Religions time has come, and gone, yet they still get a pass. I have no problem with the Christian out there doing good in their family and community. I can only admire those folks who dedicate their lives to the service of others. I have no problems distinguishing between the Christian, Christianity, and religion. What I can’t overlook is the blatant hypocrisy of the institution.
You are probably thinking I’m going for the “pedophile thing”, not really necessary. I’m pissed about how they create constituency through complicity. How they pray/prey over the same folks they persecute. I’m mad about lip service to the core principles of what Jesus preached, judgement and forgiveness. I’ll remind you I’m not speaking of “a Christian, I’m speaking of Christianity and religion as a whole.
Religion has long been understood as a politic. We have phrases about “opiate for the masses” to remind us that in the end, religion supports the politic through the emotions of the worshipper. The number of dollars and where they’re passed along is a big indicator.
The churches adamant support of legislation that involves crime and punishment is well documented. One look at news media over the last 40 years and you could create a 24 hour montage of “holier than thou” characters cheerleading for some politician pushing legislation to get “tough on crime” based on some hyperbole surrounding a heinous act by a sensational character.
Millions of flocks around the country take flight in some 1st century stoning fashion to demand adherence to the commandments. Led by charismatic figures in the latest fashion, followers everywhere demand action in the form of laws, rather than thought in the form of research.
Religion in America damned drugs knowing damn well that their constituents were developing drugs for the masses. They seized the moment and baptized the addict over and over again as a demonstration of piety. Really they were playing both sides against the other.
The tricky thing is that by and large the individuals trying to help were genuine. Sure, they’re thousands of folks out there that sense the hypocrisy and have the taste to “start a program”, but the volunteers who sacrifice their time and money truly want to help, and help as an extension of their faith. Above these folks it’s a crap shoot.
This rubric spilled over to the point religion makes more money off the poor than the market makes off for profit business. The decentralized nature of religion hides the fact they’ve been in the trillions for quite some time.
Christianity knows this to be true. The “United Churches” thrive on this as well as the independent. One look at assets and it’s undeniable. The average person going to worship thinks hard about the dollars the put in that plate. Something is always forgone for those dollars.
The church collects and distributed these tithes to higher organizations or “missions”, usually outside their communities because the folks in their communities usually aren’t “members”. In many cases the tithes become funds in a budget that is used to drive the ego of a few to “build” a bigger dream. Even the faithful can get caught up in movements with marketing titles like “purpose driven”. The trigger for me is how tithes become funds the minute they’re disseminated after service. It’s like the tithes are props.
Again though, that person giving those dollars they don’t have are reaching out with faith. Their tithe is just that. In some cases it’s always a tithe, it never becomes associated with “funds”. They never associate the new zero turn mower bought by the church because the previous mower was outdated with the tithe the gave.
These degrees of separation aren’t new in the world, or in business. The corporate model is within churches because there’s a lot of money involved. Corporate folks don’t waste time on ventures that don’t produce, and religion produces through projects, initiatives, and products created by your tithes that became funds for entrepreneurial folks within the religious industry.
I pray for people, places, and incidents. I try to follow the example of Christ in my heart and my actions. I don’t have a church. Nor do I ascribe to a denomination anymore. I’m not a Christian in the corporate sense, but I am smart enough to see the problem that Jesus had with the temple is alive and well in the church today.
You can’t call for persecution and run a half way house, or decry about stricter drug laws and be a leader in the rehab industry, even worse you can’t support the expansion of the prison industry and develop programs and materials for prison ministries. Religion makes millions, if not billions, off of crime and prays/preys over the criminal. It’s time to shine a light into these dark places.
chrysalaneous 