Religion, for many people, is a bore. Old statues, old buildings, older adults, everything is old. People drone on about what they believe. There are substantial yawning spaces between people who do attend religious ceremonies. You can quite rightly wonder if being religious is the answer to our problems; where is everyone?
Not too long ago, about one hundred years, give or take a decade or two, nearly everyone was a member of an organized religion. What faith group you belonged to could determine who you socialized with and even your job prospects. No one then could have imagined what we see now.
What happened? Now, there is no discussion of religion in the media, except maybe to report a terrorist bombing. We socialize with those who share our interests and hobbies, and if jobs are given out based on what we believe, an investigation could soon occur to find out why. Religion is not valued in our society, and it does not help you to get ahead in life.
But this is just scratching the surface. What happened was that another belief system replaced what people had believed in for hundreds, if not thousands, of years. That belief system is atheism.
Atheists do not believe in God, and they think that being religious is a waste of time. Once atheism took hold in our society, religion was pushed to the margins and quickly became irrelevant to most people’s lives. Where once organized religions ran hospitals, schools, orphanages, and even universities, the government assumed control, and faith was kicked to the curb.
So, if you are bored, remember that you are swimming against the tide when you decide to be religious. Learning to program a computer can be tedious, and doing a job is often dull. It’s not that the statues are old-looking; few people see them as beautiful. It’s not that religious people drone on that is the problem, but that people don’t value what is being said.
In a nutshell, we quite naturally value popular things. We devalue things that don’t help us get ahead in life. Whether something is boring or old is beside the point.
Religion is like learning a new language or living in a new country. Once you see the value of it, the things that seem odd or boring become part of a package, part of a new life you are living or starting to live. And you are not part of this experience as a single person, all alone. You share what you believe and live with others. The more you are part of a community of believers, the more everything will make sense.
You know you are past this boredom issue when the fact that there is so little discussion of religion in public life becomes a problem for you!