On Jan. 1, people all over the globe start making their New
Year’s resolutions.
On Jan. 1, people all over the globe start making their New Year’s resolutions. I remember once a college friend resolving never to drink again. He did this while he nursed a hangover and stayed in close proximity to the bathroom all day. His resolution didn’t hold up through the first week. I have always thought it best to not make New Year’s resolutions that you know won’t last through January. I noticed that the local supermarkets are putting those diet milkshakes on prominent display right after Christmas, knowing it’s an easy sell to all those folks vowing to finally lose those extra pounds.
My resolution this year involves organized religion, and my evolving attitude towards it.
Many years ago, I was a religious purist. I was in agreement with the great New York writer Jimmy Breslin who opined that all true religions had cemeteries. Of course, this was well before I moved to California. Out here, you get a pass on your first marriage. It is almost expected that the first marriage won’t last. Likewise, church hopping and shopping is a common thing. I know people who would move from church to church quicker than they would change hairstylists.
I also see a lot of religious writing on the opinion page. I used to get infuriated by those letters extolling the loss of Christian values and prayer in our schools. I am letting it go. I have enough faith now in God and in the Constitution of the United States that the prayers of the fundamentalist few will not undermine the religious freedom we all enjoy.
I have a friend who is a mainstream Christian. I have heard her call the Mormon faith a cult. I used to be that way, not about the Mormon church, but smaller churches. Not any more. Cult has a very negative sound to it. All organized religions could be called cults, but massive numbers of followers prevent this from being a problem for Catholics, Jews, Lutherans, Baptists and such. The Mormon church is huge and growing. They are a Christian people. I may not agree with all of their teachings, but they are certainly not a cult. Muslim, Hindu or Buddhist, all these great religious traditions cannot be considered cults.
But cults do exist, that is true. My own criteria for classification of a cult has to do with what I call the “whacky factor.”
If you gather at a compound, you might be a cult. If you are not allowed to mix with people outside of your belief system, you might be a cult. If you own more guns than pews, you might be a cult. If you are currently attempting to clone your congregation, you probably are a cult. If you worship at the altar of our Lady of Linens or are a follower at the First Church of Christ Podiatrist, I cast no aspersions on you. In my opinion, these types of churches are not cultish. California welcomes churches such as yours with open arms. I have been here long enough to accept you for what you bring to the diverse mix we have on the west coast. May we all prayer together for a peaceful and prosperous 2003.
