I am writing this as a Christian, so I guess I am religious. That might make the title that I just wrote seem ridiculous, but there are some serious arguments, in the modern world, and we should all understand.

So, are you religious? How could you do that? 

There are critics of religious people, and here is an example:

If you consider yourself religious, how do you answer the critics? There are some severe critics, and they seem to be very intelligent. The video gives a summary of some of the best arguments.

If you want a more aggressive statement of irreligion, here is one:

There is a difference between two ideas; atheism and irreligion. Theism is a belief in God who acts in this world, and the “a” means ‘not.’ No-religion, or irreligion is similar but slightly different and it is a growing and powerful trend in our modern western societies. Anyone who believes anything needs to be prepared to give an answer. The critics are looking for you.

So, how do religious people answer the critics? 

Combine two true ideas: 1) there is some truth in all criticism. And 2) Don’t be a target.

I recently went to a meeting for local politics, in my city. Our small group met in a small room, in a large building, with many other people in other meetings. When we left our room, we had to walk down a wide and long hallway to the front door and the parking lot.

In that hallway were many loud and friendly people, and I think most were drinking alcohol.

On one side of the hallway were several dart boards, and people were throwing darts. Our job was to walk the dangerous gauntlet past the targets, so we could go home. We were all warned to step to the side and walk behind the happy dart throwers. 

That was good advice. Rules 1) and 2) both applied there. There were legitimate targets, and I could choose to not be one of them.

There is also some spiritual truth here; Christianity, for example, is not a religion in the Bible. A man named Jesus spoke to people and said ‘you follow me.’ For example:  He found Philip and said to him, “Follow me.” (John 1: 43) 

One person spoke to one person. No-one was invited to become a flag-waving cheerleader and a fan member in a large social movement with a few informed and saintly leaders at the top. That fits the profile for the critics.

I have a favorite example of this. Religious people have these instructions in the Bible:

Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you. (Ephesians 4: 32)

So, one person (like me) should forgive other people (maybe you) because the theistic God forgave us. Don’t be one more in the crowd, just be you, and be a saint yourself.

The dart throwers have found some truth and a target to attack. The weakness of their criticism is their straw-man or blanket technique. If some religious people fit their profile, then probably they all do. If a Christian is a shallow cheerleading member of a community, that person is walking too close to the dart boards, and the critics might be correct. It is our responsibility to walk where we should, and to make the critics work much harder.

That man Jesus was arrested by religious leaders, and executed on a cross. The irreligious critics may be half right, religion can be a problem. The other half is that the martyr on a cross offered us each a new life, and not just membership in a new religion community.

I was raised in a religious family who took me to church, every week. O won’t blame my parents for this, but I easily slipped into the profile of a religious person, and one of the great struggles of my life was to just be me. When I go to church now, I find people like me, living a new life.

It’s a good experience and a huge change, for a religious and churchy boy.

In my experience, if we get tired of too much religion, atheistic irreligion is not the only way forward.