An Analogy on the Value of Traditional, Organized Religion

Pop spirituality loves to reject organized religion - that way, it can avoid the new atheists' attacks on the "evils" of organized faiths (read: Christianity, Judaism, Islam) without having to answer them, while still maintaining a self-created spirituality that borrows more from existentialist self-discovery underpinings mixed with a mild dose of pseudo-mysticism.

In reality, though, this approach to the spiritual life makes no sense.  In fact, despite its alarming popularity (how many times has someone said to you: "Oh, I'm spiritual, just not religious.  I don't want a church telling me how to go about my spirituality), this position holds virtually no intellectual merit.

More after the jump: