Who Needs God

Who Needs God - Harold S. Kushner
It's a breath of fresh air to read a book that seeks to state the positives, rather than the negatives, of organized religion. (I have found that it takes little insight or imagination to point out problems, but it takes a gracious spirit to gratefully acknowledge the good.) Kushner argues that making room for religious tradition brings greater fulfillment and meaning to our lives. We lose a great treasure "when we become too intellectual or too modern to make room for religion in our lives" (10). At the most fundamental level, religion provides us with a community to create a life of holiness. Though a few exceptional people might be able to do this on their own, "most of us need a structure and the company of other people to do it" (16). Religion not only attempts to put us in touch with God, but it puts us in touch with one another. And we need to be lifted beyond ourselves - and even the greatest human achievements and potential - to celebrate the transcendent. A community of faith allows us to do this together: "We don’t go to church or synagogue at a stipulated time because God keeps 'office hours.' We go because that is when we know there will be other people there, seeking the same kind of encounter we are seeking" (150). And a gracious church will be a community unlike any other: "Our place of worship offers us a refuge, an island of caring in the midst of a hostile, competitive world. In a society that segregates the old from the young, the right from the poor, the successful from the struggling, the house of worship represents one place where the barriers fall and we all stand equal before God. It promises to be the one place in society where my gain does not have to mean your loss. The man worshiping next to you in church may be an insurance salesman or the manager of a rival business, but for the hour you spend together he is not trying to sell you anything or get ahead of you" (103). In a cynical age full of complainers and stone-throwers, it is refreshing to hear someone highlight the benefits and advantages of religion, rather than take cheap shots at the fragile, glass-house we all inhabit the moment we identify ourselves with any group of faithful sinners.