Religious Thoughts

Its funny how every sect, every church has its own monopoly on ‘truth’. I think truth is out there, but most often we are just watching the same sunset, wearing different colored lenses, arguing about the hues we see in the clouds.

I have been reading a very interesting book from my MySpace friend Dave. It’s by a guy named Frank Schaeffer, the son of the great Christian author, Francis Schaeffer. In it, the son describes how he came to Greek Orthodox faith. It seems that most of the time, there’s this huge squabble between the Catholics and the Protestants, where the Catholics call on the Proties to return to the Mother Church, and where the Proties call her a Whore of Babylon and tell her to go pump some Vatican artefacts. What’s interesting is how people forget that the Holy Roman Church is a splinter off of the Orthodox church.

I like how Schaeffer describes how every religious sect follows this process of some ‘rebel’ fighting against the established traditions of the prevailing, dominant ideology, and usually, it’s about one little point of doctrine.

Think that the Sabbath is on Saturday? - Join the Seventh Day Adventists.

Think you should be able to keep your wife’s heavenly name for her so she can get into the pearly gates, and promise, promise never to ever use it as a tool to manipulate her? Want to keep the non-whiteys out of your church? - Join the Mormons.

Think Jesus is best experienced when you flail around on the floor, praying in tongues? - Join a Pentecostal Church.

Every denomination has a statement of belief, what they think The Truth is, and it’s always about something unrelated to Jesus. It’s always about what you eat or don’t eat, who you associate with, how you talk, what days you take off, whether or not you get baptised with fire or water . . . and if you don’t toe their line, you’re going to hell. If you don’t see truth as they do, adopt their mindset, interpret The Word as they do, your salvation is incomplete.

This is the Pharisaical attitude Jesus railed against. If you don’t meet the bar, you are loved less, your salvation is not complete, and you might not make it into Heaven. I think this is bogus, because it ignores the only two laws Jesus said to submit yourself to:

1. Love the Lord your God with all your Might
2. Love your neighbour as yourself.

I think people can’t love themselves unless they make up all these criteria they must meet, so they project that onto others. They worship a God who loves them less if they don’t perform.

I don’t like it.