Organized Religion

04.14.06

Organized religion is sad evidence of the fact that people can take a perfectly good story and use it to perpetuate centuries of injustice and ignorance. We storytellers are thus forever plauged by the fear that, if we are fortunate enough to write a a truly brilliant tale, it nonetheless may be used not in the service of wisdom and peace, as we intended, but rather in the service of fear and intolerance.

Jesus never said "I am God." Jesus never said "I am the son of God."

Jesus specifically said "I am the Son of Man."

Jesus never said "You will go to hell if you don't believe that I am the son of God." He never said "Go around and force people into believing that I am God in order to save their souls."

What Jesus did say was this: "Judge not, lest ye be judged yourselves."

He also said "Love thy neighbor as thyself."

The problem with most Bible-thumpers is that they've never actually read the Bible. Instead, they go to Church every Sunday, sit when they're told to sit, stand when they're told to stand, repeat what they're told to repeat, and think what they're told to think.

What would Jesus do? Hmm. Here's what he did do. He defied the dominant religious institutions of his day, both those of the Jews and those of the Romans. He also questioned the dominant governments of his day, both the Herodite monarchy and the Roman Empire.

Jesus was ANTI-ESTABLISHMENT.

Jesus QUESTIONED AUTHORITY.

Jesus THOUGHT FOR HIMSELF.

What did Jesus do? He went to the temple, pissed off the priests / rabbis who were in their professions for the wrong reasons, denounced the moneylenders, spoke out against his government, which unfairly taxed its people to support violent wars across the middle east (sound familiar?), and was ultimately killed for it.

We sure could use him around today. SOMEONE should say something.

Funny how little has changed. The true tragedy is that those who claim to follow his example are, in actuality, close-minded conformists. Instead of questioning their bellicose government, they drive around with Bush stickers on their SUVs. Instead of being charitable, tolerant, loving, and non-judgmental, they vainly think that those who don't agree with them will be cursed to eternal torment in the afterlife. That was NOT Jesus' message.

Peace be with you all. If you are searching for truth, look to the books, not the institutions. And when you read the books, realize that they are 9 parts literature and only 1 part history.