Weary of Religion

In the discourse of some individuals, especially among the younger generation, we encounter a phenomenon that can be called “weariness of religion.” Weariness of religion is a rejectionist reaction toward anything that bears the color and scent of religion. They flee from whatever lies in this domain and reject it. Yet they have no clear reason for this kind of rejectionist encounter with religion—disheartenment and indifference toward a subject that was once important to them and with which they engaged. Weariness of religion is the stance of those who no longer wish to think about this category or to confront it. Such a stance does not arise from hatred, enmity, or estrangement; rather, they want to forget something that has placed a heavy burden upon them. They want to move something from the realm of their consciousness into the unconscious, and they strive to diminish the importance of what was once significant to them and to remove it from the circle of their lives.

This mode of encountering religion is fundamentally not enmity, ill will, or hatred. They simply feel that they have grown weary of religion. They have grown weary because they feel that religion has become a heavy burden that their frail shoulders lack the strength to bear, and that they cannot carry it along amid the struggles of life and its ups and downs. It is like someone who has, of necessity, carried a heavy object for a while—even against their will—but feels that continuing is beyond their capacity, and ultimately wishes they could set it down; and indeed they do set it down, staring at it, wondering what to do with it. Their heart is still bound to religion, but they cannot continue to carry it. The one who is weary of religion is not at war with it; they are simply at a loss as to what to do with its heaviness and intrusiveness. They bid farewell to religion not out of ill will, but out of helplessness and inability to resolve its issues and afflictions. They bid farewell, yet their heart remains bound to it. Flight from religion (and not struggle against it), which manifests in forms such as disregard, indifference, estrangement, and distancing oneself from religion, is the result of weariness of it.

Why have they grown weary of religion?

The causes and factors referred to here are expressed solely through a descriptive method, and none of them are evaluated for truth or falsehood. That is to say, it is a report of what goes on in the thoughts of some, and is merely a viewpoint that has become widespread and reflected in public opinion. In other words, what follows is not a value judgment about the causes, but the result of an external observer’s observation—something we plainly see when we look at the social scene. The causes mentioned are extracted from everyday experiences and conversations conducted for this purpose.

1) The first and perhaps most important cause of weariness of religion is the massive, highly conspicuous, and exhausting presence of religious propaganda, exhortations, and displays at all times and in all places, whether relevant or irrelevant. Radio and television, around the clock and on every channel, are engaged in discussing or promoting religious topics, teachings, or issues. In addition, urban advertising is entirely saturated with such displays. Billboards and signs, flags and flyers, and so on, speak of religion. The media are full of subjects that are referred back to religion. Several months of the year and various ten-day periods are caught up in repetitive and heavy discussions of religious discourses and religious displays. Schools, education, and the various ceremonies that are held are filled with religious matters and religious instruction. Lectures, meetings, roundtables, and so on, all speak of religion. Religion rains down from every wall and corner of the city. They do not realize that such an atmosphere inevitably exhausts the mind and psyche. The repetition and reiteration of these matters produces its own opposite. The voluminous and heavy propaganda offends the audience’s sensibilities, and it is after this that the audience feels, “If only my world were less crowded than this, and more silence prevailed in my living space.”

2) One of the fundamental causes of weariness of religion is that people do not find it compatible with their lives. An intrusive religion that does not recognize life. An intruder that is present moment by moment and wants to take control of everything. It wants to have a plan for everything, leaves no area of discretion, and occupies every pore of life. One of these intrusions is the enmity, disagreements, and divisions it has sown among people. A religion that is not in harmony with joy and delight and has a great challenge with music, art, and happiness. The tension between what is presented to society as religion and art (music and other aspects of art), the tension between religion and joy, and also the tension between religion and everyday life, causes religion to impose a heavy shadow upon the individual. They are weary of religion because they find it an obstacle to their living. Several months of the year are taken up with ceremonies, days of mourning, lamentation, and sorrow. All these days, in addition to plunging the psychological environment of life into grief and sadness, also create other intrusions. When religion is not compatible with life and its colors, gradually, it is religion that is shown the door. Religion's confrontation with freedom is another one of these incompatibilities. Whatever the case, an incompatible religion appears to be a wearying religion, and the audience turns away from it. They do not negate it, but they are not comfortable with this religion.

3) The third cause of weariness is the result of assessing the Sharia and the do's and don'ts of religion as exceeding one's capacity and patience. A religion that commands excessively and rules at every time and place. An all-encompassing jurisprudence that appropriates everything, so much so that the individual feels captive to jurisprudence and Sharia. The bloating of jurisprudence and its heavy shadow over the entire course of life and its presence in every moment gradually wearies the individual committed to jurisprudence and ultimately turns into its own opposite. Living absolutely and completely according to jurisprudential standards (maximalist and all-encompassing jurisprudence) is not something everyone can manage and show patience towards. Moreover, they find acting upon the rulings and commands of Sharia in some cases fundamentally impossible or arduous with modern life today. They feel a meaningful gap between their religious beliefs and their life. They can neither ignore their beliefs nor abandon modern life. They are condemned to live within these very connections and relationships and also to uphold their jurisprudence and religious beliefs. But after a while, they feel they cannot reconcile their living with those rulings and commands. They grow weary of these complex and perpetual conflicts and these daily contradictions. They are especially annoyed by totalitarian, strict, and cumbersome jurisprudence and ultimately, and perhaps against their will, distance themselves from the realm of religion and Sharia.

