ThirstyFish

[Of course that's not "me" in the photo]

In the context of this post, church is used in its broadest definition: "an ecclesiastical organization representing any religion".

Where religion establishes a broad framework in which the individual can grow and self-discover, the church shuns self-discovery, instead promotes decrees and rules touching every aspect of an individuals life. In the process, the church deviates from the framework that the very religion it represents was founded upon. In its extreme, it makes it impossible for the individual to discover The Truth. Pretty much every church rejects this criticism, mainly on the grounds that they are the exception. That tells us something.

So what is one to do? The essence of any religious framework is not that difficult to comprehend for any individual who sincerely seeks it. And once the process starts, the individual recursively "grows" into the framework, mainly through self-discovery. Not every religious framework is the same, but they are fundamentally similar. It's churches that present them as inherently different. Lao Tzu, Buddha, Moses, Jesus, Muhammad and Zoroaster were all preaching about very similar concepts, albeit with minor nuances on how one might attain them. Concepts such as kindness, justice, compassion, purity, temperance, clarity, honesty, unity and sincerity are universal among all religions. Without exception, "how" these are realized is significantly less important than that they are. Churches are obsessed with the "how"; religions themselves much less so.