I love Jesus, but hate religion

Surely, one of the  more asinine thoughts to gain popularity in our culture is the idea that one can ‘love Jesus,” but hate religion.  There is apparently quite a buzz over this video on Youtube, with many people “liking” it, but also many pointing out the utter fallacy of the claims made:

It’s so easy to “love Jesus and hate religion,” when you make both a creation of your own mind, totally disjointed from reality, and use this so comfortably characterized “Jesus” to align perfectly with your own preconceived notions.  The factual fallacies are constant:

1. Jesus did not come to abolish religion – he came not to abolish the law, but to fulfill it (and he told Peter he would build His Church on this rock – him)
2. This constant refrain of the agnostic/indifferentist/modernist secular pagans that “religion has started so many wars” is just false, especially with regard to the Christian religion.  Atheistic, materialist communism killed more people in the 20th century than all religious wars combined.   Christianity has started some wars, but islam has started far more.  And let’s face it, the “religion” he is attacking is Christianity, not islam or buddhism or whatever.
3. Then there is the  meme of religions being very rich, but not feeding the poor.  The ignorance expressed in this statement, especially regarding the Catholic Church, is breathtaking.  First of all, should we not give glory to God?  Can we not build structures that show our love for Him and the incredible Gift He has given us in His Son, His Church, etc.?  And the Catholic Church does more to aid the poor than any other group on earth.
4. He then goes on to claim that religion makes you a slave, but Jesus ‘frees’ you.  Again, its all based on a fundamental ignorance and misconception – if you don’t have the Church, you can turn Jesus into whatever caricature you want, which is what he’s done.  You can also turn the Church, or religion, into a boogeyman. 

I don’t t know a thing about this guy.  I don’t know if he “really” loves Jesus or not.  I wonder if this is where the increasingly splintered ‘evangelical’ movement is headed – a billion self-defined Jesus lovers, with no church to speak of. 

However, out of this dark comedy of error and ignorance, came some good, to me.  A young diocesan priest discussed this video in a sermon last Friday afternoon, and pointed out that, while the young man is hopefully arguing thusly from ignorance, he is not on a path to salvation.  He will be damned if he persists in his errors.  That is a magnificent statement of Truth – we cannot force “Jesus” into some box of our own making and expect salvation – and he pointed out that far too many Catholics do the same thing (Lord, have mercy on me!).  It was a really good thing to hear, and very necessary, for we all tend to fall into this trap.  That is why we have the Church – to keep us from creating a caricature of Jesus that…….miracle of miracles!…….just happens to conform perfectly with our preferences and desires. 

And that is what so much of the conflict within the Church over the past 50 years has been about – whether we will be a Church focused on serving God and the Truth He has revealed, or something of our own creation, much more, or entirely, human-focused.  The Cult of God vice the cult of man.  It is the perennial battle the Church has fought for 2000  years.  We must all choose.