The Main Objection to Christianity
I've heard people say, "Religion is the problem!" Which I have
to admit is true. Yes. You look at the history of the
Christian Church and it doesn't look too good. We have the
crusades, where basically "Christians" went around and killed anyone
that wouldn't convert to Christianity. Then in more modern times
we have cases of clergy abusing kids, and I just saw a video showing
three of the well known TV evangelists, agreeing that "The world is a
mess because you're not sending us enough money!" And Muslims
aren't helping any since they have people blowing themselves up in
buses loaded with people, in the name of God.
Where did things go wrong? It's a long story. Well, maybe
not that long, it's just been going on for a long time and it's not
getting any better. Religion has been used to control and
manipulate people since there's been religion. Convince people if they
don't do this or that they will go to hell, and then use that guilt
against them. And people without scruples/morals will do or say
anything they need to to accomplish their ends, which is usually power,
money, and control.
And in the case of Christianity, people are either lead astray, or they
forget what Christianity is all about. In either case, the
problem is they don't read their Bibles. If you don't read it then
you're susceptible to anyone's interpretation of it, which includes not
just individuals, but also the general trend of society. And then
when things go bad, who do we blame? God. And anyone who associates
with God, and that includes all religion. Attitudes like, "Why does God
allow this! Your religion is #$^&* ! You're the problem!" But
you know what they say, if you're pointing at someone, there's three
fingers pointing back at you. Yes, everything we blame God and
religion for is actual our own fault. If the world is a mess,
it's because we're a mess. Society is a reflection of the individuals
in it, or at least those in control of it.
Jesus didn't come to start a religion. People made a religion our of
him. Why? Because people like routines and religions. Takes the
thinking out of it. In fact Jesus came to set men free of
religion, guilt, fear, and meaningless ceremony. How do we know
that? Well, he was really hard on the religiose leaders of the
time, because they were hypocrites and legalistic, rather than doing
the right thing. And so, it was they who decided he needed to be
killed and handed him over to the Romans. They also didn't like the
fact that he claimed to be the Son of God and went around forgiving
peoples sins (removing their guilt), because you can't control people
that don't feel guilty and afraid. Their religion (rules, status, and
practices) made them blind to the reality of what was going on.
Of course he also performed miracles to show that he was accredited by
God, but they chose to ignore that little fact. All he did was
help people, talk about the Kingdom of God coming, and what God's
guidance is for people. Of course, people don't always like to
hear the truth.
So, the problems mentioned above, with Christianity and Religion in
general, really have nothing to do with Christianity. In fact
people engaged in those types of behaviours, are going against what
Jesus taught. Which was, to love one another.
He said that the only religion God respects is taking care of the poor
and the widows, and feeding the hungry. Beyond that, the Gospel
message is deep but simple. Jesus came and died, and rose again
to life, for the forgiveness of our sins (falling short of moral
perfection), anyone that believes that and repents (turns away from
sin), and accept Jesus as Savior, will receive the Holy Spirit as a
guide in their life, forgiveness of sins, and the promise of eternal
life in an incorruptible body just like Jesus' resurrected body.
Christianity is about being reconciled to God, just like a wayward
child may come back to their parents. The baptism that Christians
go through is a symbolic washing away of our sins, and also dying to
our old nature, and resurrecting as a new person. In effect we
die to sin and are born again and sin has no more power over us.
Which part of what a Christian does, including this acceptance of God's
guidance, and what Jesus taught, is a problem? It isn't.
The problem is what people do which isn't Christian behaviour.
It's easy to see that if people truly did "love one another" there
would be no wars, the rich would help the poor, and the world would be
a much better place for everyone. This primary message, the good
news, the Gospel, is clear in the Bible. Certainly there are
people who argue finer points about some of what's in there. Now,
there are some real issues within the church (the body of believers),
like Catholics actually pray to saints and Mary, which isn't
biblical. In fact God makes it clear we should not make images of
anyone or anything on the face of the Earth (not even Jesus) and
worship it. But that is about religion; practices and rituals which can
become a substitute for a real relationship with God. That's what
Christianity is, a relationship with God. It's not about doing
certain things that will get you to heaven (by the way, we're not going
to heaven, different topic). It's about what God did for all of
us, and he gives it freely to anyone who accepts Jesus' message.
This relationship saves us from ourselves, from the corrupt world, and
God/Holy Spirit works in us to transform us for the better and save us
from final destruction (well yeah, if hell is not eternal torture, it's
a final destruction, again different topic). All the
enlightenment that people are searching for, is right there in front of
their noses. Connecting with and being transformed by the living
God. That is Christianity.
So, what is the problem? The problem is free will, or rather, not
using our free will to choose the right thing to do, even when we know
what that is. And without reading the Bible, starting with the
New Testament, we don't understand what God wants for our lives, which
is only what's good for us anyway. But more importantly, we don't
have the will power to do what's good for us. This is one of the
things we get when we accept the Holy Spirit; God's power to transform
our lives.
No, true Christianity is not the problem, it's the solution. The
problem is once we attained knowledge of good and evil, we chose to do
evil. Now we need to choose to do good. We need a fresh
start, which is what Jesus gives us.