Then came the Enlightenment. In the 1700s, many Enlightenment philosophers decided to divorce reason from faith, and this rendered faith as something blind and mindless. In 1843 Karl Marx called religion the “opium of the people.” He did not merely criticize some religions; he got out his broad brush and identified all religion as an illusion.
I certainly agree that people have used religion as a security blanket to protect themselves from having to think. However, it does not help us to define religion according to people’s failures and abuses. Religion is what it is.
Religion is our attempt to define ultimate truth. Everyone believes in something. Everyone worships something. As Francis Schaeffer said, “Man is incurably religious.”
The Bible does not categorize people as religious and non-religious. Jesus did not fight for “religion” or against “non-religion.”
I understand why we label some people “non-religious.” Non-religious people might not go to church or pray on a regular basis. However, even non-religious people have some kind of belief that governs their lives. They still have a kind of faith.
Perhaps “faith” is a more useful term than religion, because religious practices can be empty and hypocritical. Before you finish this book you will know what kind of faith you have and how to explain it. Start with this question, who or what is at the center of your life?
