The problem is that the accounts of Jesus in the New Testament Gospels portray one who was very religious. He can be found in the synagogue and in the Temple. He celebrated the major religious feasts of his day, including the annual Passover rite. He knew the Hebrew scriptures very well and engaged his contemporaries in discussion about how to practice their religion.

The first followers were also very religious. Like Jesus, they frequented the synagogue and the Temple on a regular basis. Even more interesting, when they refer to Jesus, they use religious terminology: Passover lamb, priest, prophet, a new Adam, and so on.

Jesus didn’t reject religion or pit it over against a relationship with God. He showed how God should be followed. Jesus versus religion is a false dichotomy.

In some ways, the video seems to be more about people whose expressions of faith don’t line up with Bethke’s expectations. The implied conclusion is that if Bethke would be uncomfortable sitting in a pew next to you, Jesus would be too. This is where Paul would say something like, “Accept one another, then, just as Christ accepted you, in order to bring praise to God” (Rom. 15:7 NIV).

But, in the end, the video is really addressing hypocrisy rather than religion (“It’s like saying you play for the Lakers just because you bought a jersey,” 1:29). It’s not religion or religious people that have the poet upset. It is the hypocritical practice of religion. And even Jesus was against that.

Sadly, the video misses its target and perpetuates a misunderstanding of what it means to be religious and to participate in religious practices. In doing so, it perpetuates more harm than good.

[W]ithin Canada’s writing and intellectual community, many people I know will not consider the idea that skepticism toward the existence of God may not be absolutely progressive.

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