Disorganized religion

Many of my students feel that the Catholic Church is trying to "force its beliefs down their throats." They seem to have a culturally-conditioned, knee-jerk hostility to the Church's claim that it is the Body of Christ and speaks with Jesus' own authority.

Like Puddefoot, they interpret any religious certitude as a form of neo-Nazi fascism.

Their only standard of evil is telling other people what is and is not evil. They, of course, are exempt from the standard they bring to bear on others.

They seem to be convinced that their religious freedom, the right to choose to believe what they want to believe, is annihilated by criticism of their choices.

It is axiomatic to them that "organized religion is evil." They want a disorganized religion that is utterly incapable of announcing any truths whatsoever.

This, I speculate, is why they are attracted to the formlessness of Hinduism and Buddhism. In those religions, there is no pope, no councils, no catechism, no creeds. Each person is a god and a law unto themselves (except, of course, for karma, which is a force that operates blindly and impersonally).

This moral inversion is a tough nut to crack. Head-on assaults only cause them to curl up into themselves more tightly, like a turtle in its shell or a porcupine hidden within its protective quiver. Trying to force them to see the error of their ways only confirms their view that religious people are shoving things down their throats that they are unwilling to swallow.