The video is called “Why I Hate Religion, but Love Jesus || Spoken Word.” It has become an extremely popular video on YouTube reaching over 16 million views and has reached national and world consideration.
His argument? Simple. He hates organized religion but loves the figure of Jesus.
The kid argues that organized religion has started wars, failed to feed the hungry and demands more from its followers than God himself does.
He also claims that Jesus’ original views were what Christianity is all about and that organized religion has ruined that.
So what’s my opinion on this?
I think he makes a lot of valid points. Organized religions have started several wars and countless other atrocities. They have spent billions of dollars on building monumental churches while millions out there are starving. Religion demands a lot from its followers.
However, he needs to pull back there just a little bit.
It’s unfair for him to assume that all organized religions have corrupted Jesus’ message. How do I know this? I don’t. Neither does he. We don’t know truly what Jesus’ original message was and we probably will never know.
And there are plenty of organized religious groups out there who do a lot of good. There are thousands, if not hundreds of thousands, of groups which devote themselves to peace and helping those in need.
Yet, I do think this is a great video and it truly emphasizes the freedom of speech in religion. And quite frankly, this is a question that I can’t truly answer. My advice to you is to go watch the video and see for yourself.
Through conversation alone will we find the answer.
Read the Bible. Jesus’s “original message” is in there. It’s not some mysterious thing.