4) Among the causes that have led to weariness of religion is the bloating of religious teachings and concepts. The great mass and galaxy of religious literature and teachings that have surrounded individuals. A clamor of concerns and worries that has engulfed life moment by moment. Concepts and concerns that have needlessly cluttered existence. The subjective and objective world of the religious person in Iran is heavily trafficked and crowded with religious comings and goings. There is a multitude of interpretations and explanations about simple religious matters, each sometimes contradicting the other. Weariness from all these religious teachings and the labyrinth of words and thoughts that not only do not show a person the path to liberation but also cause bewilderment. While they wish to fly more simply and lightly and traverse the path of salvation, so many burdens and excesses have been placed in their balloon that those very things cause their downfall. The one who is weary of this mass of knowledge wants, with Occam's razor in hand, to declutter their world of information and knowledge. A simple and understandable religion that does not cast a heavy shadow on the mind and does not cause torment to the soul.

5) The history of religion is excessively heavy. A history laden with problems and ambiguities that have taken the “now” captive and, like a heavy burden, have slowed the movement toward the future. A history full of loves and hatreds, wars and enmities, a history from distant times that bears no relation to the “now.” Events that are finished, yet have filled the vessel of the present time. A history that constructs identity, and an identity that places its heavy burden on the shoulders of the human being. History is supposed to be a lesson for life, but if it collapses upon the “now” and the “here” and blocks the path of thinking, it is gradually lost. History is a background meant to be a support for moving forward, but if it holds people captive in the past, it becomes exhausting. The “now” arises from the past, but when the “past” seizes the now in its grip, that past is inevitably laid to rest. When the history of religion casts a heavy, slowing shadow over today’s existence, turning away from religion becomes its inevitable result. It is in such a situation that this question is raised: Is it necessary for my few decades of life to carry this eventful and tumultuous history on my shoulders?

6) The sixth cause of weariness and, ultimately, turning away from religion is this: The religion that is present, the very thing they call religion, the actually existing religion or, in today’s terms, this reading of religion, does not recognize the human being. It always demands a sacrifice. In this approach, religion has not come for the human being; rather, it is the human being who must constantly be in the service of religion and uphold its rights. A religion that does not consider any rights for me as a human being. (When I say it does not recognize the human being, I mean that) it does not see the human being’s awareness and perception of existence, of the self, and of the future, nor their desires, emotions, feelings, and anxieties. A religion where everything is it, and the human being is nothing before it. Such a conception of religion has steps that are heavy, exhausting, and tormenting. A religion that demands the human being as its sacrifice and expects everyone, in every situation, to be its servant—for the modern human being, who thinks about their individual rights and for whom individuality and the right to choose are important, such a religion is harsh and heavy.

7) And finally, the seventh cause lies in the contradiction between the speech and the conduct of the promoters of religion and the custodians who say one thing and do another. The audience cannot understand: if those words are true, why are they not faithful to them themselves? If the world is an ugly and rough commodity, if the pursuit of power is unacceptable in religious thought, and many other “ifs,” why have the speakers of these words greedily taken the world and power as their fief? Contradictions of this kind distress the audience. And since a human being cannot live in contradiction forever, they therefore seek to resolve this contradiction. The first solution is to create a separation between the claimants of religion and religion itself. But this solution, at least in the long term, does not produce an adequate answer. Gradually, the distress with the speaker spreads to the speech and the content of the words as well. And so it happens that, to escape the helplessness in this contradictory affair, one prefers to push religion to the margins of life and forget it, in order to heal the weariness arising from living within contradictions.

A final point:

As was mentioned, weariness of religion is weariness of readings that have made religion not light-footed but heavy, have dimmed its face of calm and security, and have made its presence so overwhelming that ordinary life, accompanied by peace, joy, and meaning-giving, has fallen into the straits of hardship. Instead of solidarity, it has fostered division, and instead of providing security, it has fueled fear of torments and punishments. In confronting such readings of religion, various kinds of reactions and solutions take shape. And yet, ultimately, if the solutions reach a dead end, the weariness from the clamor causes religion to be pushed to the margins and forgotten. Turning away from religion does not carry the meaning of hostility and enmity toward religion, but it speaks of an unavoidable weariness.

*In this discourse, what is meant by religion is precisely what we all, in a general sense, call religion, of which we have some knowledge and a broad, summary understanding. The religion we know is the historical religion, the ancestral religion we have inherited, the religion that is introduced and inculcated through the process of education. Therefore, this analysis deals with "actually existing religion" (social religion), not the religion that is religion in its very essence, a truth that is not present here.

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Weary of Religion

Author: Ali Zamaniyan

Source: Niloufar

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