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by Ted Twietmeyer
2008
from
Data4Science Website
For billions of people around the world,
religion is the binding thread in their lives.
Just what is about faith that makes it
so mystical, magical and protective?
It has been said that as human beings we are genetically
programmed to believe in some form of religion. What people may
or may not have as a religion appears to be influenced by their
association with others or their environment. But it’s far more
complex than that.
Some of the icons of our society have clung to various religions.
For example, Sammy Davis Jr. outwardly professed to be a Jew. Did he
find it necessary to this to get a gig in a stage performance or a
movie, or was it by true personal choice?
We may never know.
Another person, though perhaps not quite the icon like Sammy Davis
was as of this writing, is Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin.
Sarah Palin Has an Israeli Flag in Her Office!
Although
she professes to have only one flag (Israeli) in her office
(above video), a video captured her being given a blessing by a Kenya bishop to protect her
against witchcraft. [1]
Perhaps Palin was worried that an
invisible witchcraft threat might crack her tough exterior shell and
wanted to prevent it from happening.
Sarah Palin Gets Protection From Witches
If you go to 1:20 into above
Youtube, you will hear Muthee, who later anointed
Palin (minute 7:10), say the following words in Palin's presence:
The second area whereby God wants us, wants to
penetrate in our society is in the economic area. The
Bible says that the wealth of the wicked is stored up
for the righteous. It's high time that we have top
Christian businessmen, businesswomen, bankers, you know,
who are men and women of integrity running the economics of
our nations.
That's what we are waiting for.
That's part and parcel of transformation. If you look
at the - you know - if you look at the Israelites,
that's how they work. And that's how they are, even today.
The principal of faith can be simple
stated as belief in something unseen. Almost everyone has faith that
in January 2009, the United States will have a new president. They
also have faith that the Sun will rise tomorrow morning. And of
course, faith that someone or something will pull the world out of
the financial muck and mire it has sunken into.
The average person has so much faith that they do not believe that
one day our Sun will hiccup and destroy the Earth in one fiery blast
- which has been observed by astronomers elsewhere in the universe.
But what of faith itself? Can faith be destroyed or damaged within
people who have been dedicated to a given religion for decades?
The
advent of the internet has made it possible to learn
startling facts
about religions. In the past these facts were not available or were
buried on a dusty library shelves in a place where no one looked.
There can be no doubt that the web has a large impact on every
religion, for good and bad. On the web there are images and text
that can emotionally and morally destroy people’s faith, as well as
boost their faith.
The web is a tool like a screwdriver that
can be
used for good and bad purposes.
It’s very difficult to assess the damage caused by priests who steal
virginity from young innocent boys, leaving deep scars behind for
life. If the internet did not exist, would we have heard about even
half of all that’s happened in this area - or even anything about it
at all? We will never know the answer to this, but we can imagine
the damage this inflicts on any young man for life. It would not be
surprising if most or all of these victims became atheists or
agnostics.
There seems to be a common denominator where the toughest, boldest
people leading the society or making an impact in the media often
profess to be highly religious. Even in the crime world many mafia
members often never miss a day of church. Confession and monetary
donations appear to help “heal” the psyche of powerful criminals and
people, giving them the ability to cope and justify leading their
unsavory profitable lives the other six days a week.
As human beings, we tend to have a fascination with something we
cannot see or touch which in many ways is like faith.
Haunted
buildings are one of many examples. It must be a curious fascination
the public has about this that keeps television shows on haunted
buildings airing year after year, even though most of the time
nothing is ever found during these “investigations.” These on-site
investigations only last a few hours before the verdict on whether
or not the building or home is haunted is announced. This too, is
like a dark form of religion for some people if you think about it.
People watch these shows believe and hoping that something,
anything, will happen.
The religion eggshell surrounding people is an interesting area of
study and certainly extremely complex.
But how does religion affect
each of us?
People tend to follow a particular religion and hold
fast to it, unless they are agnostic or atheistic.
Those who are following a religion (of any kind) need to be aware of
what can happen to them. A certain smugness and over confidence in
their faith tends to surround the more fanatic segment of followers.
They feel they cannot be touched by anything unholy. But a hammer to
break their eggshell can come right out of nowhere. Or a subtle
cracking of their shell can happen over a long period of time.
Sometimes it is these same people who find that the shell they
surrounded themselves with is far more vulnerable than they thought.
People that dare to question even a Christian religion from any
viewpoint outside the box may be seen as becoming an apostate by
those still inside the box.
But are those with the outside
standpoint truly apostate, or simply someone who has their eyes
opened to the truth?
A heavy dependence on any religion whether it
be Christian or otherwise, brings with it certain risks of
dependency. Sad to say but most popular religions have deep, subtle
control of members as a common thread.
Dependency of a member of a given religion upon their religion can
arise from some surprising places. Some wealthier churches are able
to meet their member’s basic welfare needs such as food, clothing,
money, housing, etc… for an extended period of time. This can quickly
lead to a dependency on the part of a member. In time, inexorably
they will become less and less motivated over time to improve their
lot in life and no longer realize they themselves are responsible
for their family’s welfare, not their church or religion.
With an economy growing worse by the day, we can see that church
welfare assistance will become the newest drug on the block. It’s
legal, tax free and highly addictive.
