Religion -- Who Needs It?
I am a Christian. I know what I titled this piece, but I want to let you know that I am a very God-centered person. However, I am sick (sick, sick, sick) to death of people who proclaim that their religion is "The Truth" and others are misguided fools who will die at Armageddon.
I was a part of a religion that believed that only they had the Truth of God's Word and that all others are actually worshiping Satan the Devil. Now, these people may not think that they are agents of Satan, but they are. Because of this I had never entered a church, other than my own, until two weeks ago. Now, the church that I belonged to initially kicked me out because I wouldn't agree to their disciplinary actions (I left a husband that was an alcoholic) . Anyway, I'm dead to about 150 people whom I grew up with and knew throughout my 30 years of association.
Anyway, my mother (and others from that church) really believe that if you don't attend their services and read their publications that you are incapable of:
Don't they understand that they are the ones to be pitied? That to actually believe that anyone has the complete "truth" about the nature of God and his will is delusional at best. Studying the Bible, observing God's creations and applying the principles found within the Bible give us a pretty good idea of how we should act and treat others. But to think that we can understand God's plan in such absolute terms is crazy. Shoot, most of the time we can't even understand our own motivation and we're instantly accessible to ourselves.
But, this past Sunday, my girls showed me that I have been doing a good job in helping her develop a personal relationship with our Creator. We've started attending a local church about two weeks ago, and last Sunday she stood up before the children's church and prayed for her friend who lost her grandmother. No prompting on anyone's part, just a genuine desire to speak to God and ask for his help in comforting her little friend.
Now, I know for a fact that in my previous church people don't often show that kind of empathy or understanding. They are so caught up in quotas, reports and doing works to prove themselves to God that they don't allow God to come to them and move them to do things from the heart. If the corporation doesn't set the goal, these guys won't do much of anything. It's such a shame because most of the people are nice, just reduced to being drones for the organization.
So, once my maternal unit finds out that we've been going to one of those Satan run churches, I'm sure that I'll be disowned quick fast and in a hurry. She's so out of touch with what her grandchildren are really about spiritually. She sent a little letter to each of the girls telling them to pray before meals and at bedtime. Uh, duh, they've been doing that all of their lives. And what I really find funny/sad is that the last family gathering that we were invited to, my children were the only people who prayed before eating their meal!!! But no note was taken of that. The only thing she can see is that they don't go to her church, so therefore I'm raising devil-worshipers.
Well, that's off my chest. Now I can go forward and do something constructive instead of stewing over this nonsense.
I was a part of a religion that believed that only they had the Truth of God's Word and that all others are actually worshiping Satan the Devil. Now, these people may not think that they are agents of Satan, but they are. Because of this I had never entered a church, other than my own, until two weeks ago. Now, the church that I belonged to initially kicked me out because I wouldn't agree to their disciplinary actions (I left a husband that was an alcoholic) . Anyway, I'm dead to about 150 people whom I grew up with and knew throughout my 30 years of association.
Anyway, my mother (and others from that church) really believe that if you don't attend their services and read their publications that you are incapable of:
- Understanding the Bible
- Teaching it to your children
- Raising up children with character and common sense
Don't they understand that they are the ones to be pitied? That to actually believe that anyone has the complete "truth" about the nature of God and his will is delusional at best. Studying the Bible, observing God's creations and applying the principles found within the Bible give us a pretty good idea of how we should act and treat others. But to think that we can understand God's plan in such absolute terms is crazy. Shoot, most of the time we can't even understand our own motivation and we're instantly accessible to ourselves.
But, this past Sunday, my girls showed me that I have been doing a good job in helping her develop a personal relationship with our Creator. We've started attending a local church about two weeks ago, and last Sunday she stood up before the children's church and prayed for her friend who lost her grandmother. No prompting on anyone's part, just a genuine desire to speak to God and ask for his help in comforting her little friend.
Now, I know for a fact that in my previous church people don't often show that kind of empathy or understanding. They are so caught up in quotas, reports and doing works to prove themselves to God that they don't allow God to come to them and move them to do things from the heart. If the corporation doesn't set the goal, these guys won't do much of anything. It's such a shame because most of the people are nice, just reduced to being drones for the organization.
So, once my maternal unit finds out that we've been going to one of those Satan run churches, I'm sure that I'll be disowned quick fast and in a hurry. She's so out of touch with what her grandchildren are really about spiritually. She sent a little letter to each of the girls telling them to pray before meals and at bedtime. Uh, duh, they've been doing that all of their lives. And what I really find funny/sad is that the last family gathering that we were invited to, my children were the only people who prayed before eating their meal!!! But no note was taken of that. The only thing she can see is that they don't go to her church, so therefore I'm raising devil-worshipers.
Well, that's off my chest. Now I can go forward and do something constructive instead of stewing over this nonsense.
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