We must realize our hypocritical ways and if we are honest, we “Now back to the point, one thing is vital
s vital to mention / How
all have some to work on. We do this by living our religion more
authentically! Knowing Jesus and having a relationship with
Him is not opposed to religion, as if once a person comes to
Christ he must cast off the chains of his burdensome religion.
Jesus established many of the very dictates of Christian reli-
gion: repent (Mt 4:17), follow the commandments (Mt 19:17),
be baptized (Jn 3:3-5), receive the Eucharist (Jn 6:53), obey
Church authority (Mt 18:17), serve the poor (Mt 5:42; 25:40),
fast (Mt 9:15; 6:16-18), do not be angry with your brother (Mt
5:23), do not look at a woman lustfully (Mt 5:28), do not swear
(Mt 5:34), love your enemies and pray for your persecutors (Mt
5:44), and be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect (Mt
5:48).
Being in relationship with Jesus Christ means following these
commands, which are the very heart of Christian religion.
“Because if grace is water, then the church should be an ocean
/ It’s not a museum for good people, it’s a hospital for the bro-
ken”
This is true. There is nothing new here.
“Which means I don’t have to hide my failure, I don’t have to
hide my sin / Because it doesn’t depend on me it depends on
him / See because when I was God’s enemy and certainly not a
fan / He looked down and said I want, that, man”
Well said! Catholics share with Bethke the experience of
the love of Christ removing sin and shame.
Which is why Jesus hated religion, and for it he called them
fools / Don’t you see much better than just following some
rules”
Jesus enacted rules to live by. Religion is more than just
following rules. Religion is the way of faith, a way of life.
“Now let me clarify, I love the church, I love the Bible, and yes I
believe in sin / But if Jesus came to your church would they
actually let him in”
Catholics must love the Church, the Bible, and know sin is
real. Jesus is welcome in our churches. At Mass, we gather as
his body, the Word of God is proclaimed, and Jesus gives us his
body and blood. Our churches minister to people of every race,
liberals and conservatives, saints and sinners, the rich and the
poor.
“See remember he was called a glutton, and a drunkard by
religion men / But the son of God never supports self-
righteousness not now, not then”
Getting rid of all religion because of some bad religion
men doesn’t make sense. Furthermore, there may be some
religions that believe on can achieve righteousness solely
through one’s own effort, but the Christian religion has always
been against that sort of thing. We are saved by the grace of
Jesus Christ.
.
Jesus and religion are on opposite spectrums”
This is an incorrect statement. Jesus Himself was a very
religious person. He was circumcised. He was baptized. He
celebrated the Passover and other Jewish feasts. He worshiped
in the synagogue. He followed the Ten Commandments. He
prayed. He fasted. He went on pilgrimages. Jesus is the fulfill-
ment of the Jewish religion and the center of the Christian
religion.
See one’s the work of God, but one’s a man made invention /
See one is a cure, but the other’s the infection / See because
religion says do, Jesus says done / Religion says slave, Jesus
says son / Religion puts you in bondage while Jesus sets you
free / Religion makes you blind, but Jesus makes you see / And
that’s why religion and Jesus are two different clans”
Example: Baptism is part of Christian religion. Is it man
made? No, Jesus instituted baptism (Mk 16:16) and orders his
Apostles to baptize all the nations (Mt 28:19). In this religious
act, we become adopted sons and daughters of God.
Religion is man searching for God, Christianity is God searching
for man”
This is confusing. The common definition that most view-
er have says Christianity is a religion. In Judaism and Christiani-
ty, God revealed himself to man.
Which is why salvation is freely mine, and forgiveness is my
own / Not based on my merits by Jesus’s obedience alone /
Because he took the crown of thorns, and the blood dripped
down his face / He took what we all deserved, I guess that’s
why you call it grace / And while being murdered he yell,
“Father forgive them they know not what they do.” / Because
when he was dangling on that Cross, he was thinking of you /
And he absorbed all of your sin, and buried it in the tomb /
Which is why I’m kneeling at the cross, saying come on there’s
room”
This is a very good and beautiful summary of how
we are saved. Catholics believe every bit of it
So for religion, no I hate it, in fact I literally resent it / Because
when Jesus said it is finished, I believe he meant it”
Amen.
Thank you to Phat Catholic Apologetics for its
own response to this YouTube on which this
brochure is based.
Catholic Campus Ministry
(920) 233-5555 newmanctr.org
A REFLECTION ON
“WHY I HATE RELIGION,
BUT LOVE JESUS”
Jesus said, “Think not that I have come to
abolish the law and the prophets; I have
come not to abolish them but to fulfill
them. For truly, I say to you, till heaven and
earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot will
pass from the law until all is accomplished.”
