Faith harms and heals. It pulls us apart and binds us together. It builds cathedrals and burns down cities. It gives life and brings death. Asking if religion is good is like asking if music is good. Or food. Or politics. Or baseball or books or art or science or any other human endeavor. Religion is human. And it matters. (Reorganized Religion, pg 39)

Bob Smietana has covered a LOT of “bad news” stories when it comes to organized religion in the US. But he still has hope for the institution. So much so that he wrote an excellent and timely book about it, and was willing to sit down and chat with me about it. If you have any sort of vested interest in the “church” (whether in seeing it succeed OR watching it burn), then I think you’ll find this conversation interesting.

Get full access to Marc Jolicoeur (aka Jolly Thoughts) at marcjolicoeur.substack.com/subscribe