"Many churches are jerk factories!"

I have been throughly enjoying Richard Beck's blog series, "The Varieties & Illusions of Religious Experience." I have wanted to link to it many times; however, one needs to read the whole series to appreciate the context of Richard's assertions. The series wrestles with how religious belief functions in the life of the believer as she goes about the management of her life. This approach is in contrast to the usual discussions of whether or not a religious belief is true. Thinking precisely about how beliefs function is a fascinating turn on the usual inquiry.

If your not up to reading the entire series, I hope you'll check out this post, "The Bait and Switch of Contemporary Christianity." This article provides the context for the quote I used as the title of this post.

It is very helpful to deeply consider how my religious beliefs are functioning in my management of life and specifically how beliefs support or maybe constrain my character development.

Check it out.