Your thoughts on this quote please.?

Question

Organised religion is for the common man.

What is this quote trying to say and what does this mean?

Serious answers only please.

Thanks.

Answer 1

I think the adjective 'organized' is the key to this quote..... organized by whom... the religious leaders. These leaders derive their power from numbers and 'blind following', which can come only from the common man.

There is more to it.... it also means that these leaders have a different approach to people who are not common, such as the rich and powerful minority.... towards this lot, the way would be one of give and take and compromise in order to profitably share the power over the common man.

Organized religion is religious politics, no less dirty and 'double-standard-driven' than all other power politics. And Marx should have known better to expect that his ideals too were going to be equally 'utilized' by power-hungry 'red' leaders for exploitation of the common man. It is not that the common man does not have a mind of his own, what he unfortunately lacks is the capability to revolt or deviate.... and it is this weakness that gets exploited by the unscrupulous power-mongers, including most of the religious leaders and establishment.

Answer 2

The person that made up this quote is trying to downplay the importance that religion was to some of the most famous minds in history, that were far from being common place.

Organized religion has caused many remarkable changes in history.

The reformation in the Catholic Church.

The Anglican Church in England.

Charles Martel's Catholic faith helped give him a way to rid Spain of the Moors of North Africa.

The first printing of a book was the Bible that is used by a very large population of organized churches with not too common memberships.

In other words this quote has a light weight emptiness about it

Answer 3

Both of those are very true and very beautiful. I can totally relate to the first quote! I hide behind a smile all the time. I am one of those happy, hyper, crazy girls who is always laughing and cracking jokes. but also can be serious when need be and gets good grades. Little do people know, I as soon as I am alone, I am sad and heartbroken and some nights I even cry myself to sleep. My life may seem almost perfect, but it is just the opposite. I know that these quotes aren't really literal, like the first quote isn't really about pretty your eyes are or smile is, but what it is sorta ironic about this is people tell me all the time that I have pretty eyes, but inside I am really sensitive. I also love the second quote! As I said before, I am actually really sensitive, but sometimes I am rude and tough and like I don't care just because I don't want to be hurt and I don't want to think that people can hurt me, when in reality I am crying myself to sleep... :( A quote that I love is this: "I went to find a friend and I found none, I went out to be a friend and I found many." Also, just listen to the song Imagine by John Lennon. It is my favorite song of all time and I consider the whole thing to be a quote because it is so deep and inspiring and true! Thank you for giving me two new quotes to add to my favorites list!

Answer 4

Everybody has their own variance of religion. You may be Christian, Jewish, Hindu, etc., but if you truly are your own person there should be at least one thing about the religion that you disagree with or something else that you believe that the person sitting next to you won't. To different people, religion is different things. Only a "common" person, in the sense of "common" being not unique at all, just like everyone else, can follow a set of rules set down by certain people, and not have their own opinions. For example, my father and I are both Methodist. But I believe God is not responsible for the bad things in the world and that we do have free will. He thinks that we do have free will, but tends to blame God for not stopping the horrible things that happen. If we only went about our lives following organized religion, as it is strictly organized by others, then we are all common, exactly the same. Real people have differences.

Answer 5

This person is fed up with what people have done to what is normally understood as organized religion and likely considers her/himself above the chaos humans have produced using religion as an excuse. Those are the common people. The writer isn't part of them, therefore, s/he is uncommon.

What this person is failing to see is that the adherents' behaviors are not the same as the religion. Their behaviors don't necessarily reflect the the pure teachings of the religion and are often are in opposition to the pure teachings of the religion. This falling away from the pure teachings indicates that it is time for a renewal and fresh outpouring of religion from a new universal educator.

Just as the ocean cannot be blamed for people polluting its purity, religion too cannot be blamed for its adherents polluting its purity.

Answer 6

If the powers that be want to organize, "the common man", religion is one way to do it. Religion is manipulation. I have found religion to be the epitome of hypocrisy. Do as I say, not as I do. Faith is a personal, spiritual quest, unique to the thinking individual. Religion has always been a way to persecute people, take away their rights and many times their lives. I believe in a Creator, not religion. Blessings on you.

Answer 7

The word religion means back to bondage, so if you realize this the common man doesnt take the time to learn what the words mean or that the Bible is spiritual not physical and want it to pacify and quick fix his problems of his life...to me the quote is stating the common man would be satisfied with the structure of organized religion and its glimmer and glam of what they think God is all about...but take no time to really get to know him or his word which has nothing to do with religion....hope it helps

Answer 8

I understand it to mean that the common man is inclined to follow the pack, join the crowd and subscribe to the most popular beliefs. the common man is easily willing for someone to do the thinking for them so that they wont have to.
Mob rules and all that. The uncommon man questions everything and wants to know why and is never satisfied with just because someone said so this is the thinker the anti-authoritarian, the rebel, or prodigal son so to speak.

Answer 9

Insofar as I understand it, I disagree with it. It sounds like a way of making the Marxist point that Churches trade in the opiate of the masses.

Personally, I don't see the human race as divided into vanguards on the one hand and common folk on the other. We are each of us a vanguard in some manner. So we are each capable of unChurched religion, the disorganized spontaneous spirituality of, well ... of Saul of Tarsus, of Augustine, of Francis of Assisi or George Fox.

Answer 10

I agree with it. I have always felt organized religion was for those who needed to be led and they needed some kind of a carefully created and defined deity to tie their own lives to. In my experience, people who are more free thinkers and think outside the box kind of people have very little need for someone to tell them what they can and cannot do in the name of God. That is not to say they are atheists or agnostics. Most people like that tend to maintain a personal relationship with their Creator that doesn't require clergy. Pax - C