My Sunday Thought for 011418: Religion (pars una) - Control of the Faithful

Consider the following excerpt concerning control of the religious faithful:

"I’ve heard it said that the bible was written by government powers to be just to control the people. Either the government is incredibly stupid or this simply cannot be true. Think about it. The bible is completely anti-government. In fact, the only thing remotely pro-government is when Jesus said to pay your taxes. Taxes that God warned of when He gave Israel a king.

I would think a government that is trying to scare you in order to control you would end the book a little differently. Like “Take the mark or burn in hell”. I would think that if they took the time to so cleverly come up with such a story they would do a little more to gain favor on their side. However, this is not case. The bible is the total opposite."

-- One Return (posted May 25, 2013), "Control Through Religion?"

For one, I have never heard "that the bible was written by government powers to be just to control the people."  I do agree that the bible is sans any mention of government control.  The bible was put together by a council of religious scholars, the Council of Nicaea, appointed by Emperor Constantine as a way of coming up with guidance which would end disputes which were tearing apart the Christian church and threatening the empire.  Seven councils would be convened before what God "intended" could be hammered out.  I guess that when you're restating the intentionally simple edicts handed down by an omnipotent being that makes no mistakes, you probably want to make certain everything is in your preferred order, because if His was reasonable it would stand on its own.  

However, since what was chosen to be included in the bible is said to have been the purview of the Council, they may have had their own agenda (no big surprise) for religious control of government and the population of faithful, as this is what organized religions are all about.  History, after creation of the bible, would seem to evidence the control held by Christian authority over heads of state and the ability of the pope to order taxes and other homage, crusades, and mindless genocide of anything construed as heathen, or against "church" doctrine, with the simple sweep of a pen and in the name of God.

For now I wish only to explain that the Pharisees transmit to the people some rules in line with the fathers, which were not written in the laws of Moses. And because of this, the line of the Sadducees reject these things. They say that it is necessary to hold those rules that have been written but it is not (necessary) to observe what is (only) from the fathers' tradition. And, as a consequence, controversies and great disagreements have occurred between them.  The Sadducees persuade only the well-to-do and have no popular following. But the Pharisees have the masses as allies.

-- Josephus, Antiquities 12.297-298

If Christians accept that the Hebrew Pharisees purposefully manipulated the faithful and the ruling powers to ensure the death of Christ, then aren't we left to assume that, when the Christian "sect" splintered off, they probably had a good idea how to manipulate not only the faithful, but politicians as well in order to fulfill their own specific agendas of ensuring control for the religious hierarchy?  Brainwashing for control, therefore, is nothing new to religion, and the latter years of the 20th century, and into the present, evidenced that this practice has become a sophisticated and deadly art for many lesser religious cults including the terrorist heretics of radical Islam. 

But, I think the excerpt misses the point that it wasn't about governmental control of the populace in as much as it would become religious control of the government.  Since the time of Peter (Simon), control would seem to have been the agenda of the Christian Church.  Before the first pope, as evidenced in the Gospel of Mary, Peter shows his true colors as a hot headed sexist, and is admonished for it by Levi:  "Levi answered and said to Peter, Peter you have always been hot tempered.  Now I see you contending against the woman like the adversaries.  But if the Savior made her worthy, who are you indeed to reject her? Surely the Savior knows her very well. That is why He loved her more than us."

From what I've read, it would seem Peter had issues with Mary, a woman, being the most favored of Christ.  Wouldn't it stand to reason that, as the head of the Christian Church, he would lean in the direction of control to satisfy his own sexist desires, ensuring Mary, and probably women in general, would play a tertiary role in history?  The Gospel of Mary might, then, have been rejected by the Council of Nicaea and buried until another copy came to light in the Nag Hammadi scrolls.  If this "cover-up" is true, one might have to conclude Christ chose poorly for a "rock" upon which to build His "church," His congregation of followers, the faithful.  I find it as no wonder mainstream Christianity has wandered so far from the Prophet's teachings and God's original Word.  But, then, this is just conjecture, as there is little solid proof of what went on back in the day.