But what happens when the
church can no longer bear the strain, and the richest members who
have been paying for the poorer members become poor themselves?
A
large hole rips open in everyone’s safety net.
If a religion or church outwardly exerts control members it’s
immediately considered a cult. But if a church or religion manages
to persuade an individual to control themselves, then it’s not
considered a cult.
But is there really any difference in the two?
Control is control by any other name is still control, whether
self-induced or externally induced.
Some popular mainstream religions often use outward punishment and
reward toward their members. I’ve referred to one particular example
in a previous essay which I’ll repeat here. We attended a funeral
for a wonderful uncle back in the 1980s. He was loved by all and
respected by countless people in the community for his humanitarian
work. The funeral was held in a Lutheran church. We were seated near
the rear of the church, and though it was a large church it was
almost standing room only. I should have known what was coming…
The minister stood up at the pulpit and went through the usual
good-guy sermon… just before getting into the relationship of people
with God. My wife and I were surrounded by cousins and relatives we
had not seen in many years.
At one point in the
funeral-turned-lecture, the minister boldly uttered these exact
words,
“We’re all worthless sinners in the eyes of the Lord.”
Yet
no one moved a muscle or spoke, soaked it all in and continued
hanging on every word he uttered. It was scary to watch.
When I heard his comment I saw red and began to stand up. But my
wife wisely grabbed my elbow and pulled me back down onto the hard
wooden pew whispering,
“Shhh! Don’t do it! Don’t do it!”
She knew me well enough to know what I was about to do – even though
there are several Lutheran ministers in my bloodline.
This minister’s blanket judgment was outrageous. I was all “locked
and loaded” and ready to take him to task for his statement - but my
wife was right and I respected her for having a cooler head than I
did. A funeral for a loved one was not the place to wreak havoc. All
these adults present were old enough to know the truth for
themselves.
Right after his lecture-sermon was over the offering plate was
passed. It was if people were paying homage to him for the privilege
of being exposed to such lies. To me this was clearly a form of Sado-masochism.
Even though almost all of my relatives are Lutheran and were raised
in that faith, they apparently just don’t seem to know any better.
If we are all “worthless sinners” - then what’s the point in even
going to church in the first place? But nobody thinks about it that
way.
It doesn’t seem possibly to attend any church every week, be
mentally beaten down and then pay for the privilege of receiving the
beating. This is something like the initiation scene in the dark
basement of “Animal House” where a new frat member is on his knees
in his underwear.
After being swatted with a paddle he cries out,
“Thank you sir may I have another! Thank you sir may I have another!"
Being somewhat familiar with Biblical teachings, at least I know
that hatred and passing blanket judgment on fellow men and women was
not something Jesus taught. But this sick Sado behavior still goes
on regardless, in thousands if not millions of churches all across
the land.
History has shown us that the eggshell of faith serves as an
exoskeleton, falsely giving some people superhuman abilities whereby
they almost think they are indestructible. There was Joan of Arc,
Martin Luther, the crusades and even Martin Luther King who were
great promoters of their faith. More extreme religions demand the
death of all those who even remotely question a given faith or are
not members of it. Someone can legally be beheaded or stoned to
death for the littlest of infractions against some religious laws.
This too, is the ultimate form of control using pure fear and
terror. And it shows a low regard for human life as well. For some
religions people may be killed simply for not being one of their
believers.
Slightly less harsh is the cry among Christians for centuries
regarding threats with Heaven or Hell. Fanaticism has been a problem
throughout human history. It will probably continue to be so until
the end of time.
It has been said that for our immune systems to work well we need to
get sick with a flu or cold now and then. It’s something like an
invisible form of exercise for our immune system and there is a
certain amount of evidence to support it.
Those that surround themselves with a shell of faith no matter what
their religion may be will find that when their shell is damaged or
threatened when exposed to unpleasant hard facts to their religion.
When not dealt with a great fear can enter into their life. They may
feel as though their entire world is coming apart.
But there is another eggshell. With this darker “faith-based”
eggshell, the state is the real designer. The state uses it to
encapsulate people with a form of faith that supports the state. For
example, reciting the pledge of allegiance day in and day out is
clearly a form of both worship and brainwashing. There is also an
unspoken threat and perhaps fear of punishment if they refuse to
wear this shell.
Another such state-created eggshell involves
the
Holocaust. First, it was Germany that boldly labeled those that
refuse to wear this shell as “Holocaust Deniers.”
Now the European Union has arrested an Australian named Toben
[2] as
a “Holocaust Denier.”
Can this ever end?
Will there be charges
against those who are deemed as
Aspartame Deniers,
Modern Medicine
Deniers (those would rather believe in holistic or other forms of
treatment,) FOX Network Deniers,
Mainstream News Deniers, Fascism
Deniers…etc?
This kind of labeling could go on ad-infinitum. Left
unchecked like a bad disease, it probably will.
Ultimately one day, an all-inclusive, state-manufactured eggshell
will be molded around children as they grow up. But this will happen
only if we let it happen. It will not happen overnight, but left
unchecked this new shell will inexorably form over time.
The new state-created eggshell will form so slowly around people
that few will even notice it.
References
[1] -
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0908/14102.html
[2] -
http://www.theage.com.au/national/holocaust-denier-arrested-20081002-4s58.html
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