If there is one overwhelming factor that deters me from institutional religions it is that they are an external "authority" on matters that I believe can only be addressed within. I am my own guru, my own philosopher, my own savior. To you I am an external source, or authority if you deem me worthy, but to me I am the one. And to you, you are the one, you can be your own guru, your own savior. Spirituality is not a hierarchal plane of existence, no one should accept such inequities in the spirit realm. If, like me, you are one who chooses to go tell it on the mountain, you may be tempted to join one of the institutional religions. After all, they're already established and you can jump right in and people will listen to you. Choosing to be a priest, preacher, rabbi, monk etc. is like choosing to own a part of the McDonalds franchise, it's already established and you don't need any original ideas. 
It's understandable why someone would want to buy into a franchise, starting a new business can be tough. One can spend most of their budget on advertising alone trying to establish a customer base from scratch. If I were to join a religion and align my philosophy with established dogma I would be able to get a gig in a church somewhere where people would listen to what I have to say. As it is, why should anyone listen to me? In fact we have taboos in our society against preaching if you are not a "preacher", against lecturing if you are not a professor. For some odd reason people dislike being preached to unless they're in church, and they dislike being lectured to unless they pay someone to do it. So it is the institutions that we are taught to trust, not people. And these institutions don't just assume their authority in matters of higher learning, they seek it out and undermine the authority of those not affiliated.
In the spiritual world we see this represented in the concept of blasphemy, an actual threat against speaking ones' own truth on spiritual matters. This threat for centuries was two fold, you may first be tortured to death by an inquisition and then spend the rest of eternity in the bowls of hell. And if we lived in those times, I would be on the rack this moment suffering for the sin of speaking my truth. Lucky for me, I believe neither in their dogma nor in their ultimate threat called "Hell." Though the Catholic church has toned down it's more draconian methods of suppression, they are now two thousand years entrenched and far less concerned with the threat of blasphemy. On the political front however, we have relatively young institutions called nations who are so insecure that they still fear the blasphemy they call dissent. There are political prisoners around the world whose only crime is to speak their truth, and there are many more who have died for this crime. If these powerful entities have such fear of an individuals words, perhaps they know something we don't.
Our words have power, in a way our words have a power far greater than any nation, any army. And when one speaks truth, truth is on their side. But there are so many people already speaking their truth, why has it not brought down these giants among us who promulgate fear and ignorance to retain power? They do not fear a handful of people speaking truth to power, they fear everyone rising as one to speak this truth, they fear truth. It's not the spark but the potential for a chain reaction that they wish to avoid. Make no mistake, these secular institutions we call nations are currently the greatest barrier to our spiritual development. They may not seek to be our liaisons to the gods, but they do keep us divided and distracted from our spiritual truths, our true reality. So it is in our vital spiritual interest to speak truth to the powers that be, whether religious or political. Our soul put us on this Earth to be nurtured and cared for and to nurture and care for the planet, it is our political "leaders" who oppose this mission and they are more determined than we at the moment.
Maybe you're not a "writer" or "philosopher," maybe your ideas aren't exactly clear or well formed, speak your truth anyway. You're ideas are unclear precisely because you have not yet begun to explore them. It doesn't matter if you are "right" or "wrong", it doesn't matter what you believe, speak your truth and the universe will correct you over time. Speak your truth even if you disagree with mine, speak your truth even if it causes friction in your relationships. The world is quickly changing all around us, and our words have the power to steer our collective reality. You can hold in your truth, but you may wake up in ten years and not be happy with the direction the world has gone, and then you will wish you had done something, said something. I do not wish to be anyones' guru, I wish for everyone to be their own guru, their own spiritual authority. I may have a gift for lecturing without a lectern, but I prefer dialog to my own monologue, it's true. There is a spiritual awakening taking place now and in the coming years, and it will only fully flower if we all bring our piece of the puzzle to the table.
1: Start a blog (or three)
2: Speak your truth!
3: Encourage others to do the same!
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