religious or spiritual in some way. Two-thirds of them say they believe in God (68%). More than half say they often feel a deep connection with nature and the earth (58%), while more than a third classify themselves as “spiritual” but not “religious” (37%), and one-in-five (21%) say they pray every day. In addition, most religiously unaffiliated Americans think that churches and other religious institutions benefit society by strengthening community bonds and aiding the poor.”

 

Albert Einstein: 

"True religion is real living; living with all one's soul, with all one's goodness and righteousness."

 

Discussion:

What “babies" do you want to rescue from the “bathwater” of religion?

Are we done with the word“religion” or should we try to reclaim it? Why?