Organized religion is an oxymoron.

But I sympathize with Wesley's logic. I think there are plenty of parishes and community groups organized along religious lines that are much more voluntary than their main organizations.

Buddhism as it is practiced in some countries strikes me as another example where the authoritarian or dogmatic aspect of organized "religion" is less salient. Likewise the silent meeting days of some Friends is quite undogmatic.

But the thing to notice is that the part that is religious in actuality is not the part that is organized, and the part that is organized is never the genuinely religious part of any such scene, IMHO.

The understanding that religion and one';s own connection with the human spirit and the infinite, whatever that connection involves, is purely a private and personal experience, is what lies behind the brilliant and revolutionary doctrine of the separation of church and state introduced by Jefferson and his gang.

I don't think we need to we-invent that wheel--we just need to educate the troglodytes who haven't figured out why some things roll better than others!


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