A recent outpouring of books and articles have adamantly taken the position that religion in this country is in real danger. While this argument is compelling, I believe that with correct guidance and direction, religion and faith will ultimately serve as a uniting force bringing healing and wholeness to our fractured communities.

I shared my concern with my parishioners during my first High Holy Day sermon as the new senior rabbi at Congregation B’nai Jeshurun. “I fret for the state of religion today,” I said. “The institution which is supposed to glue us together is ripping our world apart.” Initially, many were taken aback by my statement, mostly because my feelings resonated in a shocking way. I went on to explain, of course, that religion is not intrinsically sick, but fundamentalism is doing its best to poison what is meant to be beautiful. Fundamentalism is the faith of millions. I am not talking about fanatics who live thousands of miles away. I am talking about a living and breathing sickness that exists in our backyard, across our great nation.

Fanatic words are spoken from pulpits throughout our Union. Not delivered to small crowds, but to tens of thousands. Not heard as starry-eyed and crazy, but as rational and filled with faith. These messages are heard not only on the back roads of our country, but also among those who live in heavily populated areas, in all economic classes, throughout our country.

It is the faith of millions. It is pure and simple fundamentalism. It is a disease, and no religion is immune.

So it is hard to call ourselves religious these days. Fundamentalism is so replete throughout our country and world that many of us would just prefer to bathe ourselves in the pure waters of secularity. It is safer, more rational, and sometimes even more fun. For fundamentalists there is a single and irrefutable truth that is being sold and lots of people are buying it.

However, we have to distinguish between unhealthy and healthy religion. Unhealthy religion (i.e. fundamentalism) is simply a rebellion against modernity. Unhealthy religion is about easy answers to complex questions, about not seeing shades of gray. It is fearful of change and communal progression. Unhealthy religion is about a faith that seems steadfast, but is actually simplistic, because there is no room to question and challenge authority. This disease aims to brainwash, so that we are somehow made to think like everybody else. Everything is left up to God, and all individual choice is taken away.

Indeed, unhealthy religion is about people who expect perfection, but never realize that they themselves cannot pass their own standards of morality. Unfortunately, and even worse, so much of this is just a facade for hidden fears and probably an immoral grab for power, which goes after the innocent and attacks the essence of community.

So what are we to do? We can’t give away the privilege of belief and faith, religion and spirituality, and connection to God just because those on the religious Right speak so much louder than we. Somehow, we need to find a way to fix religion and make it healthy.

Religion has fostered division and hatred, but it has also done so much to redeem us. Ultimately, attaching ourselves to healthy religion helps us respect the sacred value of life. Healthy religion makes us see each other as made in the image of God. Healthy religion chooses hope over pessimism, paradox over myopia, sophistication over simplicity, vulnerability over insensitivity. Healthy religion teaches us to question and doubt and challenge authority. It teaches us that faith does not have to be blind but, instead, a deep and questioning faith can actually navigate us through the maze of life, pushing us to find the answers from within.

Somehow, we think that we don’t have to respond to religious fanatics because we write them off as insane. If we who believe in a different way don’t start to speak up, it will no longer be beneficial to belong to any synagogue, church, or mosque. Healthy religion should live strongly in our houses of worship. The basis of healthy religion is to bring us together, to make us whole, and to encourage us to fix our broken world. This has been the goal and basis of healthy religion for thousands of years.

Let it be the politicians who fix politics. Let it be the rest of us who attempt to restore religion. If we don’t do it soon, there may be nothing left to fix.