Weekly, the ministers of Christianity, and many other faiths, lead the well-dressed faithful in praise of the almighty, omnipresent, omnipotent force responsible for, well, everything.  They do this in expensive buildings, rented convention centers and stadiums, and multi-million dollar places of worship and cathedrals, those obnoxious synagogues of poorly spent wealth which Matthew says to stay away from.  Ministers welcome "sinners" into their congregations, preach to them of hellfire and damnation, lead them in a multitude of prayers, and then judge them.  Those judged faithful forget, if they could think for themselves, that this judgement is the sole purview of God, certainly not man; "There is no one righteous, not even one."

"By all the love I bear such a Christianity as this, I hate that of the Priest and the Levite, that with long-faced Phariseeism goes up to Jerusalem to worship and leaves the bruised and wounded to die. I despise that religion which can carry Bibles to the heathen on the other side of the globe and withhold them from the heathen on this side—which can talk about human rights yonder and traffic in human flesh here.... I love that which makes its votaries do to others as they would that others should do to them."

--Frederick Douglass (1818-1895), author, abolitionist

Ministers now use mass media to preach the Word to the masses and ask those faithful to tithe till it hurts.  And while billions of dollars keep on rolling into religious coffers, the poor are still poor, the hungry still hungry, and the homeless... well, you get the point.  Meanwhile, private jets, limousines, and massive rolling estates attest to the benefits of ministering to the faithful.  It makes me wonder if the Council actually read, nay, understood, the Gospel of Matthew, or the entirety of the scripture for that matter, before including it.

Those of us still possessing freedom thought, and having grown up subjected to any of the organized "Abrahamic" religions, will probably recognize the controlling aspects of their respective faiths, the greatest of which would be judgement. The current heretical terrorists of Islam are using mind control to great effect in convincing the weak willed losers of society to sacrifice themselves in order to destroy innocence. This is true control of the faithful by religious leadership and "in the name of God."  The fact that the faithful buy into the bullshit of promised virgins when they get to heaven evidences of the lack intelligence possessed by these terrorists.  You will not find it find it written in the Qur'an.  This is a fiction made up by the Ayatollah Khomeini to entice suicidal sociopaths to do what he will not do himself, kill innocence.  The fact that Islamic leadership doesn't don the suicide vest for the greater glory of Allah, should be a signal to the radical terrorist "faithful" of the heresy and cowardice of their own radical leadership.  It is a crime against Allah, and they know it.

“Almost any sect, cult, or religion will legislate its creed into law if it acquires the political power to do so.”

-- Robert A. Heinlein (1907-1988), writer, novelist

But, it would seem almost all religious faithful seem content to allow this kind of control; they seem to want this kind of control.  Are we really too lazy or ignorant to do the right thing on our own, to think for ourselves, like God would want?  We expect our priest, ministers, imams and the like, to pray for us, give us absolution for our sins, and lead us to a salvation which, many have been brainwashed to believe, only their religious leadership can provide.  We deny our own cowardice when we discover we dare not leave the flock for fear of the consequences.  Is it fear of being branded a faithless heretic by the congregation, a fear of being judged?  Ask this question of your fellows, and then ask who among them will cast the first stone.  Keep a sharp eye out for falling rocks.  

Methinks we expect too much, and protesteth not enough.  The Abrahamic faithful have been spoon fed scripture to explain what God really meant when he gave to this mass of ignorance ten, very easy to understand, commandments; the only true WORD of God written in stone.  Those Ten Commandments were supposed to be our only, easy to understand, path to salvation.

The seeming purposeful misguiding of faith would be about control, and control would seem to be naught but the business of Religion.  Business is booming.

The founder of Forward Progressives, a liberal political organization, says this about organized religion:

"I think anyone who follows me even somewhat regularly knows that I’m a Christian. I know that’s not always a popular thing to be as a liberal, but it’s a fact nonetheless. That being said, I detest organized religion. What “religion” is to me is a human-made concoction meant to promote the personal views of some while degrading the views of others."

-- Allen Clifton, "Organized Religion: A Tool for Ignorance, Power and Control"

Really, Allen?  Smiling, I found it interesting that a seemingly self-proclaimed socialist would accuse religion of being socialist, "...a human-made concoction meant to promote the personal views of some while degrading the views of others."  But, you are right, Allen, this is exactly what organized religion seems to do.  Someone once pointed out that no prophet of any major religious faith ever touted the benefits of bad behavior in their philosophy.  Their touted philosophies generally went wrong after their death when the "faithful" wrote down the teachings for posterity and immediately began misinterpreting what was written so it excused the new agenda of the particular philosophy.

