Organized religion

The Baha'i conference this weekend (more about this here) was inspiring in many ways and raised many thought-provoking questions. Though there is much I could blog about in relation to this, one of the things I've been thinking about lately, is the question of the need for an organized religion. Many of us believe that spirituality and religion are all about individual growth. Spirituality is believed to be a very personal matter, one that is usually not shared with others, and which we should all pursue on our own and let others pursue in their own ways. Organized religion is largely seen as an impediment to spiritual growth, and often even harmful to society. This is not very surprising, given how, in every age we see how the edifice of organized religion has been misused by those in power for their own benefit - be it the Brahmins in Hinduism, the Church in Christianity or the Ulemas in Islam. These influences of organized religion are best summed up in this excerpt from a statement issued by the Bahá’í International Community titled "Religion as Light and Darkness":

Bahá’u’lláh’s severest condemnation is reserved for the barriers which, throughout history, organized religion has erected between humanity and the Revelations of God. Dogmas, inspired by popular superstition and perfected by misspent intelligence, have repeatedly been imposed on a Divine process whose purpose has at all times been spiritual and moral. Laws of social interaction, revealed for the purpose of consolidating community life, have been made the basis for structures of arcane doctrine and practice which have burdened the masses whose benefit they were supposed to serve. Even the exercise of intellect, the chief tool possessed by the human race, has been deliberately hampered, producing an eventual breakdown in the dialogue between faith and science upon which civilized life depends.

The consequence of this sorry record is the worldwide disrepute into which religion has fallen. Worse, organized religion has become itself a most virulent cause of hatred and warfare among the peoples of the world. “Religious fanaticism and hatred,” Bahá’u’lláh warned over a century ago, “are a world-devouring fire, whose violence none can quench. The Hand of Divine power can, alone, deliver mankind from this desolating affliction.”

It is no wonder, therefore, when we consider all of this, that a lot of people in today's world have reacted by distancing themselves from any form of organized religion. And yet, is all this evidence that organized religion is actually unnecessary, and better done away with? Or are there reasons why structure and organization are necessary in religion, due to which the absence of this would actually hamper our spiritual growth even at the individual level? How does the existence of structure influence our ability to be of service to the world of humanity? And as a kindred soul asked (here), "how (does) being part of a religious organization helps us in better developing "praiseworthy qualities" and translate these into action so that we can have the most positive impact possible?"

Now let's first start by looking at the negative reaction a lot of people have to organized reaction, and determine whether it is justified. Most of these reactions have a historical basis - people see how religion has affected society adversely, caused wars, bloodshed, been the source of division and strife in society, created a race of power-hungry clergy and, at least at first glance, appears to have caused great harm in society. But one needs to go deeper than that - and as I've had pointed out to me in the past - both by my dear friend Hamid, and by Dr. Penny Walker at the conference this weekend - the processes of disintegration and discord in society are often very dramatic and visible; but the processes of integration and the more sublime effects of religion are often very gradual and not as flashy. In fact, in the above statement issued by the Baha'i International Community, they go on to point out that "...it is not the organization of religious activity which these statements address, but the misuse of such resources. Bahá’u’lláh’s writings are generous in their appreciation not only of the great contribution which organized religion has brought to civilization, but also of the benefits which the world has derived from the self-sacrifice and love of humanity that have characterized clergymen and religious orders of all faiths." Baha'u'llah himself writes, "Those divines … who are truly adorned with the ornament of knowledge and of a goodly character are, verily, as a head to the body of the world, and as eyes to the nations…"

Organized religion, therefore, has had a great many positive effects on society over the ages - it is just that these are far more subtle and underlie the very fabric of society - and thereby end up being not as visible. It is also questionable as to whether the negative effects are a result of the notion of organization itself being fundamentally flawed, or whether they actually arise from

1. the fact that no religious organization in the past was actually set in place by the prophets/manifestations who actually founded the religion, but were instead created by people (often well after the manifestation Himself passed on). Think of the Brahmins usurping power in Hindu society, the creation of the Church 300 years after Christ died, the power grabbed by Ulemas after the passing on of Muhammad - and you'll know what I mean.

2. the imperfections inherent within human beings, which over time cause us to exploit any system.

3. the existence of some form of clergy in every religion, who claim to have, in some way, a deeper connection to God than the rest of us, thereby creating an artificial barrier between them and the rest of us, and serving as a huge temptation for exploitation.

At this point I will leave the reader to muse more on how the above might have been instrumental in making religious organizations of the past blameworthy, and move on to talking about why I believe we actually do need some form of organization.

Apart from the fact that past religious organizations have all, over the ages, developed serious flaws, there are many people who believe that inherently spirituality is a very personal process and so should never have to be subject to any form of organization. This objection has nothing to do with whether or not forms of organization are flawed - it is a fundamental opposition to any form of organization in religion.

Now why does this opposition exist? And is it justified? Here're my 2 cents - I believe that this conflict exists because we have created artificial boundaries in our lives that segregate one aspect of it from another. We've taken the process of spiritual growth and put it into one corner of our lives, and try not to let it affect everything else we do. When we pray, think about God, and endeavor to grow spiritually, we want to be in a very personal space, with no interaction with others. Often this also arises from a fear of being judged by those around us. Either way, we end up with a situation where that which is spiritual in us finds its expression only at certain times and in certain situations. At the societal level, therefore, we've developed this dichotomous existence where we have forms of social organization on the one hand, and forms of religious organization on the other - and we've decided that the two can never be merged together. And so though we're happy to have the notion of a collective when it comes to society, many of us shy away from the notion of a spiritual collective.