Matthew 5:17-18
In January 2012, Jefferson Bethke released a YouTube video,
“Why I Hate Religion, But Love Jesus.” It is a spoken poem. The
video went viral (as of Sept. 10, 2013, it has over 25 million
views). This video received both praise and criticism from
among the followers of Jesus Christ. Bethke appears to be a
good and sincere follower of the Lord. Bethke makes many
good points. It responds well to a generation of people who
often call themselves “spiritual, but not religious.” Bethke’s
true intention is to help followers of Jesus to really walk the
walk. Plenty of people (perhaps all) who call themselves Chris-
tians don’t live out their faith fully. We are all in need of con-
version!
BETHKE ACKNOWLEDGES SOME PROBLEMS
This poem is a work of art, not a theological text
book. It does not have the same precision. This leads to some
confusion. Bethke, in a very humble blog post, acknowledges
that there were some things he could have done better. You
can find it at http://jeffbethke.com/my-thoughts-after-writing-
i-hate-religion-but-love-jesus. The greatest area of dispute is
the use of the word “religion.” Bethke wrote:
In regards to language used I also wanted to touch on
my poem’s first line. I say, “What if I told you Jesus
came to abolish religion?” Now, a lot of people fired
back quoting Matthew 5:17 (“Think not that I have
come to abolish the law and the prophets; I have come
not to abolish them but to fulfill them”), which I say
amen to! In hindsight I do think that was a poor choice
of words, and want to apologize to anyone who was
confused by that one line. Even though I wasn’t talking
about the law, I was talking about self-righteousness, I
still think that line was more confusing than it was
clear.
Another very good article on this video comes from a January
19, 2012 article on the Christian Post by Ravelle Mohammed
called “Why I Hate Religion, But Love Jesus’ Poet Jefferson
Bethke Talks Jesus, Religion.” You can find it at
http://www.christianpost.com/news/why-i-hate-religion-but-
love-jesus-poet-jefferson-bethke-talks-jesus-religion-67470. In
this article, Bethke reveals more about what he means by the
word “religion.” At Bethke’s church, Mars Hill Church in Wash-
ington state, “religion” is “a short-hand that is synonymous
with legalism, hypocrisy, and self-justification that has nothing
to do with the institution. He continues “it has nothing to do
with the actual church…. It’s a synonym used for Pharisee-type
legalistic, self-righteous people that are opposed to the church
and opposed to Christianity. So that’s my definition of [false
religion].” The Catholic Church very much agrees with Bethke in
rejecting this false religion. Unfortunately, Bethke uses just the
word “religion” rather than “false religion” in his video poem
and this has led to confusion.
DEFINITION OF RELIGION
Above, we learned Bethke’s definition of religion.
The Catechism of the Catholic Church defines religion: “a set of
beliefs and practices followed by those committed to the ser-
vice of and worship of God. The first commandment requires us
to believe in God, to worship and serve him, as the first duty of
religion” (CCC glossary). Christian religion in this sense includes
sacraments, commandments, virtues, gifts of the Holy Spirit,
the teachings of the faith. This definition lines up with the first
and second definition from the World English Dictionary: “1.
belief in, worship of, or obedience to a supernatural power or
powers considered to be divine or to have control of human
destiny” and “2. any formal or institutionalized expression of
such belief.” Most critiques of and probably most who watched
the video had this definition of religion in mind rather than
Bethke’s.
A LINE BY LINE CATHOLIC CRITIQUE
Note: This critique uses the common definition of religion rather
than Bethke’s because that is most likely the way most viewers
defined religion.
“What if I told you Jesus came to abolish religion”
By the common definition of religion, in no way can it be
said that Jesus came to abolish religion. Jesus specifically said,
“Think not that I have come to abolish the law and the proph-
ets; I have come not to abolish them but to fulfill them” (Mt
5:17). The Law establish the religion of the Jewish people and
Jesus came to fulfill it, to make it what it was meant to be, not
to do away with it.
“What if I told you voting Republican really wasn’t His mission /
What if I told you Republican doesn’t automatically mean Chris-
tian”
This is true. Being Republican, or Democrat, or any other
political affiliation does not mean you are a true follower of
Jesus Christ. All political parties are in need of Christian conver-
sion in some way.
“And just because you call some people blind doesn’t automati-
cally give you vision”
Agreed.
“I mean, if religion is so great, why has it started so many wars”
Interestingly, this is an argument many atheists make
against followers of Jesus. This is not Bethke’s belief. First, this
is a blanket statement. Some religions haven’t started wars,
such as the Amish. In the end, it is not religion that starts war,
but the sinners in that religion.
