A couple of weeks ago the New York Times published an opinion piece by Timothy Egan about why so many Americans are walking out the doors of places of worship, perhaps never to return. It's and indictment of toxic faith called Why People Hate Religion and its so bluntly accurate that everyone should read it. Yet he begins by telling us about Sister Norma Pimentel. a Roman Catholic nun who's life work is, as she puts it, seeing “the presence of God” in migrant children in the shelter she oversees in the Rio Grande Valley — vulnerable souls that her president would otherwise put in cages. I've read about Sister Pimentel before and I greatly admire how her faith in Christ has led her to a selfless life devoted to "the least of these."
Egan spends a fair amount of the article talking about the hypocrisies of religion in the United States and the grim truth that a lot of evangelical Christians who unflinchingly support Trump actually admire his meanness. Little wonder their children and grandchildren are leaving in droves.
They hate religion because, at a moment to stand up and be counted on the right side of history, religion is used as moral cover for despicable behavior. This is not new to our age. Hitler got a pass from the Vatican until very late in the war.
I certainly experienced a fair amount of hypocrisy in the church through my years in ministry and there were some people who seemed to have no interest in a gospel of love, acceptance, and compassion as they ran their club, or tried to. I was amazed that this bunch seldom or never mentioned God, let alone the Christ who redeems and transforms us. Fortunately they were in the minority, although they did a tremendous amount of harm at times. I could be bitter, but I try to focus on memories of the majority who were usually quietly motivated by genuine faith rather than toxic religion and I give thanks for their compassion and generosity.
I don't hate religion, and I don't think Egan does either. Despite his scathing and sadly accurate criticisms he returns to hope inspired faith and even religion:
Still, we are “prisoners of hope,” as Archbishop Desmond Tutu loves to say. And if you’re looking for hope in the midnight of the American soul, look no further than Sister Pimentel’s shelter for hundreds of desperate children in McAllen, Texas.
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/08/30/opinion/trump-religion.html
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