So, what are we to do?  Well, I have a few ideas.

"I believe that God knows what each of us wants and needs. It's not necessary for us to make it to church on Sunday to reach Him. You can find Him anyplace.  And if that sounds heretical, my source is pretty good: Matthew, Five to Seven, The Sermon on the Mount."

-- Frank Sinatra (1915-1998), Singer, actor, "Chairman of the Board"

First of all, understand that "church" means a congregation of people, not a building and, remember, without people there is no church, no congregation.

Second, understand the congregation gathers in the safety and comfort of a dry building with ample seating for the specific purpose of fellowship, to discuss and debate what they think they understand about a faith, their personal faith, a relationship which they so desperately want to have with their God.  Each person's faith, understanding, or interpretation, does not have to be everyone else's, and it probably won't be.  There are, at least, 33,000 different sects of Christianity in the world, all thinking they're right and everyone else is wrong.  When we consider the numerous varying sects of every other major religion, is it any wonder our view of God sucks?

Third is to understand that a "minister" is nothing more than a moderator,  a leader of the discussion, and one who, hopefully, understands a bit more than everyone else about faith, love, understanding, and tolerance.  Any one of us has the ability to minister, we need simply have faith.

Finally, we all need to understand that it isn't about who is right, it is about each of us doing right and living right.  It most certainly isn't about control, or kissing a ring, or an ass.  It is about following the "Big Ten" and loving your God, and treating each other the way you, yourselves, would want to be treated... with love, honesty, and respect.

Nothing I've said, so far, is that difficult to follow, nor is it necessarily true.  I tell those that will listen tht, when they find themselves confused, they need to put aside scripture for a moment and simplify their lives by getting back to just what God asked of them.  The Ten Commandments were supposed to be so simple even the simple minded among us could follow the path without more guidance than that which God gave.  Let's not muddy the water with 33,000 poor interpretations of what someone thinks  God really meant to say, shall we?  As I was taught to understand it, the "Big Guy" doesn't make mistakes, so why are we elaborating on His perfection of thought?

Of course, I've probably got this religion thing all wrong.  This is, after all, just my opinion.  Opinions, especially mine, are just more evidence for the validity of the Socratic paradox.  Go figure.

“Every day people are straying away from the church and going back to God.” 

-- Lenny Bruce (1925-1966), comedian, writer, social critic

Editor's Note

(Re: disclaimer cum "get out of jail free" card)

Before you go getting your panties in a bunch, it is essential to understand that this is just an opinion site and, as such, can be subjected to scrutiny by anyone with a differing opinion. It doesn't make either opinion any more right or wrong than the other. An opinion, presented in this context, is a way of inciting others to think and, hopefully, to form opinions of their own, if they haven't already done so. This is also why, occasionally, I will present an "opinion" just to stir an emotional pot. Where it may sound like I agree with the statements made, I'm more interested in getting others to consider another viewpoint. 

It is my fervent hope that we keep open and active minds when reading opinions and while engaging in peaceful, constructive, discussion in an arena of mutual respect concerning the opinions put forth. After over twenty years with military intelligence, I have come to believe engaging each other in this manner and in this arena is the way we will learn tolerance and respect for differing beliefs, cultures, and viewpoints.

We all fall from grace, some more often than others; it is part of being human. God's test for us is what we learn from the experience, and what we do afterward.

Pastor Tony spent 23 years with United States Air Force Intelligence as a planner, analyst, briefer, instructor, and senior manager. He spent 17 years, following his service career, working with an Institutional Review Board helping to protect the rights of human subjects in pharmaceutical research. Ordained 1n 2013 as an "interfaith" minister, he founded the Congregation for Religious Tolerance in response to intolerance shown by Christians toward peaceful Islam. As the weapon for his war on intolerance he chose the pen, to wage his "battle" in the guise of the Congregation's official online blog, The Path, of which he is both author and editor. "The Path" offers a vehicle for commentary and guidance concerning one's own personal, spiritual, path toward peace and the final destination for us all. He currently resides in Pass Christian, Mississippi, where he volunteers as Chaplain Program Liaison, at a regional medical center.