Private Religion

I hear over and over again that we need to privatize religion (as I was reminded again in a youtube video that someone sent me from Americans United for Separation of Church and State). By this they mean, keep it in the privacy of one's own home, don't bring it into the public square, don't express it in public, and (of course), don't bring it up in politics or government.

But religion can't be privatized. Whether it is Christianity, Buddhism, Hinduism, Islam, Judaism, Sikhism, or Wicca, religion is inherently communal.

To use a bad metaphor, to privatize religion is something like asking you to play baseball in the privacy of your own home. It doesn't work. You have to have other players, you have to have coaches and umpires, you have to have teams, you have to have fans. It's the nature of it. You can fruitfully practice throwing a baseball with your son in your private backyard, but ultimately, when it comes time to "play the game," you have to do it in community.

"Life in community is no less than a necessity for us, an inescapable 'must'... all life created by God exists in communal order and works toward community." -- Eberhard Arnold


P.S. You don't have to privatize religion to have separation of church and state or a pluralist nation.

P.P.S. If you force people to play baseball "privately," you'll destroy it, which, I suppose, is the point for those who are advocating private religion.