Consider, however, the fact that spiritual growth is really supposed to be the driving force of every action and thought in our lives - not something we indulge in as and when it pleases us. And so the notion of being a spiritual person should underlie every one of our activities - and consequently any form of organization that we develop in society. And when you realize that this means that spiritual values will govern the actions of all individuals and organizations in society - be it governments (who should wish to serve, not misuse power), or NGOs (who should strive not just for the material empowerment of people but spiritual as well) or schools (that should strive to provide a holistic, spiritual education) - you will find that the boundaries we've used to segregate our lives will automatically become blurry, and we will find ourselves living in a much more integrated and cohesive manner.

Consider, also, what the point of spiritual growth really is. On the one hand there is the personal process of growth, the development of individual virtues. But equally important is the notion of service to society. In fact, without the latter, we cannot even fully achieve the former. At the conference, Counselor Mora spoke about the mutually reinforcing processes of spiritual growth and service. The point of spiritual growth, therefore, is not to hold it within us and refuse to share it with anyone - but to let it grow outwards, to let it enable us to love everyone with increasing fervor, to let it guide us in serving others, and using this service as an expression of our love for God.

And what, then, is the point of this service? Are we just trying to feed hungry mouths or give medicines to the sick - service needs to go way deeper than that. The ultimate goal really is to help in building a spiritual civilization, as the Counselors stressed at the conference. And this is no mean task - but each of us has a part to play. What we really need to do is transform the very foundations of society from what it is today. As Baha'u'llah wrote even 150 years ago, "The signs of impending convulsions and chaos can now be discerned, inasmuch as the prevailing order appears to be lamentably defective." And so our vision for service should go far beyond just treating symptoms of the disease that afflicts all of humanity today - symptoms that are very visible, such as poverty, hunger, poor health conditions - and go to the root of the problem - which are the values of society.

And the greatest need for today, as the Baha'i teachings claim, is the unity of humankind. And it is this unified spiritualization of society that is the true purpose of religion, that should be the motivating force for an organization of society based on spiritual values. In fact, Abdu'l Baha goes so far as to say that "It is evident therefore that the divine teachings are intended to create a bond of unity in the human world and establish the foundations of love and fellowship among mankind. Divine religion is not a cause for discord and disagreement. If religion becomes the source of antagonism and strife, the absence of religion is to be preferred. Religion is meant to be the quickening life of the body politic; if it be the cause of death to humanity, its nonexistence would be a blessing and benefit to man." This, to me, is one of the most powerful statements in the Baha'i faith - for a religion to state that its absence would be preferable if it were to become the cause of disunity.

And so it is certain that religious organizations as have existed in the past are blameworthy, for they have not served this fundamental purpose of religion - the creation of unity in the human world.

Imagine, though, a form of organization that had this as its fundamental purpose - the unification of mankind. And not just political unification - but true, spiritual oneness. For, as Shoghi Effendi says, ever so cogently, "Not even, I venture to assert, would the very act of devising the machinery required for the political and economic unification of the world—a principle that has been increasingly advocated in recent times—provide in itself the antidote against the poison that is steadily undermining the vigor of organized peoples and nations." And such a structure would be an enabler - not a constraint - for each person's individual spiritual growth. For it would both provide avenues of service, and fora for interaction, so people can learn from each other and grow. And it would provide the necessary conditions for the building of this spiritual civilization in an efficient, methodical way. What I describe is not very different from what already exists in many fields - we have a scientific structure, for example, where some broad framework exists for people to work and interact within, so we can build a common knowledge base. Likewise there exists a political structure - albeit quite flawed - that enables us to govern ourselves and interact with each other at a social level. What the Baha'i faith talks about, therefore, is the unification of all these structures into one cohesive framework that enables us all to grow to our fullest potential. Religious organization then ceases to become a dogmatic, restrictive structure that exists in opposition to these other organizations we have in society - but instead becomes the underlying force that motivates all these other forms of collectivization.

Of course, when we start creating structures and frameworks, it is easy to get lost in the details and forget the broader vision - to get lost in the laws and rules, and forget that the primary driver for all this is love and growth. And so Shoghi Effendi cautions, "Laws and institutions, as viewed by Bahá’u’lláh, can become really effective only when our inner spiritual life has been perfected and transformed. Otherwise religion will degenerate into a mere organization, and becomes a dead thing." It is not hard to see how this has happened in the past. This is also beautifully put in a document titled the Promise of World Peace (which I highly encourage you to read here) - "...legal standards, political and economic theories are solely designed to safeguard the interests of humanity as a whole, and not humanity to be crucified for the preservation of the integrity of any particular law or doctrine."

In summation, the need for organization becomes clear when we cease to think of our lives as segregated, but instead look for a single, coherent picture of reality, our lives, and of how we can grow - as individuals and as a society. All forms of growth - scientific, political, economic, spiritual - then just become different sides of the same multidimensional coin. And approaching this process of growth collectively, using our combined knowledge, and doing so in a systematic way becomes the clearest way ahead.