“Why does it [religion] build huge churches, but fails to feed
the poor”
Christians manage to do both. The Catholic Church is
the largest charitable organization in the world. In Oshkosh,
Father Carr’s Place 2B, a homeless shelter was built and is run
by Catholics. In Oshkosh, the Saint Vincent de Paul Society, a
Catholic organization, runs their store in order to help the poor.
In Oshkosh, Mercy Hospital provides care to all people, regard-
less of ability to pay. In Oshkosh, Catholic Charities provides
mental health services on a sliding scale. In the wider Oshkosh
Christian community, Emmanuel United Church of Christ, the
Salvation Army, His Church World Outreach Center, and the
Lutheran Food Pantry all provide food for those in need.
Catholic and Christians have done all these things while
still building churches, big and small to worship Jesus. Building
churches to worship Jesus in and feeding Jesus in the poor are
both about glorifying God. They both happen in the Christian
religion here in Oshkosh. It isn’t either/or. It is both/and.
“Tells single moms God doesn’t love them if they’ve ever had a
divorce / But in Old Testament, God actually calls religious
people whores”
The teaching of Jesus and of the Church is to love all peo-
ple, but to hate the sin. Jesus is very serious about marriage
because he loves marriage:
And Pharisees came up to him [Jesus] and tested
him by asking, “Is it lawful to divorce one’s wife for
any cause?” He answered, “Have you not read that
he who made them male and female, and said, ‘For
this reason a man shall leave his father and mother
and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become
one flesh?’ So they are no longer two but one flesh.
What therefore God has joined together, let no man
put asunder.” They said to him, “Why then did Mo-
ses command one to give a certificate of divorce,
and to put her away?” He said to them, “For your
hardness of heart Moses allowed you to divorce
your wives, but from the beginning it was not so”
(Mt 19:3-8).
Paul agrees as well: 1 Cor 6:16; 7:10-1 39
“Religion might preach grace, but another thing they practice /
Tend to ridicule God’s people, they did it to John the Baptist”
This shows Bethke’s definition of “religion” as “false reli-
gion” best. The scribes and Pharisees ridiculed and punished
many of God’s prophets. Some non-believers understand Jesus’
rebukes of the scribes and Pharisees as a general rebuke of
religion. The scribes and the Pharisees represent religion gone
wrong, not authentic religion. They are the “hypocrites” and
“whitewashed tombs”, not religion itself (Mt 23:27). The reli-
gion Jesus gave us is meant to preserve us from that! Jesus, by
preaching against those things, was establishing the nature of
true Christian religion.
“They can’t fix their problems, and so they just mask it / Not
realizing religions like spraying perfume on a casket
Again, this calls to mind what Jesus said to the Pharisees
in Matthew 23. Religion is not like spraying perfume on a cas-
ket. Hypocrisy is! True religion is believing, and worshiping, and
serving God rightly. Sometimes we fall, but God forgives.
“See the problem with religion, is it never gets to the core / It’s
just behavior modification, like a long list of chores”
For some people, religion is about going through the mo-
tions. For others, religion is a rousing experience of the Holy
Spirit, a transformation by God Himself. Why does religion
penetrate and transform some and not others? One only needs
to look to Christ’s parable of the farmer scattering seed in
Matthew 13:1-23. Often religion comes alive for a person once
they realize why they are doing what they are doing.
Religion is not without meaning or influence. It is up to us
to cooperate with the Holy Spirit. When we do this, then reli-
gion becomes what Bethke wants it to be.
Like lets dress up the outside make look nice and neat / But it’s
funny that’s what they use to do to mummies while the corpses
rot underneath”
This implies religion requires people to act fake and put on
a show. It doesn’t. No religion does. If what you do in the prac-
tice of your religion is not a reflection of who you truly are as a
person, then that is your fault. Don’t blame your own hypocrisy
on religion.
“Now I ain’t judging, I’m just saying quit putting on a fake look /
Cause there’s a problem if people only know you’re Christian
by your Facebook / I mean in every other aspect of life, you
know that logic’s unworthy / It’s like saying you play for the
Lakers just because you bought a jersey / You see this was me
too, but no one seemed to be on to me / Acting like a church
kid, while addicted to pornography / See on Sunday I’d go to
church, but Saturday getting faded / Acting if I was simply cre-
ated just to have sex and get wasted / See I spent my whole life
building this façade of neatness / But now that I know Jesus, I
boast in my weakness”
Agreed. Christians need to provide an authentic witness
to their faith. Religion must be more than just an act or a show.