F.A.Q.

1. Why critique the commonsense notion of religion?

Let me make a distinction between 'Religion' and 
'religion.' First 'Religion' is unchanging and completely knowable. Given this, Religion can be good, bad, silly, deep, and many other qualities. It's contrast, 'religion,' is full of confusing details, including the atheist Jew that hosts Seder and leaves a seat open for Elijah. 

But Religion does not exist, religion does. And when this is realized, we recognize that religion is complex and multifaceted. And (for the most part) we can only critique individual examples of religion as good or bad.

2. Don't you feel that it is a bit intrusive or disrespectful to critique people's dearest beliefs/practices?

Do you have an opinion of ISIS? They have deeply held beliefs! If so, you are doing exactly what I am doing. I just want us to do it more intelligently. 

3. Why the term 'critic,' don't you feel like this is a harsh term; also why not just 'Religion Critic' instead of 'A Religion Critic'?

Critic is meant to imply that I am critiquing individual examples of religion. A movie critic does not hate all movies, they critique particular movies. Thus, that is the goal here. 

I am not the only critic, in this sense; there are more. Our voices are quiet, we do our best to speak in even tones and be fair to the people we study. 

I think it would help the world if our voices were heard more often. 

4. Why are you critical of the academy and scholarship of religion?

Frankly scholars of religion can do better (though there are some good ones). And they need less criticism and more critique. 

My main critique is that they are generally incomprehensible to the general public. Their unnecessarily dense vocabulary and complicated sentence structure make it virtually impossible to be understood by the everyday reader. 

Sometimes difficulty is unavoidable and some of the work can only be done by an institution. (It would be difficult to run polls or fund international research with out institutional support.) 

However, religion is something that everyone has at least some amount of contact with. And in an increasingly global society it is becoming more necessary to understand religion and culture. 


(If you have a question you would like to ask about my project ask me on twitter @areligioncritic or by email areligioncritic@gmail.com)