I’ve been thinking about it for awhile. Weeks. Months. Off and on. And I think I’ve come to a fairly solid conclusion, at least solid in my own mind. I don’t have any hard research to prove it, but I think religion causes depression….and anxiety. Now don’t get me wrong. I’m not saying that belief in God or a god causes mental illness. On the contrary, I think that is very much a reasonable and truthful proposition and belief (but not for the reasons much of Christianity would say that it is). What I am saying is that organized religion, and by that I mean mainstream Christianity because that is what I know but I suspect that other religions may have the same issues for similar reasons that I will discuss below) actually causes mental illness. So now that I may have made you angry stick with me long enough to hear my theory out.
The crux of my theory rests on this: systems of religion impose upon followers a “right” way of thinking and believing and behaving that is unattainable leading to an unsustainable cycle of repeated failure and frustration. Eventually followers come to a point of crisis. They decide that leaving the system of the cycle is too costly, too dangerous, and, therefore, decide to stay. Or, they decide that this is not working for them and never will and take the courageous step into the unknown. The first group, in my opinion, often eventually finds themselves depressed, anxious, defensive, angry, and coping. The second group I’ll bet more often finds themselves living in freedom and in a better spot. I’ll do my best to discuss in more detail, but realize that these things still feel a bit disorganized in my brain and that this is just my own theory that I am presenting here in “thinking out loud” form. The further I go in life and the older I get the more I think I feel that systematic religion does more bad than good for humanity. Again, I am saying nothing against a belief in God, only against forced systems of “right” thinking, belief, and behavior concerning that God.
Any time someone decides to join a church, denomination, religion, there are two things that come into play. The first is what that group says about itself. What it has written down about what it believes and why. What you have to agree to in some form of proclamation or statement in order to become included in that group. But then there is also the culture of belief that exists within that group, and by that I mean how those beliefs get acted out in every day life. And I know from personal experience that the culture of belief existing within a group is often very much different from the stated beliefs of that group. That culture of belief can also often be much more powerful than the stated beliefs, and it becomes the thing that must be accepted and followed for one to be considered as included in the group. Here’s where it gets a bit dicey.
Within such a culture of belief, there is often not much room for honest questioning, honest doubting, honest searching because that sort of activity threatens to undermine the stability of the group, especially when it may be centered around a core stated belief but especially when it is around a core cutural belief. I think that is a fault of the institutional structure on which such groups are built. Here we have a system of belief that is delivered by a top down structure of governance. That governance has power and relies on money coming from the bottom of the pyramid for its existence. The authority figures, the people who hold power some of whom rely on the system for their income and some of whom do not, must buy into the stated beliefs at a minimum but also the cultural beliefs if they hope to retain their income and/or positions. It’s the nature of the institution. It may not be a blatant strategy and most of the time I’ll bet you it’s not. But the bias is there, and it taints the sytem. This system tells its members what the right way to believe and think of God is. Doubts, questions, contrarian ideas hurt that system and in essence are not allowed by the cuture. People with them are told, sometimes blatantly and sometimes subtly, that they are wrong and that they instead ought to believe and do this other thing.
People by nature have doubts and questions. It’s part of who we are. It’s part of being free. It’s part of being a human and not an animal. It’s part of our core. And when that wandering, that freedom, that exercise of who we are at our core is squashed, buried, told that it’s wrong, it is destructive to us. I suspect that everyone within a religious system of thought comes to a point where they have to make a decision. They have to decide that they are going to ignore their questions and doubts. That it’s too costly and too risky. That they risk exclusion. That they risk disfavor with God. And so they put it to bed. They give up discovering. They give up exploring. They quit listening to the voice inside themselves that says something isn’t right and that is screaming for them to choose to be free from someone else’s oppression. Instead they settle for answers like, “You just need more faith,” “You just need to believe more,” “You just need to pray more,” “Are you having enough God time.” Those answers, even though they sound nice and lofty, are not at all helpful. They’re junk. When a person puts part of themselves away like that, it destroys them. It depresses them. It’s unhealthy. It’s spiritual zombi-ism. And I think a ton of people, when they come to that point, decide, largely unconsciously because of the pressure to conform from the culture of belief, to become spiritual zombies. They write their own prescription for mental illness.
Green Day has out a new song which speaks to this crisis point, that point at which you realize you are fighting for the wrong thing. When you are at that point, it’s time to give up and change directions.
21 Guns
When it’s not worth dying for?
Does it take your breath away
And you feel yourself suffocating?
Does the pain weight out the pride?
And you look for a place to hide?
Does someone break your heart inside?
You’re in ruins
One, 21 guns
Lay down your arms
Give up the fight
One, 21 guns
Throw up your arms into the sky
You and I
When you’re at the end of the road
And you lost all sense of control
And your thoughts have taken their toll
When your mind breaks the spirit of your soul
Your faith walks on broken glass
And the hangover doesn’t pass
Nothing’s ever built to last
You’re in ruins
One, 21 guns
Lay down your arms
Give up the fight
One, 21 guns
Throw up your arms into the sky
You and I
Did you try to live on your own
When you burned down the house and home?
Did you stand too close to the fire?
Like a liar looking for forgiveness from a stone
When it’s time to live and let die
And you can’t get another try
Something inside this heart has died
You’re in ruins
One, 21 guns
Lay down your arms
Give up the fight
One, 21 guns
Throw up your arms into the sky
You and I.
