Published: April 20, 2011

Maybe it’s different in the rest of America, but it seems like wherever I go, religion-bashing follows. From the most liberal of Chicago’s suburbs to the Jesuit University of New York, all I ever hear from 95 percent of my friends is, “I respect people’s belief in God, but I just don’t like all the things organized religions do.”

As a Catholic brought up in a liberal household, I was trained to see both the faults and the great strengths in the institution of religion. There was a time when I was completely against religion; to a young me, the mass seemed to turn people into zombies repeating the same phrases. But as I prepared for Confirmation like a good Catholic, I learned the goals and structure of the Church and grew fond of it for reasons I’ll discuss later. It was around this time that I realized the widespread fear and/or loathing many of my friends had for religion.

I know why my friends are afraid of organized religion.“Koran burning by a Florida pastor leads to violent reactions by Afghan Muslims.” “Religious people are more likely to be obese than non-religious Americans.” “Fordham’s religious ties prevent school support for a Feminist play.” It isn’t an overstatement to say that almost every religious headline in recent memory is generally negative.

It’s not clear whether religion’s bad rap stems from its negative portrayal in the media or if the media are only responding to trends in public opinion. Whatever the reason, it’s why comedians today can get away with tired jokes about the creation story or Mary’s immaculate conception even though they’ve been used for decades. There is a huge audience, especially in big cities like New York, eager to laugh about all things religion.

In this atmosphere, headlines like “More U.S. Catholics Back Gay Rights Than Other Americans” (from a Reuters blog; Google it if you don’t believe me) get lost in the general consensus that religion breeds intolerance. Stories like that reflect an important aspect of religion that I’ve known since First Communion but that those who shun religion must not know: Above all things, religion is about love.

To put it simply, this is why I will always defend organized religion: everything I learned in Catechesism and Confirmation told me to love God and then love my neighbors as if they were God. In my experience, religious institutions like my youth group and my summer service project provide the easiest and most effective means of loving your neighbors. Whether you believe in God or not, I don’t see how you can’t respect the Church’s ability to amass a huge number of people for service trips and other causes. Other institutions can organize too, but none have the billion-member following of the Catholic Church.

Of course, I do see what the Church does to piss people off; the outdated stances on popular/healthy/normal things (at least by New York standards) like condoms and being gay are not winning them any local supporters. But there’s an important difference between the Church and its followers. Where I’m from, they are far from the same thing.

As the study I cited above about Catholics being more accepting of gay rights than average Americans shows, many young Catholics (including myself) stray far from the Church’s more annoyingly impractical doctrines. For some, this means differing from the Church’s stance on gay rights, abortion, condoms and female priests. My religious community at home doesn’t even use the term He to refer to God. We let laypeople (including myself) give the Homily, and we hold our masses in a gymnasium.

What I mean to demonstrate by providing all this personal information is that it’s possible to be part of a religious institution without giving in to all of its negative policies. It shouldn’t need to be said that I don’t personally go about preventing women from getting abortions, but sometimes my friends’ conversations make me think I need to remind them that I don’t bombard them with my Catholic beliefs every time their opinions conflict with mine.

Why do I remain tied to my religion if I disagree with much of its doctrine? Because I believe that the immense global network of love-oriented people that is the Roman Catholic Church is worth putting aside a few disagreements I might have with its leaders. Nowhere else have I seen so many caring people so easily gathered so often as with my youth group and service trips. Anything that can organize millions of people to love and help their neighbors is something worth our respect.