religion is a lie

As I sat in church yesterday listening to the sermon of the week, a thought hit me: Religion is a lie. Now, don’t get me wrong. I believe the Bible to be the inerrant word of God; Jesus is real; and there is eternal life, either good or bad. But, in my trials of belief, I’ve cycled through several churches starting with the Catholic church having been raised in the religion. The gambit of baptism, first communion, then confirmation, to become a full-fledged Catholic. Except, as life sometimes goes, the church ultimately failed me. Its truth, I believe, to be the antithesis of biblical truth. Its vastness of wealth being more important than the upholding of biblical precepts. And if Barbara had not found the church we currently attend, I believe I would have walked away from religion, but not my faith. My reasoning being I have a disconnect at times when I listen to the voice of those leading. The words not matching the actions of those who are supposed to be servants of God.  

For me, what required time to learn: Religion is not faith and faith is not religion, understanding religion is business, while faith is one’s belief in a higher authority, believing God is omnipresent. And what I see with religion is mostly the religion of money. And I get it. The premise of the poor and church helping those. Except, Jesus knew the hearts of the Pharisees. Their desire for power, their love of money and the greed of using others for their personal gain. Judas on the other hand believed more in the till than the Man. An example: No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money (Matthew 6:24). Yet, like religion then, churches today grow larger and richer while the poor continue increasing in number. A conundrum of epic proportionality if one has a modicum of belief in choosing which entity is honestly being honored.

So, to discombobulate the thought process, as I mention the religion of faith, there are other multiples of religions floating around. And of those, their desire as well is to grow a legion of acolytes, thus posturing themselves to obtain higher authority; more godlike. And the acolytes; only pawns in the quest for another’s power grab, money grab and control of those who put them in power. A vicious cycle of unending complicity and complacency.

Take the recent law passed in Louisiana forcing every classroom to display the Ten Commandments. By default, a government institution of religion. Only, which religion? And which set of commandments? Plus, are the students meant to uphold Moses or Jesus? Old versus new, understanding the Old Testament can stand alone, while the New Testament cannot fully translate without the old. Then, by virtue of history, is it Judaism or Christianity. Except, in an alignment of sorts, didn’t the nation’s Framers declare: Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, nor prohibiting the free exercise thereof; (First Amendment). Only, Congress is limited by the Constitution and the powers entrusted: The government cannot legislate what it cannot control (Federalist 45). Thus asking: Why the 1^st amendment in the first place? Because there is no power given in the Constitution for the government to regulate, control, or enforce religion or a religion thereof. Additionally, many sets of other issues present when just one component of an issue is scrutinized. To which, if one reads the Constitution, the States are placed in greater control of power over its citizens than the Federal, thereby allowing the State to place the Ten Commandments in classrooms, but. 

So, as this new day begins, think of the religion you follow. Is it political, party, material, church, or any other such entity that looks to take from and give to. Then ponder: Is it based in truth or lies. Because if one does not know whether the words another speaks are grounded in fact, then the ability to deceive is greater than the desire for good, begging: Are those at the top of one’s religion being enriched, while those at the bottom become poorer. To make sense of a given religion, one must be able to interpret the veracity of one’s words. Because, in the quest for power, the desire to deceive is the obtuse obfuscation of man to have others believe the lie of a made-up truth over the truth of a hidden lie. But remember: None of anything is any different today than it was yesterday. It’s all biblical. So, just make certain the religion you follow is based on truth.

Now, when I look back on my youth, Mom was devout in her faith, the religion of Catholicism. And her words oftentimes still ring loud in my head: God is going to get you. As a kid, I feared He would. Only today, I wonder where He is. And yes, I also get “free will.” So, while I struggle, I also wonder: How many religions pervade our society and are lies. Not just the religions created from a faith in God, but the religions of those who want to be god. And when it comes to school, wouldn’t it behoove everyone if the classroom actually taught the three “Rs:” reading, writing, and arithmetic, keeping religion in the church: The but.

Now, the Framers only intent of the First Amendment was that Congress cannot institute religion based on their history of repressive rule, their separation of church and state. And in biblical truth, of the two greatest commandments, the second is to “Love your neighbor as yourself” (Mark 12:21). So, as the government intentionally floods the nation with other nations poor, ponder how much longer the country can support the influx. Because Jesus also stated: The poor you will always have with you, but you will not always have me (Matthew 26:11). A prophecy being fulfilled as every facet of society today is pushing hard to eradicate any vestige of Jesus from our vernacular even while some of the very same also proclaim belief in their religion, begging: Which one? A vicious cycle. So, when those who claim all of this is for the greater good and desire government to become even larger, at tax time; Do they pay as much as possible or look to deduct as much as possible? And when it comes to the religion of church and money: What exactly does “Not for profit” mean? Because it’s clear: Money appears to be the religion of societal choice.