Religion as a Crutch

I distinctly remember on my mission trying to convince the people to listen to the message of the glorious gospel. One of the biggest defenses given was “I don’t need your crutch!” I remember being offended by this insinuation that my religion is a crutch. I also remember saying that it isn’t a crutch but it is something that will help you in your life.  Well now guess what? I can’t think of a better description for religion than a crutch. Does this mean that religion is bad? Not necessarily. The thing with a crutch is that it should only be used when there is a disability.  What religion does is it convinces you that there is something wrong with you. The idea that man is inherently evil is taught by many religions, including Mormonism. 

Religion is no different than these guys that sell water purification systems. They do some bogus test that makes you believe that the perfectly good water you have been drinking your whole life is somehow suddenly contaminated. “Well guess what? Since your water is so badly contaminated, it just so happens that I sell this amazing water purification system. It will only cost you $2,000!” he says.  Similarly, as Mosiah 3:19 says, For the natural man is an enemy to God, and has been from the fall of Adam, and will be, forever and ever, unless he yields to the enticings of the Holy Spirit, and putteth off the natural man and becometh a saint through the atonement of Christ the Lord, and becometh as a child, submissive, meek, humble, patient, full of love, willing to submit to all things which the Lord seeth fit to inflict upon him, even as a child doth submit to his father.  In other words, as any good missionary  will say, “Since man is an enemy to God, it just so happens all I need is for you to dedicate your entire life to my church and pay 10% of your income and you too can be saved from your evil self!”

Mormonism along with most religions has some very good attributes and does many good things. Mormonism along with most religions also has a lot of bad things. I have come to realize that unfortunately it really is too late for some people to ever believe that they can survive without religion. They are so convinced at this point that their “leg” has atrophied to the point that it cannot be rehabilitated. However, I do believe that for most, it isn’t too late. They can drop the crutch and rehabilitate themselves. They will find that what they thought was walking at a normal pace was really a hobble and they can now run freely. Will it be painful to get to that point? Most definitely! Any rehabilitation is very painful but it can be very worth it. I have come to realize that I am no longer broken like I thought I was. As a result, I no longer need that crutch to get by. It is hard but I believe one day I will run faster than I ever did with that crutch supporting me. I haven’t left religion but rather I believe I have graduated from religion by realizing that there is nothing wrong with me. Trust me; you can walk on your own!