by Loren Adams, 18 December 2011
How you view God is how you see man. An individual’s concept
of “God” determines how one treats others. The same principle applies for a
culture, nation or movement. If one envisions a vengeful, wrathful superior
being, wrath and retribution are levied against “others” outside the “chosen.” The
religion justifies prejudice with all its ugly manifestations: verbal abuse,
theft, deceit, injustice, violence, and the ultimate – “final solution.” Religion was the foundation for Nazism which gave birth to Holocaust.
This is another law of human nature oft overlooked – which
coincides with Voltaire’s cardinal truth: “People who believe absurdities will
soon commit atrocities.”
It is a massive cult gripping America spinning it to hell. The
current gridlock has its roots in right religion. Remove the religious right’s
powerful influence over America, a measure of sanity may return. Imagine a
world without religion, as found in John Lennon’s lyrics:
Imagine
there's no heaven
It's
easy if you try
No hell
below us
Above
us only sky
Imagine
all the people living for today
Imagine there's no countries
It
isn't hard to do
Nothing
to kill or die for
And no religion too
Imagine
all the people living life in peace
You, you may say
I'm a
dreamer, but I'm not the only one
I hope
some day you'll join us
And the
world will be as one
Imagine no possessions
I
wonder if you can
No need
for greed or hunger
A
brotherhood of man
Imagine
all the people sharing all the world
You, you may say
I'm a
dreamer, but I'm not the only one
I hope
some day you'll join us
And the
world will live as one
I am not stating all religion is bad, because it’s in human
nature to invent such philosophical mindsets as a security blanket for an torrid unexplainable existence. I’m just saying the
distorting of Jesus’ image and words is the sacrilege that destroys individuals
and nations – or, for that matter, the perversion of other revered
theological figures.
America’s religious right loathes the concept of a Jesus who
speaks of humility, meekness, generosity, compassion and sacrifice. Somehow
these virtues de-masculinize the Messiah. And Republicans loathe a feminized
Jesus, because humble characteristics are feminine, in their view.
Nazis had the same distorted reasoning in that the Jesus of
the Gospels didn’t fit their ideology. So they had to mold “God” into their own
image, culminating in a Holy Bible re-write of 1938, approved by the Fuhrer,
which were loaded with anti-semitic passages.
Republicans worship a Nazi Jesus, not the Christ of the
Bible. They picture a Jesus bearing a sword riding a white horse to slay
millions of unbelievers. Revelation is where they lay claim to the view, but
the Gospels’ depiction must be discarded in order to arrive. A judgmental “God”
justifies a judgmental following. Thus, it’s condoned to hate and kill gays, Muslims,
aliens, liberals, and all others not of their belief-system.
Jesus’ Number One principle must be suspended in order for
them to condone bigotry: “Love God with all your heart, mind, soul, and
strength; and love others as you do yourself.”
But in their view, this cardinal command must be set aside
for the End Times prophecies to be completed – when a wrathful, vengeful
“God” re-appears to annihilate the billions. This eschatological element is
what drives America’s religious right to insanity and what is driving America
off the cliff – since the religious right is such a significant segment
of society. The culture war is here and now, and it has its roots in religion
– albeit counter to Jesus’ teachings.
America’s religious right needs to return to its “first
love.”