A Broken Spirit?

Religion feeds on a broken spirit, and that is why it tries to break your spirit the moment you come into contact with it. Submit! Obey! Do not question! These words should be chissled above the entrance of every church and every mosque. -Pat Condell

You don't say? I remember the church revivals, youth summer camps, and worship services at Trevecca Nazarene University where everyone gushed over how much they wanted to be 'broken'. I kid you not, that is the word that was used. Here are the lyrics to one of the songs we used to sing, over and over, about 10 times in a row, until about half of the group of kids at summer camp were sobbing and crowded around the altar in the front of the room:

A broken spirit And a contrite heart
You will not despise You will not despise
You desire truth In the inward parts
A broken spirit And a contrite heart.
Lord, my heart is prone to wander
Prone to leave the God I love
Here's my heart Lord,
take and seal it for your courts above.

The idea was that if your spirit was 'broken' you would give up and surrender your will and thoughts to God. It used to sound so wonderful, but now it just strikes me as creepy.

Here is the rest of what Pat Condell had to say on the topic of a 'broken spirit', the bondage of religion, and the freedom of godlessness.